It's late afternoon and Tasina Pope, with the help of her cousin Chelsi Powderface, unload boxes of snacks and fresh produce into the Morley community gymnasium.
It's late afternoon and Tasina Pope, with the help of her cousin Chelsi Powderface, unload boxes of snacks and fresh produce into the Morley community gymnasium.
There are dozens of chairs set up in a large circle with a drawing board to one side, and pinned behind it on the wall are a list of notes from the previous, inaugural meeting.
It isn't a food drive or even a charity event, though Pope has been known for her philanthropy within the community in the past.
This time, Pope, Powderface and Theresa Snow are on a mission to create a new group - the Stoney Community Association or preliminarily known as Talking Circles. Pope hopes it will be an organization where members from all three bands within her Stoney Nakoda Nation can gather, share ideas and eventually implement much needed inclusive programming.
"There's nothing here in the community focused on inclusivity of all ages, of all (genders). It's almost, unfortunately, segregated to the point where programs are exclusive and we found that community associations are more open to everybody," Pope said.
Age and gender are not the only divisive factors within the community, Pope explained. There are also segregation issues amongst family clans and bands within the Nation (Bearspaw, Chiniki and Wesley).
"We just have to learn to effectively communicate amongst each other," she said, adding that her last effort to create a similar group, though geared towards youth, was quickly dismantled due to the divisiveness in the nation.
In 2016, Pope and her husband, Matthew, created the Sacred Rocky Mountain Mini Thni Movement Association, a group dedicated to youth initiatives, but Stoney Tribal Administration rejected it.
Her board quickly dissipated with two of her members disassociating with the group due to lateral violence, she said. As well, two other members died, one of which was her younger brother who was murdered in the summer of 2016.
Pope said lateral violence within the Nation has caused many community members not to speak up with any ideas or opinions out of fear of reprisals.
"Most of them are so scared they might get assaulted or physically harmed in one way or another. So most of them, they have to have that conscious awareness that there is lateral violence (that) is unfortunately very strong in the community," Pope said.
"I'm hoping this is the new leaf...This is where they (Stoney Tribal Administration) can't just say no - we're from the community, we go through everything, good or bad. Too long we're separated," she said."
Pope said this time she hopes the group, now dedicated to all ages including youth, will make strides in bringing various funding and programs into the community with help from organizations within and outside the Nation.
"It's trying to be strategic and being aware of barriers in place, like how do we address all of the insecurities and how do we make long-term, sustainable programming," she said.
She also hopes to make others in her community aware of the resources available to them.
Powderface echoed Pope's sentiments and added that it will provide a platform for her community to speak up with the support of the group to back them.
"We have a lot of timid people here and it's hard to get them to come out, to get them to speak," Powderface said. "This is kind of us working our way with the community to make them know they have the right to stand, the right to be opinionated - they have ideas."
The agenda for the evening was set on addressing homelessness in the community and recreational programming that addresses a broader scope beyond hockey, which is the dominant sport on the reserve.
"My daughter, for example, likes to act. She likes to be her own little superstar. So I'd want to see programs like drama club come out here," she said.
Ever Active Schools (EAS), an organization dedicated to promoting and supporting healthy, active school communities has had ties to the Stoney Nation for several years.
Melissa Tierney, resilience counselor with EAS, said the organization is happy to support Pope's next endeavour however it can.
"We know Tasina, we know the passion she has for youth - she's such an advocate for her community," Tierney said. "We're definitely in support of what she's doing, we're in support of anything that's going to be good for the youth."
