Hornepayne First Nation youth delegate John Fort, submitted this report to the symposium planners. Thanks for your great effort John! We really appreciate this kind of feedback. We're publishing his feedback hear so other youth have the opporunity to hear from a peer:

John Fort addressing delegates during the symposium.

Report by John Fort on the Nishnawbe Aski Nation Youth Council's conference on self-governance. The NAN youth council seemed to be extremely organized over the duration of the two-day conference. Throughout the conference many subjects were covered such as the role of women in self-governance, resources and economic development, youth leadership and development, history and impacts of residential schools, the importance of early childhood education on cultural/spiritual information, traditional governance and the first law, motivational speaking and the importance of self-governance. Given all the subjects covered during the symposium it was extremely informative.

The views expressed by Tina McGuire, the urban Aboriginal strategy executive assistant from the Thunder Bay Friendship Centre, on the role of women in self-governance, and the barriers that Native women have overcome. Some of the walls that Native women have climbed over have been long and heart felt battles, with losing their treaty rights if they married a non-native man. Our extremely beautiful Native women overcame this obstacle with perseverance and determination, for themselves and their children. These were hard battles to win because in the mainstream culture our women were treated like a lower life form.

A few comments were given by Deputy Grand Chief Dan Kooses on reserves and economic development across NAN, information on education throughout our reserves, and department strides made over the past thirty years. The building of schools, community centres, and the construction of homes for the Native people are some of the advances made over the past thirty years. There are also some future plans for development within all the communities of NAN.

Maheengun Shawana expressed his views on youth leadership and development. This was a heartfeld topic throughout the conference, especially given the fact the majority of people who attended this conference were youth. Respect for elders is important. In all the comments made, this sparked a glimmer of hope in the eyes of the chielfs and elders towards the future of Indigenous people. Our future can only be granted if we reflect on the past.

Stephanie Peltier, NAN Residential Schools Coordinator, spoke about an interesting topic, the history and impact of residential schools on Native people and culture. She spoke about how Native youth were taken from their homes and placed in group homes and they were not allowed to speak their language amongst one another. In turn this made a major impact on the Native language almost to the point of non-existence among the Native youth that live in urban communities. Not all bad has come from this, in turn the Native youth learned the ins and outs of the Canadian government so when ti come time the Native youth will be well armed in political debates, especially if the traditional language is reinstated inside one self. Not one government can strip a language, because as adult can always take a step back and learn from their roots.

The importance of an early childhood cultural/spiritual foundation,