Indigenous Arts & Stories - Videos

Hello. My name is Suzie O’Bomsawin. My story is titled Trois personnages et un registre [Three People and a Register] and I won third place in the 2013 writing competition.

When I read about the competition, I thought of a story. It was a story that my grandfather had told me several times and I felt I wanted to share it. I feel it is a story that is not just unique to my family. Other families have gone through it and I thought it was a great opportunity for me to use this competition to write my story. It turned out well for me since I came in one of the top positions. I was also given an opportunity to publish my story to a wider audience of people.

With this success, I was able to participate in the presentation of the competition to young college students at the Kiuna Institution in Odanak. This was a great opportunity for me since this CÉGEP is located in my community and I was able to speak to young First Nation students, to explain to them how the competition was open to everyone.

I also feel that this will open doors for me to other competitions that I would like to enter. This has given me the confidence to get involved in other events like this.

I feel that it provides a new beginning, if you will, towards other horizons.

I think it is really fantastic that there is a competition like this for young Aboriginals in Canada. I feel it is a great way of supporting Aboriginal youth. All the more so since we know how much talent there is among young Aboriginals in Canada, both in terms of writing and art. It is important to support them and show them that this is a good path that continues to be there for them.