For 24 hours we were a group of six Action Canada Fellows criss-crossing the city of Whitehorse searching for information and perspective regarding Aboriginal law and the goal of reconciliation in the Yukon.  We spoke with local Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal business and government leaders, lawmakers, academics and artists.

Guiding us throughout was team leader Justin Ferbey, CEO of the Carcross Tagish Management Corporation and an Action Canada Fellow from 2007.   We listened, capturing what we heard in our notes, inspired by the successful path to self-government that‘s been forged by 11 out of 14 First Nations in the Yukon.

The next day, we eagerly gathered at the MacBride Museum of Yukon History to present our findings at the public dialogue. At that moment, seated on the panel with the faces of the Whitehorse community in full view, I recalled the previous afternoon, when we were seated cross legged along the Yukon riverside in the bright autumn afternoon sunlight listening to Marilyn Jensen.

She was speaking about the role of Aboriginal cultural pride and acceptance in carving out the Umbrella Final Agreement.  Marilyn, an instructor of First Nations Governance at Yukon College and a member of the Tlingit and Tagish Khwáan from the Carcross/Tagish First Nation, unassumingly stated “Self-determination lies in one’s own heart”.

For a self- proclaimed city girl like me, the Action Canada conference in Whitehorse was a truly transformational leadership experience.  Now back in Toronto, knowing that Justin, Marilyn and many others are strengthening the Yukon community, makes me a proud Canadian.

-Rann Sharma, ’14