In September 2006, I walked across the stage at the Belcourt Brosseau Métis Awards (BBMA) Gala and received a Métis sash from Elder Marge Friedel.
Surrounded by other Métis students from across Alberta, I felt welcomed into a community. The BBMAs were only in their fifth year, but already the gala represented more than an awards presentation. The award founders — Dr. Herb Belcourt, Orval Belcourt and Georges Brosseau — were there to celebrate alongside us. Their vision of helping Métis Albertans achieve self-sufficiency through education had created this opportunity.
They believed that I, and every other student there, had the potential to make a difference. That kind of confidence was profound.
The financial support was a relief, helping remove a barrier to my education. But the impact went beyond dollars. It wasn’t just my friends and family rooting for me; it was this community I was becoming part of. I felt a sense of responsibility to make the most of what I had been given.
As I began my post-secondary studies in Calgary, earning a journalism diploma, I carried those feelings with me. I received another BBMA while pursuing a communications degree. In 2011, I joined other past recipients at the 10th anniversary BBMA gala.
By then, I had finished university and begun building my journalism career. I went on to work in newsrooms in Calgary and Edmonton, and freelance for publications including The New York Times, The Guardian and The Globe and Mail. Being Métis, and part of this community, has shaped the care and understanding I bring to every Indigenous story I tell.
When the BBMAs put out a call for volunteers for a new adjudication committee, I eagerly joined. I read applications from Métis students across Alberta — a role I’ve continued for 15 years, with a few pauses when my children were young.
The BBMAs were established at the Edmonton Community Foundation in 2001. Now, 25 years on, they’re one of the largest nongovernmental sources of Métis student funding in Canada. The awards have supported nearly 3,900 students with more than $12 million.
Those remarkable numbers represent Métis people pursuing careers, strengthening their communities and returning to support the next generation.
Every spring, as a volunteer reviewer, I read students’ stories. Just as people I had never met believed in me and welcomed me into this community, I get to extend that same belief and welcome to Métis students, who will walk across a stage and receive their own sash.
