chiefcouncilbear

Hello! My name is Destiny Bear; I am the Youth Councilor for McLeod Lake Indian Band. I have lived here for 23 years and have a beautiful family; my partner Sheldon Ketlo, my son Gage Ketlo (4), and my daughter Trinity Ketlo (2). I am very proud to announce that in 8 months we will be welcoming a new addition to our family! I am extremely excited and overwhelmed.

One of my main priorities in life is my family and making sure that they are taken care of first and foremost. This September Gage will be starting school, which brings me to wonder where all the time goes. We are very excited for him and can’t wait for it to start. Unfortunately, this will mean that my meeting schedule will have to be a little more flexible as he will be attending school in Mackenzie, and his schooling will be one of my main priorities.

Some of my personal hobbies include softball, berry picking, spending time with the youth, spending time with my family as well as going swimming. Our softball team plays twice a week with the Mackenzie league. It has been going great; we are having tons of fun out there. Our team consists of Kenneth Solonas (Coach), Wiona Ware, Andrea Jackson, Jodie Ware, Jessica Solonas, Destiny Bear, Sheldon Ketlo, Brandon Duraneleau, Tony Inyallie, Sundance Inyallie, Cheyenne Inyallie, Lionel Chingee, Chris Johnny, Perry Hogan, Patrick Achla, Ray Vallee, Oke Inyallie and Andy Jr. Solonas.

Well… It has been over a year since I was elected in to the Youth Councilor position. It has been a major learning curb for my, especially in the political aspect of things. I really enjoy the items I have been involved in, including the committee’s that I sit on. I like to focus my views on traditional aspects, as well as in education, elder and youth programs. I am proud to say that we were able to allocate funding for the education department for school allowances, extra curricular activity funds, as well as post secondary funding. I would really like to set up a team to deal entirely with our history and traditions, which we do not want to lose in the future. This could be things like our language, hunting, skinning, making huts, drying meat and berries, picking berries, plant identifications and learning about different aspects of our traditional history.

I, as well as Lawrence Solonas, Agnes Solonas, Alec Chingee, Jen Weightman, recently participated in a tour of the Trend Mine and Roman Mine proposed area in Tumbler Ridge. Peace River Coal currently has two mine projects that are currently in operation; Horizon Mine and Trend Mine (located in Tumbler Ridge). They are currently seeking support from the McLeod Lake Indian Band (as well as other bands) for the Roman Mine Project; which will operate adjacent to the Trend Mine. It was a very informative tour that showed the area of impact from the mine, their plans of reformation after the mine has closed and they spoke of the animals that will be impacted from the Roman Mine Project. A herd, numbered at 150, of Caribou will be the most impacted from the Roman Project. I am currently reviewing the MOU sent to us by Peace River Coal.

I have also been involved with the Emergency Preparedness Planning Committee. It consists of about 10 members within the office staff and McLeod Lake community. These members are Keinan Carty, Jodie Ware, Jolene Solonas, Geri Solonas, Guy Rocheleau, Stephanie Rocheleau, Cindy Berg, and I. So far we have been working on getting an emergency plan in place so that we have the proper steps to follow in case of any major emergency within the McLeod Lake community. This includes things like small or large scale forest fires, pandemic outbreaks and if we were ever flooded in. It is a large project and we are still working on getting the proper documentation in place. I look forward to the completion of this project.

Thank you for your time and reading my report. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to come and see me or feel free to email dishini_sas_0110@hotmail.com.

Mussi Cho,

Destiny Bear

Youth Councilor