By Action Canada Fellow Deanna Starr ‘23
The Action Canada Fellows were lucky to be able to travel to the North where we did our second study tour in the traditional territories of Kwanlin Dün, Tagish, and Tlingit peoples. We started off the tour in Carcross Tagish First Nation where we were greeted by Gary Sidney Johnson, a Tagish and Inland Tlingit man from Carcross. A man of great presence and energy, he welcomed us into his territory through song and stories. Gary’s love for his people and culture shone brightly as he shared with us a story from each of the exquisitely carved totem poles that lined the front of their learning center building.
Chief Maria Benoit and Executive Director of Carcross Tagish First Nation James Baker met with us in their beautiful Carcross Clanroom, which had towering windows overlooking the lake and the mountains. Chief Benoit and James spoke of their Nations 50-year, multi-generational process in becoming a self-governing nation. This means their Nation is no longer governed under the Indian Act. Carcross Tagish First Nation is a Clan-based Government and has structured their organization around the medicine wheel. Chief Benoit and James Baker spoke about the ways in which their self-governance has supported them in investing in their youth and the future. As a status Indian under the Indian act myself, it was inspiring to see a Nation mobilize themselves and assert their right to governance and self-determination.
Group photo of Fellows 2023 and the Action Canada team with Maria Benoit, James Baker and Gary Sidney Johnson at Carcross/Tagish First Nation
The theme of this year’s Action Canada policy papers is sustainable transportation. We headed to the Air North headquarters in Whitehorse. Ben Sparling, the son of the founder Joe Sparling took us on a tour around the whole facility. Air North plays an essential role in the transportation of people and goods in the north and is partly owned by the Vuntut Development Corporation of the Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation. Air North provides the only way in and out for the Vuntut Gwitchin community of Old Crow. Erik Neilson, an Action Canada Alumni (06) and Chief Operating Officers had an honest conversation with us regarding the impact of policies derived in the south, that do not have practicality in the north. This turned out to be a theme of the study tour – for the fellows to be cognisant of blanket policy recommendations that do not work for the complexities of Northern life.
The following day we had a dynamic presentation by Yukon Energy depicting the daily struggles in providing power for the Yukon. We were given insights on the differing perspectives between the federal requirements for climate change, the cost of financing energy projects, and the electrical engineering maintenance required to keep everything running. Energy is a matter of public safety in a place such as the Yukon where the weather is extreme. The presentation illuminated the challenge of balancing Yukon’s fast-growing population and its energy needs with the realities of energy policies.
At Yukon University, we heard a public lecture on economic reconciliation with Victoria B. Fred and Justin Ferbey ‘07. Victoria, an expert in administrative and Indigenous law said something that echoed in the ears of many of the fellows – we need dreamers. This was not something I expected to hear in a public policy lecture, although it deeply resonated within me. What would our world be like if there was economic reconciliation across Canada? This can become a reality if there is a collective of leaders and policy makers that are dreaming of a more just and equitable future.
Group photo of Fellows 2023 and the Action Canada team with James Coates at the Yukon-Alaska border.
The Honorable Jeanie McLean, the Deputy Premier of the Yukon, was gracious to spend her evening having dinner with the Action Canada Fellows. With our theme being sustainable transportation, Jeanie discussed the deeply personal policy issue of unsafe, unreliable transportation and its implication with Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls and gender diverse people. This left me feeling contradictory feelings of grief and anger at the reality that there is on-going genocide, while also feeling a sense of hope that there is a possibility where Indigenous Women, Girls and gender diverse people can be safe in their homelands.
Taking a bus from Whitehorse to Skagway, Alaska, we were blessed with seeing the stunning landscape of mountains, lakes and even a few rainbows. We had a walking tour with Jim Coates and learned about the history of Skagway and the tourism industry that sustains the town. We then had a conversation with Kyle Hill ‘10 regarding the Alaska Commercial Company, sustainable transportation and policy issues affecting food in the North. This conversation revealed a lot regarding the cost and logistical complexity of providing food for the north, and the importance of food sovereignty.
Figure 1. “We built a life from nothing, by S.McLean, 2018
Sheela McLean’s article “We built a life from nothing” succinctly outlines how Canadian policy created the vast social, political, economic, linguistic, health and education inequities Indigenous people experience today. Seeing the policy challenges we were privy to while in the Yukon made me question what policies can be enacted so that we can experience reconciliation in all its forms? The picture above is just a snapshot of the policy’s that existed in throughout history in Saskatchewan that have implications today. While it is a small part, I am honored and excited at the chance to make a difference through policy with the Action Canada Fellowship.
Featured Fellow
Deanna Starr is a First Nations woman from Little Pine in Treaty 6. She founded Miskihnak Occupational Therapy, a mobile pediatric occupational therapy clinic focused on trauma healing. Her business is aims to provide caregivers with the support they need to create joyful and thriving lives for their children.
She can be contacted at deanna@miskihnak.ca and www.miskhinak.ca
