Focus on Youth

Nahanni Butte aims to support young members.

Nahanni Butte’s future gathered around a table in the Band office during a youth engagement session focused on career development that the First Nation organized in July. Photo courtesy of Soham Srimani.

Carpenter, artist, heavy equipment operator and band administrator, those are some of the career goals held by young adults in Nahanni Butte.

On July 21 the Nahanni Butte Dene Band held a youth engagement session focused on career development. The goal was to get the community’s youth together and discover what their goals are and how the Band can support them, said Soham Srimani, a member of the Band’s management committee.

“We want to engage the youth,” he said.

Dehcho Regional Helicopters (DRH) sponsored the event. Every year DRH makes a $2,000 sponsorship available to each of its seven Limited Partners to use to support a community program focused on youth. 

Approximately 13 youth ages 16 to 24 met in the band office’s conference room for the four hour session. Srimani along with Chief Steve Vital, Jennifer Konisenta, the Band’s recreation coordinator, and Helen Ekotla, the Band’s finance manager, shared information with the participants.

After discussing their career goals and the challenges they are facing, the Band staff provided tips on resume writing, courses they should take and the support they can get through the Band office.

Srimani is taking the information the participants shared at the session and using it to plan courses and training in the community. The goal is to prepare them to be Nahanni Butte’s future leaders, he said.

As a starting point, since the session a youth has accompanied the Band’s delegates every time they go to a meeting in Yellowknife.

 “We want to interest them more,” Srimani said.