Tiana Weasel Moccasin, a first-year student in Lethbridge College’s Early Childhood Education program, is one of 338 young women selected to represent her federal riding and communicate her vision for Canada at a historic national initiative called Daughters of the Vote in Ottawa this week.
The initiative was organized by Equal Voice, a national, bilingual, multi-partisan organization dedicated to electing more women to all levels of political office in Canada. The event will overlap with International Women’s Day (March 8) and was designed to mark the 100th anniversary of women’s formal political engagement in 2016 along with Canada’s 150th birthday this year.
Weasel Moccasin is a Kainai High School graduate, powwow dancer and last year’s Miss Blackfoot Canada. She says she is thrilled at the opportunities that await her in Ottawa, including talking about the three issues she discussed in her application – the fentanyl crisis on First Nations reserves, the need for expanded FNMI education in all schools and missing and murdered Aboriginal women.
“You’ll speak with female leaders from the House of Commons, talking about your three main issues, learn how to run for office, find your courage, learn about indigenous rights and so much more,” she says.
Weasel Moccasin and 337 other young women between the ages of 18 to 23 from coast to coast to coast will also learn about Canada’s political institutions and those women and men serving in them, with the goal of becoming equipped and inspired to participate in the formal political sphere in the years and decades to come.
“I really wanted to show my people that I care and that I want the issues to be heard and their voices to be heard,” says Weasel Moccasin. “I want to show them how far I’ll go to show them that I value our culture and history.”
Weasel Moccasin speaks passionately about the fentanyl crisis and the need to advocate for effective support systems to help children and youth in unstable environments. “There are children who are orphans now because of this drug,” she says. “Families have been torn apart because of it.”
She also advocates for the expansion of teaching Aboriginal history in all Canadian schools. “I feel it’s important for Aboriginal history to be recognized,” she says. “I don’t want people who are a minority to feel they don’t have a voice.”
The issue of missing and murdered Aboriginal women is the final topic she would like to work on and advocate for. “This is something we face on a daily basis,” she says. “I worry for families who aren’t able to find their loved one out there, and I want to help address this.”
Weasel Moccasin, who met Prime Minister Justin Trudeau when he visited the Blood Reserve last year, says she can envision a future as an elected leader, and looks forward to learning more about the process as a part of the Daughters of the Vote initiative.
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UPDATE: March 31, 2017 - After returning from a five-day trip to Ottawa for the Daughters of the Vote initiative, Lethbridge College student Tiana Weasel Moccasin is back on Lethbridge College's campus.
She calls her experience of attending workshops, listening to speakers and sitting in Parliament, "really powerful."
Weasel Moccasin was one of 338 young women from across Canada who were chosen to attend the event. She says the experience provided a boost to her self-confidence.
"Sometimes I felt ashamed to be Native and a girl and I felt like my voice didn't matter," says Weasel Moccasin. "But after going there, I don't feel like that anymore. I'll never let a man or somebody else make me feel like I'm not worthy of doing anything."
Weasel Moccasin, a student in the Early Childhood Education program, says she wants to become a lawyer and work to make her country a better place.
"I want to help people who are facing injustices and are being ignored," says Weasel Moccasin. "If they don't have a voice, I want to be that person for them."
LISTEN: Weasel Moccasin talks about her experiences in Ottawa: