WSD grads earn prestigious Indigenous prize

Two Winnipeg School Division graduates were virtually honoured by the Manitoba Indigenous Youth Achievement Awards on Feb. 25.

Children of the Earth High School grad Sondra Flett and St. John’s High School alumnus Rylee Nepinak received awards in the Cultural Female and Community/Volunteer Senior categories, respectively. 

The MIYAAs are annually presented to Indigenous youth between the ages of 16 and 24 who have excelled in a variety of categories, from cultural to academic. 

Flett, a first-year student at the University of Manitoba, received an MIYAA for her commitment to her Indigenous culture. 

Since moving to Winnipeg from St. Theresa Point First Nation in 2015, Flett has jumped on every opportunity to participate in such Indigenous cultural practices as singing, drumming and dancing. 

Flett is also a mentor and former mentee with Restoring the Sacred, a Ka Ni Kanichihk mentorship program for Indigenous youth who relocate to Winnipeg to continue their education.

“I started drumming when I was in Grade 8 at General Wolfe,” Flett said. “I was scared at first, but a woman taught us some songs and after that my sister Charlene and I started going to powwows to sing. That’s when I learned fancy shawl dance too. Ever since then I wanted to learn more and more about my culture.”

Flett said singing, drumming and dancing not only connects her to her culture, they connect her to herself. 

“It makes me feel free. It’s very therapeutic,” Flett said. “It makes me feel at home. It reminds me of my late grandpa and it feels like he’s watching me and is proud of me. That’s what keeps me going.” 

Children of the Earth traditional advisor Connie West-Buck said she was blown away by Flett and her sister’s “wonderful singing voices” when she first met them.

“They trusted the school enough and they trusted me enough as a cultural support teacher to take that risk and go into a sweat lodge and to take that risk and go to a full moon ceremony,” West-Buck said.

“I’m very proud of them. When Sondra graduated from here, I gifted her with a hand drum. I know she’ll do wonderful things in university and one of these days we’ll see her as a leader in her community.”

Nepinak, 24, is already a community leader. The former St. John’s Tigers football star is the co-founder of Anishiative, an Indigenous youth-led community group that cleans up litter in the North End. 

“My sister (Kristyn Boubard) and I came up with a few project ideas to incorporate and empower the youth to do amazing things and reconnect them to the community.” 

“We do community litter patrols and pick up garbage and recycling. We also did a snow shovelling support program, where we shoveled walkways for the elderly, single parents and people with disabilities.”

“I think when youth do this type of work in the community they witness the change they’re making and it helps them develop empathy, the traits of a leader, and a sense of belonging.”

Nepinak said it was at St. John’s when he first developed his own sense of belonging. He credited St. John’s football coaches Brian Marks and Grant McMillan with showing him a path to success.

“Football changed my life,” said Nepinak, a member of Sagkeeng First Nation. “It was something I could feed my energy into. My father is a residential school survivor. There was lots of trauma in my family, but having football to channel that energy helped me heal and build self-discipline.”

In 2014, the Tigers won their first game in three years, with Nepinak running for a whopping 285 years and three touchdowns. 

“The most important thing outside of his playing ability was providing a tremendous level of leadership to the team,” Marks said. “Younger team members need somebody to look up to, somebody that can show them how to play, how to act, how to carry themselves. Rylee did that to the highest level.”

While Nepinak had since graduated from St. John’s when the Tigers won the Winnipeg High School Football League championship in 2018, McMillian said his impact endured. 

“Rylee helped us turn that corner, which in my opinion led to us continuing to build and win the championship for the first time in 38 years,” McMillan said.

Nepinak, who will soon study Social Work at the University of Manitoba, said he might not have graduated high school if it wasn’t for football.  

“I don’t know where I’d be, but I definitely wouldn’t be where I am if I didn’t play football. It was a huge reason for me to go to school,” Nepinak said.

The 26th annual MIYAAs are being held in five online sessions on Jan. 28, Feb. 25, March 25 April 29 and May 27. The 2020 award ceremony was scheduled for the fall, but was postponed due to the pandemic. 

Technical Vocational High School student Sasha Houle received the award in the Academic Junior category on Jan. 28. Each MIYAA winner receives a $1,000 cheque.