Author Archives: Ryan Running Rabbit
-
Everything You Need to Know About the Every Child Matters Traditional Powwow
Leave a CommentOki Matapiiks, we are excited to host the Every Child Matters Traditional Powwow on September 30th at the Scotiabank Saddledome, here are some important things to know about the event.
Attending The Powwow & Festivities
As indicated in the poster above, the event start time is at 7:00 p.m. with doors opening to the public at 6:00 p.m.
Please don’t forget a non-perishable food item, article of winter clothing, or new children’s skateboarding shoes for entry. All public attendees are asked to enter the Saddledome through the west entrance, a map is posted further down the page as well as our Siksika Health Services social pages on event day. Parking for all attendees & staff is at regular Saddledome rates, $15 per vehicle
Some general information & photography guidelines for those attending:
- Saddledome Concessions will be open, and are cashless so please bring debit and credit cards to purchase food and drinks.
- There also will be a free event prior to the event beginning at 5:00pm, which include a Skate Sesh with Cousins Skateboarding and local Siksika acts including Jax Running Rabbit, Double Ride and N.D.N Family.
- There will be no stock photography at this event.
- When you’re at a powwow, you’re at a cultural event. As such there may be some customs and traditions that are unfamiliar to you or others who are present, yet they are highly significant. Please show respect throughout, and feel free to ask questions about what’s appropriate and what’s not.
- While you may technically be in public, it’s considered impolite to take photos without first asking permission. If you’re told no, please respect that.
- When photographing a powwow, it is important to be respectful and not take photos during prayers, flag songs or other ceremonies or when the MC has forbid photos.
- Many dancers have worked for hours to create their beautiful beadwork and it is something personally meaningful to them. Some don’t like to have this beadwork photographed, as it may allow someone else to copy the design.
- For any further media inquiries, please contact Ryan Running Rabbit at RyanRR@siksikahealth.com or 403-361-0584
Dancer information:
Registration for dancers will start at 5:00 p.m. at the Telus Club entrance (see map below) and will move closer to the floor of the Scotiabank Saddledome prior to the start of the powwow. Please be advised that there is no floor seating, however dancers will be able to sit in the Telus Club area for close access to the floor.
Categories for dancers:
- Tiny Tots 0 – 6
- Men’s Buckskin
- Women’s Golden Age
- Men’s Golden Age
- Junior Girls – Traditional, Jingle, Fancy (Ages 7 – 12)
- Junior Boys – Traditional, Grass, Fancy, Chicken (Ages 7 – 12)
- Teen Girls – Traditional, Jingle, Fancy (Ages 13-17)
- Teen Boys – Traditional, Grass, Fancy, Chicken (Ages 13 – 17)
- Orange Regalia Special – Juniors (7-12) (All Juniors as long as orange in their regalia)
- Honor Dance for the Residential School Survivors
- Adult Ladies – Traditional, Jingle, Fancy
- Adult Men – Traditional, Grass, Fancy, Chicken
- Owl Dance – All ages
Map of entrances at Scotiabank Saddledome
Every Child Matters Maatapiiks Gathering Pre-Event (5:00pm – 7:00pm)
This is a free to attend event and will take place before the Powwow, attendees will enjoy a concert featuring 3 local Indigenous acts and a hoop dancing demonstration.
This will run alongside a community skate session with Cousins Skateboarding. Performers to include, Jax Running Rabbit, MorningStar, Double Rider, & N.D.N Family.
According to Cousins Skateboarding, the local skate scene has come together to support a number of important initiatives, and we hope to involve our engage the wider skate community in reconciliACTION – bringing all peoples together in the spirit of reconciliation to create awareness, share, and learn.
Their goal tomorrow is to collect 50 pairs of new skate shoes that will then be shared with youth in a number of communities in Treaty 7. If you are able, please feel free to donate them to the crew when you attend.
-
Siksika Health Services – Palliative Care Survey
Leave a CommentSiksika Health & Wellness Centre Siksika Health Services is looking for your input and knowledge about our palliative care services.
Please fill out the questions below to the best of your abilities, as well refer anyone you may know who can also fill our the answers below.
Contact info can be left at the bottom, those who enter with this information will be entered into a gift card draw.
Palliative Care Survey
Community Survey looking to pull information and gauge interest to create a better response in our palliative care options. -
Siksika Run As One Week Returns in August
Leave a Comment(Joel West, presented by CCMAs) SIksika Health Services is proud to announce details for Run As One Youth Awareness Week taking place from August 2-4, 2022 across multiple Siksika Nation venues.
The week long festivities continue to serve as a mid summer nod to First Nations youth. This year the week gets the chance to return to it’s pre-COVID in-person format, which will feature a two-day youth conference, and the longest running Indigenous music festival in Canada featuring Fawn Wood, and The Bearhead Sisters, Ombiigizi, and many more.
The Youth Conference (Aug 2-3, Siksika Piiksapi Arbor)
Opening Ceremonies are scheduled for 8:30 Tuesday morning which will set the tone for the whole week. Conference participants will get the chance to take part in a number of different workshops including Mini Tipi making, traditional Blackfoot games, learn about permaculture, and skateboarding with Cousins Skateboarding.
The youth conference will take place over two days at the Siksika Piiksapi Arbor and will end with awards and a special panel featuring some of the winners. These awards will be given to young leaders in academics, culture, and athletics. Nominate an outstanding Siksika youth by July 25, 2022.
The Run As One Music Festival (Aug 4, Siksika Deerfoot Sportsplex)
The longest running Indigenous Music Festival in Canada is back for its 18th year and features something for the whole family. The festival will continue to put First Nations Talent on stage with headliners Fawn Wood, The Bearhead Sisters, and hot off the release of a 9 track album, Anishnaabe duo Ombiigizi will also take the stage this year and bring their unique sound to Siksika. The evening will also showcase a slew of local talent ranging across many ages and genres. In addition, a special performance by Joel West is presented by the Canadian Country Music Association’s (CCMAs). West will be supported by the Highway 40 band that evening.
The music festival will also run in conjunction with Summer Madness and the first ever Run As One Market. Summer Madness has a variety of outdoor activities for youth participants like beach volleyball, bubble soccer, and archery tag, & more. The Market aims to showcase local entrepreneurs and artists with a platform to sell their goods.
-
Wrestling returns to Siksika Nation after a long hiatus
Leave a CommentRyan Running Rabbit
On Saturday, May 21st, at 3pm, a ring bell rang in Siksika for the first time in decades. Siksika Health Services and Dungeon Wrestling came together to put on the “Showdown at the Arbor” for the community.
The packed show featured six action-packed matches including a main event headlined by Calgary’s own Raj “Money” Singh, who some may recognize from appearances on IMPACT Wrestling, and Wavell “The First Nation Sensation” Starr. During his performance Wavell Starr delivered a touching story about why following and working on your dreams is important for First Nations youth.
This event was months in the making, but the story goes back even further than that. Years ago, professional wrestling, specifically Stampede Wrestling was the “it” thing to follow and watch for Nation Members. This is no different for Siksika Health Services CEO, Dr. Tyler White, who grew up a fan, imitating the famous Hart Foundation with his friend Jason Doore.
“At the time wrestling was very big in our high school, and many of us had dreams and aspirations of being a wrestler or connected to wrestling in some way,” – Tyler White
The admiration of Bret Hart is where is all started, to now collaborating with Bret’s son, Dallas Hart, founder of modern-day wrestling promotional business, Dungeon Wrestling. The Hart Family have become dear friends of Siksika Health Services.
Be sure to join us June 6th and 7th for the 20th anniversary of the Siksika Health Fair where Bret “The Hitman” Hart will talk shop about wrestling and men’s health with the Calgary Hitmen’s Rob Kerr.
-
Cultures Come Together To Protect One Another
Leave a CommentBy Ryan Running Rabbit
The COVID-19 vaccines have long been our best way to protect ourselves and one another, but vaccine accessibility has hurt these efforts since the get go. So in March of 2021 Aisokinakio’p was born. In Blackfoot this translates to “a place where you take your body and mind to make it healthy”. Aisokinakio’p was originally a partnership between Siksika Health Services, The Aboriginal Friendship Centre of Calgary, and OKAKI. It has since expanded into a powerhouse with the addition of Seven Brother Circle, the Calgary Homeless Foundation, Metis Nation of Alberta, and Calgary Catholic Immigration Society. The group has been dedicated to making COVID-19 vaccines accessible for communities in NE Calgary and in the downtown core.
In June of 2021, Aisokinakio’p continued it’s partnership now including the Dashmesh Cultural Centre (DCC) in an effort to make vaccines available to Calgary’s Sikh community. This push has proven to be fruitful with more than 10,000 doses being administered through the Aisokinakio’p clinics.
These efforts were commemorated and celebrated on February 4th 2022 at the Dashmesh Cultural Centre. Representatives from all the partners as well as Federal, Provincial, and Municipal figures were on hand for a ceremony of prayer and gift giving. Calgary Mayor Jyoti Gondek spoke on unity and how this vaccination clinic has brought so many people from different cultures and walks of life. She says that partnerships like this are important for the community. “I’m thrilled to be here with you today, celebrating the successes of cross-culture collaboration,” Gondek states, “Initiatives like this clinic should be emulated in other places in Alberta and across the country.” Her Worship was also presented with gifts pictured in the gallery below.
Dr. Salim Samanani (OKAKI), Dr. Tyler White (SHS), Amanpreet Singh (DCC), Dr. Parminder Thiara (ISC), Shane Gauthier (AFCC), Patritica Jones (Calgary Homeless Foundation), Nicholas Thain (AHS), and Lawrence Gervais (Metis Nation AB) are the leaders or reps from their respective organization and are all instrumental in this offering to the community. “The enemy of immunization programs is mistrust,” Dr. Samanani says, as he spoke on the importance of this clinic and how it was able to offer Calgary’s Sikh community a place to get vaccinated and feel safe. This is a theme echoed throughout the event.
“There were many who doubted that this approach could be effective; we’re proven them wrong,” Tyler white says proudly. “Together, we can – and have made great things happen.” Direct proof of this was provided when MLA for Calgary-Falconridge Devinder Toor says the vaccination rates for the area have skyrocketed thanks to this clinic.
Collaborations like this prove that vaccination and strength in community are the best tools against COVID-19. “We are very proud of the collaboration between the Sikh and Indigenous communities, working together helps make the world a better place,” President of the Dashmesh Cultural Centre, Amanpreet Singh, had to say.
Siksika Health Services thanks the Dashmesh Cultural Centre for all its hospitality.
-
No Ordinary Jersey: Calgary Hitmen Every Child Matters Hockey Game Uniform Unveiled
Leave a CommentBy Ryan Running Rabbit
(Video By Telly Hunt) It’s no ordinary jersey; no, this one is special, for a special game. For the second year in a row now, the Calgary Hitmen and Siksika Health Services are hosting the Every Child Matters hockey game at the Saddledome. The game is so much more than just a game, it is a ceremony, conducted through sport, that is dedicated to Indigenous youth empowerment through athletics, and creating a new normal for promotion of cultural awareness in sporting events. So it only seemed right for the athletes who role model this dedication to suit up in a uniform that would represent and commemorate this intent.
The Process
So how do you capture such an important theme into a uniform? In this case, the spirit and intent was realized by a partnership of local Indigenous artists: Richard Running Rabbit, Siksika Recreation & Parks Lead and his friend, Jacob Alexis.
“It’s totally different working with a First Nations graphic artist because you don’t have to explain the concept,” Running Rabbit explained.
Now there are many concepts that went into this – many – according to Siksika Health Services’ CEO, Dr. Tyler White, who initiated the process and asked Richard to start putting concepts together. White says this took some time, as Richard was so deep into research he had come back to White with “12 mockups”. These were eventually whittled down to a select few.
“Richard came to me with some archived material of Blackfoot quillwork as a reference piece,” Alexis says. From there it was a step-by-step process bringing the idea to life. “I researched old tipi art in the style of the area.”
The Artist
The area itself is one that Alexis is familiar with. Jacob Alexis is from the Alexis Nakoda Sioux Nation in Treaty 6 territory, but he grew up in the Treaty 7 area. “When I was younger, I used to watch Brent Dodginghorse, so I grew up a Hitmen fan,” he says. This, paired with a life on and around the powwow trail, he was really able to bring the “Every Child Matters” and Blackfoot art to life on the jersey. He likens this to a special experience, “Basically for me it’s like when you see dancers coming in for [a powwow] grand entry: the style, the boldness. Everything is placed just so.”
On the jersey and process itself, Alexis expressed both feeling a sense of gratitude and honor from Siksika and the Calgary Hitmen, “I really appreciate the opportunity to be a part of this kind of stuff. I’m thankful to the Siksika community for allowing me to be a part of this.”
The Impact
The Every Child Matters game is part of a much larger movement of the same name, and is a recognition and commitment to action to ensure that all children know and experience their precious significance, including those who may have been lost (but never forgotten) while at Residential Schools in Canada, along with the adult survivors and their love ones who may still be healing from this experience.
It is hard to look at the full game uniform and not feel excitement about what the partnership between Siksika Health Services and The Calgary Hitmen has become. “I’m so proud of the jersey and what the game has turned into, all aspects, I always say it’s more than just a hockey game,” beams Siksika Health CEO, Dr. Tyler White.
Together, the partners in this hockey game and initiative are working to address stereotypes and racism by advancing inclusion in our communities through the promotion of Indigenous culture, language and history, and promote healthy lifestyles for all youth by highlighting the benefits of participation in sport.
Co-creator of the jersey, Richard Running Rabbit also expressed his excitement and hope for the jersey. “I think when the Hitmen wear this jersey, they’ll really make an impact,” he says.
“The concept for this game is ‘Every Child Matters’ and Jacob really captured that.”
The full kit can be seen on the ice Sunday March 27th at The Scotiabank Saddledome. Keep an eye on Siksika Health Services’ social media channels for any updates on the game.
Jacob Alexis owns and operates his own small business, and his artwork and apparel can be found “@TribeLifeOrignalz” on Instagram and Facebook.
Purchase a Jersey to Get in the Game, and Support a Good Cause
A limited supply of the jerseys have been made available for purchase; portions of the proceeds of the sale of this jersey will go to supporting minor sports in Siksika. Visit https://www.flamesport.com/products/hitmen-every-child-matters-jersey
Quotes & Impressions from the February 3, 2022 Every Child Matters Jersey Unveiling Event:
“The land we’re on right now – this area is called Mohkinstsis in our Blackfoot language. There wouldn’t be a Calgary without the Blackfoot people. Blackfoot have played an integral part in this area for a long time. Many other Nations also call this area home. They had collaboration at that time time – it was about building relationships, about building bridges instead of walls – and we want to keep that kind of relationship going so that we can work together towards real change.” ~ Chief Nioksskaistamik, Ouray Crowfoot, Chief of Siksika First Nation
“It’s not just a movement or a hashtag; when we say that every child matters, we’ve got to live that every day, to ensure that our children, our grandchildren, don’t have to endure the things that my parents and grandparents had to endure.” ~ Chief Nioksskaistamik, Ouray Crowfoot, Chief of Siksika First Nation
“It is an absolute privilege and honour for our players to wear this jersey. What a WOW moment to see this jersey today! This has been a challenging year for everybody, and for our players to be back on the ice and a part of something as important as this…it is about making the world a better place. Thank you to Tyler White and his team for your leadership and guidance to help us get back in the game in a good way.” ~ Mike Moore, VP Calgary Hitmen
“This has been a long time coming. Yes it’s about the jersey, but also about the relationship and its intent. We have this opportunity together to create an important platform to acknowledge that every child does matter. It’s encouraging and inspiring, and brings hope at at time when we need it.” ~ Dr. Tyler White, CEO Siksika Health Services
-
Siksika Health Services and Calgary Hitmen to Unveil New Jersey for Every Child Matters Hockey Game
Leave a CommentOki Siksika,
On Thursday February 3rd, Siksika Health Services and the Calgary Hitmen are unveiling the new Every Child Matters Game uniform.
-
Siksika Health Services Leads The Way in First Nation COVID-19 Treatment
Leave a CommentBy Ryan Running Rabbit, Siksika Health Communications
A relatively new treatment to fight severe COVID-19 outcomes is being used on Siksika Nation in what is believed to be the first doses of monoclonal antibody treatment to be administered on a First Nation in Canada. So, what is it exactly?
“Sotrovimab is an antiviral/monoclonal antibody given through IV infusion for to those experiencing mild to moderate symptoms from COVID-19 infection, and is designed to reduce negative health outcomes and reduce hospitalizations,” Charlene Brough, Nurse Practitioner and Nursing Advisor for Siksika Health Services explains.
At this point on Siksika Nation, two patients have received the treatment, administered by Siksika Health’s Community Paramedics (CPs), who deliver a broad range of diagnostic and treatment services for Siksika Nation, often remotely or within patients’ homes. The team of CPs are specially trained to provide short-term assessment and treatment for low-acuity illnesses, including sotrovimab, under the medical direction of Physicians and Nurse Practitioners.
“Through our partnerships with Alberta Health, AHS, and of course being supported by the Medical Officers of Health with Indigenous Services Canada, we knew this medication and treatment option was coming,” says Brough. “Thankfully, our Community Paramedics, within their scope of practice, can give IV infusions. We just needed to obtain the actual medication and refine protocols specific to Siksika.”
Sotrovimab is a Schedule I antiviral/monoclonal antibody, developed by GlaxoSmithKline Inc., that received Health Canada emergency use authorization in July 2021 for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19. It has been shown to be most effective when administered before the virus has progressed beyond a mild to moderate infection, therefore, individuals who have COVID-like symptoms are being advised to get tested as early as possible (once signs/symptoms develop) to allow sufficient time to determine potential eligibility for sotrovimab treatment.
In an attempt to reduce the negative health effects and poor health outcomes of COVID-19, Siksika Health Services alongside provincial (Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services) and federal (Health Canada and Indigenous Services Canada) partners have developed an expedited approach to offer sotrovimab to Siksika Nation Members
– Siksika Health Services Sotrovimab Protocol
In Alberta, sotrovimab is currently available for specific, eligible people who have a PCR confirmed COVID-19 infection, including: those with pre-existing health conditions, for example people with diabetes who require medication, chronic kidney disease, congestive heart failure, or an inflammatory condition; some unvaccinated individuals; and immunocompromised people who have had a transplant or received chemotherapy or other immunosuppressive treatment since December 2020.
Importantly, sotrovimab does not replace COVID-19 vaccination. Siksika Health Services strongly encourages all Siksika Nation members, and all people, to receive the vaccine doses they are eligible for, as soon as possible, In addition to immunization, which is available daily on weekdays at Siksika Nation’s Immunization Clinic and via the mobile Immunization Special Forces vehicle, Siksika Health Services plans to continue using the monoclonal antibody treatment when necessary and possible.
For more information on sotrovimab eligibility and use in Alberta, visit https://www.albertahealthservices.ca/topics/Page17753.aspx.
-
Every Child Matters Game Rescheduled
Leave a CommentOki Siksikawa,
Due to the rising risk associated with COVID-19 and the Omicron variant, Siksika Health Services and the Calgary Hitmen have rescheduled the Every Child Matters game from January 15th to March 27th.
The health and safety of Nation members, participants, and players in the game is paramount. The goal of this game is to amplify our Indigenous voices and culture. Rescheduling allows for a better opportunity to showcase our traditional foods, dance, drumming, and other elements of Blackfoot culture.
We look forward to putting on the game with more time to prepare now. Stay tuned for additional updates as they become available.
