Karen Mackenzie
Northern News Services
Monday, July 23, 2007

KUGLUKTUK - A Kugluktuk high school student has been named one of 12 national Aboriginal role models for 2007.

The National Aboriginal Health Organization (NAHO) in Ottawa selected Shawn Kuliktana, 17, as a worthy standout on June 21.

Gloria Kowtak from Rankin Inlet was also chosen from Nunavut.

Throughout the next year, Kuliktana will visit at least three different communities to talk with young people about leading healthy lives and to promote volunteerism.

"Like when you see an elder with lots of groceries and help them out, that's a moment of volunteering," Kuliktana said. "I had lots of role models myself when I was growing up. My family, watching my dad coach, my mom, my sister making all these accomplishments. It's going to be interesting to talk to my peers about healthy lifestyles, making the right choices, not taking the bad path."

The soccer enthusiast was busy packing for a trip south to Edmonton with his hamlet's under-16 squad earlier this month.

Now that he is too old to play for the team himself, he regularly volunteers as an assistant coach.

He will be heading into Grade 12 this fall, and said he hopes to focus on welding and carpentry in the three-year pre-trades program, as well as academic math and science courses.

"All of the young people in our program have a combination of things...they are very well rounded, not just an athlete or a scholar," said Karin Kettler, a co-ordinator for the National Aboriginal Role Model program. "Some role models have national recognition, some only local or more regional."

Kuliktana was recognized as "a strong volunteer. He shows motivation and dedication," Kettler said.

NAHO produces trading cards for each of the role models, with their picture on one side, and a list of their accomplishments, the languages they speak and ancestry on the other.

The role modelling initiative is funded by Health Canada's Brighter Futures program.

"It's going to be a good challenge, going around Canada, talking to the peers," Kiliktana said. "And better than adults talking to kids, because the kids would just get bored of it."