After deciding against seeking re-election as the grand chief of Manitoba Keewatinowi Okimakanak (MKO) back in the spring in order to take a run at becoming grand chief of the Assembly of First Nations, Shelia North is spearheading a new project for University College of the North (UCN).
North will be taking the lead in creating a new Centre for Indigenous Community Development, which aims to provide First Nations with resources for economic, cultural and social development through the school’s Thompson and The Pas campuses.
“This centre will be a cornerstone of UCN’s focus to provide relevant, responsive, education and training that meets the needs of northern people and communities,” said UCN president Doug Lauvstad. “Sheila’s experience and dedication to Indigenous communities will help to ensure the centre’s early success.”
While the specific details of the project still need to be ironed out, North told the Nickel Belt News that a big part of this centre will involve job training and making sure that economic opportunities stay within these northern communities.
“Too many times we build programs that take them away from the community and take their talents away to other areas and other regions,” said North. “But we want to build a centre that will honour their place in the community and also help them find a way to stay.”
North is no stranger to leading these kinds of initiatives, having overseen the development of MKO’s economic action plan during her tenure as grand chief from 2015 to 2018.
North, from Bunibonibee Cree Nation at Oxford House, has plenty of experience working through these communities’ social and cultural needs, as one of her passion projects is raising awareness of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.
“I’m excited to be a part of this [centre] because it’s a new way to give back to the north, which I love and is where I come from,” she said. “I’m always trying to find ways that we can advance services and programs and people in our north, because there’s such huge potential and need to do that.”
North also said they should be able to finalize a development plan within the next six months.
