Leslie Anne St. Amour
McGill University
Political Science
Project location: Bonnechere Algonquin First Nation
“The Pathy Foundation Fellowship gave me the opportunity to better understand what I want to do as a career as well as spend a year learning about myself and my community in ways I may never have been able to otherwise…”
Community Programming for Increasing Community Connection
What was the initiative?
The initiative was to provide opportunities for community members to develop a sense of cultural connection through the making of their own regalia. This included recruiting a knowledge holder from another, affiliated Algonquin community, to teach regalia building. Throughout the Fellowship Leslie Anne was able to support to the formal development structures of the Algonquins of Ontario as well.
What was the community connection?
Leslie Anne is a member of the Bonnechere Algonquin First Nation and as such, the Fellowship provided her with an opportunity to return home and work with other community members.
How was it innovative?
Due to the nature of the community, there are limited resources for projects of this sort. The Pathy Foundation Fellowship provided the resources to bring in support from an affiliated community member to implement this initiative.
What is Leslie Anne doing now?
Leslie Anne is now attending law school at the University of Toronto where she hopes to work towards building a career in Aboriginal or Constitutional law or policy. She is involved with Equal Voice as a Daughter of the Vote Delegate for riding of Kingston and the Islands and continues to advocate for involvement of women and other marginalized people in political systems.