Guest Speaker Dan Bellegarde

by Taish Desnomie

I liked when Mr. Bellegarde was talking about how organized our people were and how organized our communities were back in the day. How we had our own hunting troupes and warrior tribes. He said a lot of great stuff. In his PowerPoint he says, "We organized politically, economically, socially and spiritually to enrich and protect our way of life." It felt like it gave me a lot of power and hope.

The title of his talk was "The Spirit and Intent of Treaty". He addressed topics like Inherent Rights, Treaty Making, A Century of Dishonour, and the Spirit and Intent of Treaty.

I liked how respectful he was of us as young people. I had open ears to what he had to say. It was an honour shaking his hand.