Healthy Role Model Contest Winners
NEW- Healthy Role Model Posters - WINNERS
The First Nations Health Council and the Four Host First Nations Society are pleased to recognize 5 everyday hero’s from First Nations Communities across BC. The Healthy Role Model Poster series was born from the idea that “our greatest inspiration comes from our families, neighbours and friends.” We would love to hear what you have to say about these posters! Participate in our poster campaign survey and you could win a $50 gift card to the grocery store of your choice! Please log on here and complete our short survey online.
PAUL MERCER - NISGA’A NATION
Paul Mercer Poster | pdf download |
Paul Mercer is a member of the Nisga’a Nation. His ancestral name is Ts’ uuts’im Tya’ aytkw. He is 45 years old, a husband and a father. Paul maintains a healthy weight, works out, and has been sober for 14 years. Paul works and volunteers his time to support youth and sport in his community. He plays basketball in the Masters Division at the All Native Basketball Tournament in Prince Rupert and he also volunteers to help train other athletes in Aiyansh to prepare for the week-long tournament.
Paul founded a canoe program in Aiyansh, as well as the Annual Nisga’a Valley Health Canoe Races, an event that brings the four Nisga’a communities together to watch and participate in the competition. He is one of the founding members of the annual “Tour de Nass”, a cycling race from the village of Gingolx to New Aiyansh. His commitment and leadership are inspirations to us all.
JOSHUA JOSEPH- SQUAMISH NATION
Joshua Joseph Poster | pdf download |
Joshua Joseph is a member of the Squamish Nation. He is 28 years old and has been working with children and at-risk youth in his community for many years. Joshua carries the ancestral name Skwetsi7meltxw, which he received from his grandfather and celebrated lacrosse player, the late Stan (Bunny) Joseph. Like his grandfather, Joshua is a top lacrosse player, who has many awards and was drafted into the National Lacrosse League in 2001. Joshua works hard every day to maintain his physical, emotional, spiritual and mental well-being. He has become an inspiring role model to his peers and many others in his community.
PENTICTON INDIAN BAND YOUTH LEADERSHIP
Penticton Indian Band Youth Leadership | pdf download |
The Penticton Indian Band Youth Leadership has grown over the past few years and has created healthy environment and lifestyle programs for youth. The members are role models within the Okanagan Nation and they carry their message of positive health and well-being to other communities around the world.
Each year the group trains for the 200 kilometer “Canoe Journeys”. Training takes place on Okanagan and Skaha Lakes and the group
welcomes anyone that wants to join in, provided they are clean and sober two weeks prior to training. In the off-season they participate in dry land training with local RCMP. The group has also worked with ThePenticton Indian Band nutritionists to determine the benefits of an active healthy lifestyle.
They will soon be traveling to the Orkney Islands, Scotland, where they will paddle for two weeks as representatives of aboriginal youth in Canada. The Penticton Indian Band Youth Leadership has been featured in two documentaries and in a number of newspaper articles. The attitude and energy of these young leaders has provided them with many opportunities to drum, sing, and meet with other youth at both National and Provincial Youth Conferences.
ELAINE ALEC - OKANAGAN AND SHUSWAP NATIONS
Elaine Alec Poster | pdf download |
Elaine Alec is from the Okanagan and Shuswap Nations. She is 31 years old and is the mother of one son. Elaine has faced a host of challenges, including abuse, alcoholism, teenage pregnancy, the loss of her father and those who were closest to her, as well as chronic disease and depression.
Elaine demonstrated courage by taking the necessary steps toward overcoming these obstacles. She now leads a balanced life by following the teachings of her elders, her parents, and the many people who have come in and out of her life, for better or worse. Today she is a great mother, a writer, a poet, a facilitator, a speaker, an emcee, a runner and a powwow dancer. She encourages groups to get healthy and motivated, facilitates circles for tobacco reduction and she teaches breathing and stress reduction through yoga.
Elaine has completed marathons, despite having rheumatoid arthritis, and she leads walking and running groups for beginners. She has also contributed to change on a provincial and regional level as part of various aboriginal strategies. She is an inspiration and finds balance through staying active, praying, healing, forgiving, loving, learning and giving.
JESSICA RONEE-MAE LINDBERG - TLINGIT AND HEILTSUK NATIONS
Jessica Ronee-Mae Lindberg Poster | pdf download |
Jessica Ronee-Mae Lindberg is from the Tlingit and the Heiltsuk Nation. Jessica is an 19 year-old student at the Vancouver Island University in Nanaimo, BC. Originally from Whitehorse, but having grown up in Nanaimo and Bella Bella, Jessica has embraced the culture and traditions of the Heiltsuk people and she passes on what she has learned to the Heiltsuk children at a summer camp for at-risk youth. She teaches the children to dance traditional Heiltsuk dances, how to conduct themselves in a Big House, and how to gather traditional foods. Jessica has chosen to lead a drug and alcohol free life, and she tries to encourage the younger Heiltsuk youth to participate in alcohol free activities. Jessica has always been very committed to her education. She received the Governor General’s Academic Medal, awarded to the student graduating with the highest grade point average from a Canadian high school. Her focus and dedication is an inspiration to her peers and members of her community.