DELINE/FORT FRANKLIN
Garred Taneton is all about culture. That's why the Grade 11 student at Ehtseo Ayha School in Deline is so excited about visiting Africa this summer as part of the Northern Youth Abroad Program.
Garred Taneton, a Grade 11 student in Deline, will travel to Africa this summer with the Northern Youth Abroad Program. - photo courtesy of Hannah Taneton |
Taneton will travel to Botswana with eight other participants in July, a journey he says he is beginning to look forward to.
"I'm interested in looking at a view of Africa, seeing a new culture, experiencing what they do there and seeing the different kinds of animals that they have," he said.
"And just seeing their traditional knowledge."
The Northern Youth Abroad Program is a not-for-profit charitable organization set up for youth aged 15 to 22 living in Nunavut and the NWT to travel to southern Canada and abroad to gain work and volunteer experience.
Taneton said while in Botswana, he will also share his culture by demonstrating Dene games.
Taneton is no stranger to sharing his knowledge about aboriginal sports. He travelled to Ottawa earlier this spring as a Northwest Territories Youth Ambassador, through a program sponsored through the Department of Municipal and Community Affairs.
While in Ottawa, Taneton demonstrated aboriginal games at Winterlude,
Ottawa's winter festival.
"We give them a show of our aboriginal games, what we do up in the North," he said.
The main games demonstrated were stick pull and handgames.
Taneton and other ambassadors were also introduced to members of Parliament and other politicians.
"We introduced ourselves to some MPs," he said. "We try to represent our own community as well."
He said he hopes to repeat the experience again next year.
"We already finished this year's program and now I'm hoping to go again the next year in Ottawa," he said.
Taneton was also an official during the First Annual Traditional Games Championships in Yellowknife in March.
"They asked me if I could be one of the officials for Yellowknife, so I said yes," he said.
In addition to aboriginal sports, Taneton also volunteers in his community. As part of his school volunteer hours, Taneton spent time at the community garage helping with carpentry work and helping municipal staff remove snow from the community's roads.
"Last year, there was a lot of snow so we moved snow to the side," he said.
Taneton said he enjoys working with others to accomplish goals.
"I love helping out and volunteering," he said.
He said like many other youth, he doesn't yet know if he wants to attend college after high school, or what his career path might be.
However, Taneton said he believes programs such as Northern Youth Abroad are a great way for youth to discover their talents and develop their skills.
"My message would be you're going to have a great experience doing this, it's worth it," he said. "You could become much more of a role model and more outgoing the more experiences that you're going to have."
