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FuturewaterleadersgatherinYellowknifeEnvironmentWater14TuesdayApril12014theNORTHSfullservicebureaucascadegraphicsContactCascadeGraphicsat867872-3000orgraphicsnorj.ca207McDougalRdFortSmithNTPhotocopying-Upto11x17colourandblackwhiteFaxing-SendingReceivingScanningDocumentPrintingCDDVDWritingIDPhotosfortreatycardsFACCerloxBindingandLaminatingPersonalizedGreetingCardsWeddingSpecialOccasionInvitationsBusinessCardsLetterheadNewslettersResumesandBrochuresPersonalizedPromotionalMaterialMugsPensHatsMousePadsetc.printingAllprintingincludesprofessionalcolourcorrectionandretouchingifnecessary.restorationNeedanoldordamagedphotographrestoredOldprintscanbescannedandpreserved.largeformatPosterandBannerprintingavailable.Printingupto34wideReprintanyphotofromTheNorthernJournal.fullservicecopycentrecallforaquotefullservicephotoprintingByMEAGANWOHLBERGFirstNationsyouthfromacrossCanadajoinedtogetherinYellowknifelastweekaspartofanongoingprogramhopingtofosterenvironmentalstewardshipinfuturewaterleaders.TheprojectcreatedbytheCentreforIndigenousEnvi-ronmentalResourcesCIERtakesyouthonajourneyacrossCanadatolearnabouttheim-portanceofprotectingwateranddevelopactionplanstoeducateothersabouttheissues.SixteenteensfromfourFirstNationsincludingfourfromFortSmithgatheredforthethirdtimelastweekintheNWTtolearnfromexpertsandcreateaseriesofcommunity-basedprojectsthateachgroupwillimplementoverthenextveweeks.Itwasthesecondlastmeet-ingoftheyear-longprogramthathasseenthesamegrouptaketurnsvisitingeachothershomeregionstosharetheiruniqueexperiencesaroundwaterissues.LastfallthegroupmetforthersttimeattheBeauso-leilFirstNationinOntariobeforeheadingtotheLowerSimilkameeninB.C.InMaytheywillmeetforanaltimenearWinnipegduringtheirvisittotheIskatewizaageganFirstNationwheretheywillhavetimetodebriefandreectontheirexperienceswiththeprogram.AccordingtoStephanieYuillpubliceducationspecial-istfortheGNWTdepartmentofEnvironmentandNaturalResourcesENRandchap-eronefortheprogramthelastsevenmonthshavebeenaneye-openingjourneyfortheyouthinvolved.WetendtogetespeciallyintheNWTwrappedupintheoilsandsbecausethatissoclosetousandIthinkweforgetaboutalotoftheotherissuesthatarehappeninginCanadabecausetheissuesthatarehappeningwithineachcommunityarereallydiffer-entshesaid.Thefourcommunitiesrepre-sentedintheprogrambringavarietyofconcernswiththemfromthethreatofhydrodamstodecreasingwaterlevelsandthepollutioncausedbyagri-culturalrunoffshesaid.Probablyoneofthebig-gestthingsthatthekidsaregettingisthisincredibleover-viewofwhatsgoingoninCanadaYuillsaid.Ithinktheirbreadthofknowledgehasreallyexpandedfromthis.Eachsectionofthefour-stagedprogramhastheyouthfocusondifferentareasofor-ganizingforchange.Apartfromteachingsonwaterandtheenvironmenttheyoutharealsolearninghowtocreateprojectproposalsreceivefund-ingandsuccessfullyimple-mentaneducationalprogram.OverthepastweekinYel-lowknifetheyouthheardfromENRMinisterMichaelMilten-bergeraboutlocalwaterissuesandtheNWTWaterSteward-shipStrategyvariousexpertsonincorporatingtraditionalknowledgewithscienceandAboriginalleaderandformernationalchiefPhilFontaineonmarketingtheircause.Hetalkedabouttheartofpersuasionandhowtobringpeopleonboardandontoyourside...howtopersuadepeopletobelieveinwaterhowtogetthemtolistentoyourstoryandbuyintoyourstoryYuillsaid.Lastweekthegroupsn-ishedtheirprojectproposalsandappliedforfundingfortheiractionplanswhichrangefromtalkingtoelementaryschoolstudentsaboutwaterhostingcommunityworkshopsandcreatinghouseholdtoolkitsforwaterconservation.Theyalsowereabletogethands-onexposuretotheso-cialculturalandecologicalimportanceoficebygoingdogsleddingandvisitingtheSnowcastlethefloatplanebaseCameronFallsandtheYellowknifeBayhouseboats.Yuillsaidtheprogramhasbeenchallengingfortheyouthbutsaidtheteensarekeenmovingforward.Ithinksomeofitisover-whelmingbutIthinkthetopicsareoverwhelmingforeveryonenotjustyouth.Theideaofputtingtogetherapro-posalforfundingischalleng-ingtomostadultsshesaid.ButIknowtheyreallsuperexcitedaboutdoingtheirproj-ectsintheircommunitiessoIthinkoncethathands-onpartcomesonIthinkitsallgoingtofallintoplace.DaltonBeamish15whoisoneoftherepresentativesfromFortSmithsaidheislookingforwardtoengagingtheK-6studentsinhiscommunityonrespectingwater.WeregoingtoteachthekidstheimportanceofwaterabouttheSlaveRiverandteachthemhowtorespectthewaterBeamishsaid.Ijustthinkthatitsveryimportantforthekidstostarttoknowtheresponsibili-tiesaboutwateratayoungage.PhotoStephanieYuillYouthfromfourFirstNationsacrossCanadameetinYellowknifetolearnaboutwaterstewardshipfromanumberofexperts.