Run As One Youth Awareness Week returns for 22nd iteration

By John Watson Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Siksika Health Services was excited to celebrate its 22nd annual Run As One Youth Awareness Week, having taken place Aug. 3-6 at the Deerfoot Sportsplex. 

This year’s festivities consisted of a pep rally for athletes set to compete at the Alberta Indigenous Games, as well as two days of a youth conference geared towards education and trades. 

“Throughout the years, we always like to add a few additional things … one time there was a video game tournament, and now this year, we had a sort of karaoke night for the community,” said Rilee Many Bears, on behalf of the Siksika Health Services Community Wellness Department. “In the past, we always had a music festival, and (that) was the longest running Indigenous music festival in Canada. It is also good to see that all these other communities are doing their own things.”

Jevon Holloway, a post-secondary student who spoke on behalf of the youth conference, explained the occasion not only serves as an activity to look forward to throughout the summer, but also to connect local youth with resources and career opportunities.

“We always have different groups come out to display different careers; different trades come out and do hands-on workshops; we usually have booths from the University of Calgary, (and) University of Alberta coming out to display their courses,” he said. “Every year, we have a keynote speaker come out and it is usually a successful Indigenous athlete. We had an astronaut come out one time – just very notable, successful individuals to inspire the youth and show them there is a lot that us Indigenous people can do.”

This year, serving as a special guest youth speaker, Selena Maguire was invited to present during the festivities. She was recruited last year to play basketball at Red Deer Polytechnic while pursuing her post-secondary education. 

Many Bears added for both himself and Holloway, they used to be regular attendees of the Youth Awareness Week and have since been inspired to return and aid in its operations.

“From years past, we have seen a very large increase in the amount of post-secondary students from the reserve, and that is reflected in our actual numbers because we advertise to the post-secondary summer students and our high school summer students,” said Holloway. “It is amazing to see the influence from the conference just to have more kids pursuing post-secondary education and furthering their education in whatever avenue they decide to do.”

Beyond career and class opportunities, the event was also proud to feature Nation members from Bow Valley College involved in eSports, instructors in music, and Siksika’s own Many Guns Boxing Gym.