Ktunaxa Youth Summit 2022

Post your youth summit photos in the comments!

By Andrew Fletcher, Executive Assistant
Education & Employment Sector

The Education and Employment Sector hosted our annual Youth Summit on August 15 and16 with 34 Youth in attendance.

Day One was held at ʔaq̓am’s Dan Joe Gym, and Day Two at the St. Eugene Mission pavilion.

Day One began with a grand entry which was led by Nasuʔkin Joe Pierre with Councilors Garrett Gravelle, Vickie Thomas, Avery Gravelle, Jason Andrew, and Kyle Shottanana also in attendance.

After the Grand Entry it was such a pleasure to have some of the leadership available to have lunch with the youth and for us all to gather from across the nation.

The afternoon was dedicated to a rotation of presentations intended to provide youth with insight into some of the KNC initiatives and opportunities.

Lands and Resources provided a presentation by Caytlyn Luke, Chad Luke, and Kerri Garner on Qat’muk and IPCA; Bertha Andrew and Brandon Hunt opened up the SEM Interpretive Centre to show the Red Brick School video; and Jared Basil provided an inspiring presentation where he talked about being proud to be Ktunaxa.

Day Two was dedicated to providing youth with time to meet the various ʔa·knusti staff and to learn about their diverse positions through interactive activities.

The ʔa·knusti Rangers represented by Jared Cayenne and Dean Nicholas shared with youth the work that they have been doing on the ʔaq̓am trap line and gave them the opportunity to scrape a hide.

Group two was led by Jaydon Francis and Lance Thomas who took youth to the riverside to see some of the bugs they have been catching, and to describe how these bugs provide them with data on the health of the stream.

Jesse Thomas and Cisco Jimmy provided an Archeology presentation that explained a bit about this career and showed some pictures from actual worksites they have been involved with.

They also took the youth to visit some archeological sites in the ʔaq̓am community.

Thanks to the various sponsors of the event we were able to provide many great prizes throughout the event including the grand prizes of two electric scooters & two Apple MacBook Pro’s.

Congratulations to the winners, who were Micah Gilhuly, Nateesha Johnson, Tabatha Capilo, Ashton Jolin.

We would like to thank all of the youth for attending this year’s event and for the great feedback that will determine next year’s agenda.

Laz, how long have you been drawing? Were you really into it, even as a kid?

I did start drawing as a kid.

Whenever I would put the pen or pencil to the paper, it would always be so therapeutic for me. Hard to explain, but it seems for the most part when I do, the only stress, worries or anything really just matters on the paper when I'm in the zone.

I remember winning a province-wide aboriginal art contest in Grade 6 I believe.

How old are you?

I am 29 years old.

What is the favourite piece of work you ever did?

The favorite piece of art work I've ever done is probably the skull/wolf done with pens.

I must make it clear that it is sincerely inspired by another artists design. But the way I made it my own was in the details, the flow, the character.

My girlfriend actually gave me this printed-off copy of the art that looked like it went through the photocopier 30 times before it got to me.

So I really had to envision my own version of the inner details because that printed sheet she gave me just gave me a very basic outline.

Its a very popular design and many artists have different renditions of it.

The Youth Summit logo has four figures… who are they representing, what are they doing or aiming for?

I want to say that the four figures represent a family. Adult male and female and two kids.

In our Nation, hell, even in all of Canada, a two-parent household is rare. Or less common I think.

I firmly believe as kids it's so important to have a strong female and male presence in our upbringing if at all possible.

I had a very strong female presence in my childhood. My great Aunt Christine, who raised me. Not everyone gets that luxury of a strong male and female influence.

So really the adult male and female can be anyone. They are protectors of the children.

What is your approach to developing a design?

Honestly if it's for someone that wanted something done, then we would talk about a baseline for what they want then the gears start spinning in my head and I typically come up with a few or several versions to hopefully land on something we both like.

When I'm just doing art on my own, doodling or whatever, then I would usually start with an inkling of a concept in my head and try and land it on paper or the iPad. And go from there.

Do you start with one of your many drawings and adapt… or do you start with a clear intention and refine, refine, refine?

That really depends. I typically 'refine, refine, refine.'

For some drawings, I'd refer back to a similar design I've done, but that's not always the case.

Like for the logo for the youth summit, the sort of streamlined curves and simplicity really just came out of the desire and goal of it being a logo, easy to adapt, yet contained character and spirit.

I must have over 10 different versions saved on my iPad of it.

Tools: Are you old school, (pen and ink), new school (digital), or both?

I really like pen and ink. It's my favourite. So clean. The attention to detail and the level of steadiness and skill to execute clean, sharp lines is always such a challenge and thrill for me.

I've been leaning on the iPad pro and Procreate a lot lately because it is convenient. Super convenient.

It's always me to try and test over a dozen different concepts/ideas in one hour, as opposed to maybe just a few were I to start with pencil. It's a time issue and the iPad really helps me continue doing art.

Work, parenthood, relationship; as time goes by it seems my days are getting busier. I'm learning on the iPad though and really looking forward to seeing where it can go.

What design tools do you recommend?

I'd recommend just picking up a pencil and blank sheet of paper and going from there.

Perhaps a few micron or other similar pens if you want.

What are your goals as an artist?

My goal is to be able to, and continue being able to, create art that not only I enjoy looking at, but other people do as well.

I really want to refine my style and actually have my own style. Whatever that may be, so it's a fun journey.

What do you believe about art and expression?

I believe art and expression is different for everyone.

Some people like it purely for personal entertainment. Others do it for an income. And others do it for both.

I think art can be so powerful. Whether that's through photography, painting or digital. There's something for everyone.

Do you have other creative outlets?

Not necessarily. If you count trying to make pizzas and sandwiches to look "perfect" or "pretty," then that and pen/digital art is probably my only outlet for creativity.

Did you ever go to a Ktunaxa youth summit? Was was the 'funnest' thing about it?

I think so. I think being able to see my friends that live in Cranbrook was always the best part of attending any kind of event or visit up there. As I lived in Creston growing up.

Anything you would like to add?

Yes, thanks again so much for such an opportunity!

It's a really proud moment for me to fully create something for the KNC/Youth Summit where both parties were pretty happy with the finished product and that's just the best part for me.

It always is. No matter who or what I'm doing art for.

Where can people find your work?

I have been connecting with my grandma Denice at Legend Logos a lot more this past year, as she's the one that's really helped open my eyes to this world of expanding, she really is helping me get on my feet.

Skinquc Treasures has graciously taken on some of art on t-shirts as well!

So honoured for that. Nothing online really, time-constraint thing. I'm not able to do as much art work as I want but that's ok, that's life.

Legend Logo WEBSITE

Visit Legend Logos online via Facebook.

Visit Skinkuȼ Treasures online via Facebook.