Alyson

Hey there, I’m Aly, I’m 18 and in my senior year at high school. I am a ¼ Maliseet and I currently reside on the Woodstock First Nation with my mom and dad. I have 2 older half sisters that I get along with great. I am also an aunt to 3 nieces and 3 nephews.

I have many interest points which include snowboarding, hunting, camping, 4-wheeling, art, music, and cars and trucks.

I started snowboarding back in 2002 when I got my first board for Christmas and have been riding ever since. Currently my friend and I are making videos of our boarding and would love to have our own snowboard shop-someday. Haha. We both love to design our own boards and styles.

Hunting has been a passion to me since I was very little when my dad started to take me on hunting trips with him. I started our partridge hunting at the time and now I have shot my first bull moose in October of 2006.

Camping is also another activity that I have been doing pretty much my whole life. I simply enjoy being out in the woods or the outdoors. Being in nature is what I love to do the most. My favorite place to go is to the lake where I go 4-wheeling, fishing, hunting, build lean-tos and even draw.

Drawing is a passion of mine that I hope to pursue a career in the near future. I have already been accepted into a college where I will be enrolled in a Graphic Design course. I hope to open my own Graphics shop where I will be working with lettering and business signs and car decals. If this goes well, like I said above, I would love to turn it into designing snowboards and such-even if it is just designing the graphics for boards.

My musical interests include pretty much all kinds of metal and rock. Just a few of my favorite bands are H.I.M., Van Halen, KISS, CKY, AC/DC and lots more-too many to name.

Cars and trucks-what more can I say. I live off of car shows-but old cars. I hate new cars with a passion. I like the classic, American muscle cars from the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s. Anything after that, other than trucks, I dislike. A few of my favorite ones are the ’69 Corvette Stingray, ’72 Plymouth ‘Cuda, and ’58 Plymouth Fury.

I also love to watch movies. The movies I really enjoy are horror and comedy. A few that I like are The Car (1977), Christine (1983), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2 (1986) and The Hitcher (2007).

Go check out the website to learn more about my culture and where I live: [|www.woodstockfirstnation.com]




 * Journal Entry #1

February 19, 2007 - Letter to** **Rigoberta Menchu Tum**

Dear Rigoberta Menchu Tum,

I would like to congratulate you on your winning of the Nobel Peace Prize for the work that you have done for the social justice and rights for all indigenous people.

After reading about your accomplishments in life and also the hardships that you went through so young, I was astonished. I must say you worked hard and put forth your best and came out on top. Everything that you have done all of us indigenous peoples has changed the way the ‘outside’ world perceives all of our cultures and traditions.

Having said that, I would just like to say a huge and great Thank You for everything that you have done to change how we live our lives and for reviving our heritage. It truly means a lot to not just me, but every indigenous person on earth.

Sincerely,

Alyson


 * //Journal Entry #2//

February 19, 2007** **- Similarities and Differences between Latvia and Canada**

//Similarities://

+Baltic tribespeople settled along the Baltic Sea and, lacking a centralized government, fell prey to more powerful peoples = Canadian First Nations settled along the Atlantic, Actic, and Pacific Oceans and were later prey to the more powerful settlers from Europe.

+German was the official language of the region = English/French became the language of the region.

+They preserved their language, customs, and folklore = Same for Canadian First Nations.

//Differences://

+Was put under a dictatorship = Canada was never involved in a dictatorship.


 * //Journal Entry #3//

February 19, 2007 -** **Identify three events from that reading that match our definition of Inequality.**

Three events that occurred during the Holocaust in Riga, Latvia that match our definition of Inequality were as follows:

+Segregating the Jews in the ghettos because of their religion

+No legal trial given in the case of Jewish Police officers in the suspicion that they were participating in resistance activities. They were shot and killed just on a base of suspicion, nothing more. No evidence.

+The overall experience was about inequality and nothing that the German Nazis did to the Jews was ever considered equal. The Jews were considered no more than animals to the Nazi regime.


 * //Journal Entry #4//

February 23, 2007 - Youth Injustice in North America and Around the World.**

Within North America examples of youth injustice that were found are as follows: +In one example, a 17 year old boy was exploited as a drug informant by police and later killed by a drug gang. +Another example was a 16 year old boy was forced by police to make a false statement and was sentenced to spend a year in an adult jail system. He did nothing wrong. The full detail stories on each of these two cases can be read at the link below: http://www.sonomacountyfreepress.com/police/mistreatment-of-youth.html Youth injustices within other countries were as follows: +One case in South Wales was a 16 year old boy who was taken from his home Christmas afternoon and was supposedly questioned about a break in and was left alone in a jail cell after. Police neglected to search him of all possession and came back later to find that he had hung himself with a cord he had in his pocket. The full case can be read at the following link: http://www.4wardever.org/youth-police-restraint/2005/10/13/david-parsons.html

All these stories related to our definition of injustice because of how others treated younger people. The police have a duty to fulfill and not doing that duty may result in injustices to other occurring. That is what happened in these cases.


 * //Journal Entry #5//

March 14, 2007 - Bullying Articles**


 * 1) 1. Bullying In School

In this girl’s case she was treated with unbelievable unfairness; not only by her peers, but by the school as well. I have had a similar case such as this happen to me.

When I was in grade 4 I was sitting in the gymnasium at an assembly and one of my peers turned around and called me a savage. I have Maliseet First Nations in me and hearing that hurt. The worst part was that there was a teacher standing right beside us and they didn’t do a thing about it. It has been many years now since that incident, but I still remember it clearly.


 * 1) 2. Homophobic Bullying.

This incident is very common around our area. People who bully and hurt those who are different only do it because they aren’t comfortable with how that person is. An incident like this happened at our school and it was very upsetting.

One day when I was sitting having lunch I found out that one of the guys in our school was assaulted just because he is gay. I didn’t really know him at the time, but as the school year went on I got to know him a bit more and found out what a great person he is. He has a great personality and I couldn’t understand why someone would do something like they did. It was upsetting to know that people like the assaulter existed in our school.


 * 1) 3. Religious Bullying.

The girl in the incident was terrorized only because of her religion. she has he right to practice her own religion and feel safe where she is, but that was taken away from her because of one incident at school.

I have never had an incident similar to this happen due to my religion and can’t imagine what she must have been thinking; whether it be if she could trust people or whether it be having faith and continuing to be strong. If I were having went through this I would have wanted to go to the safety of my home also. She has every right to wear what she wants and practice her religion in a safe environment without harassment.


 * 1) 4. Cyber Bullying.

This incident presented was on its way to becoming very extreme. What started it all was the parent of a victim read the threatening e-mail sent by two teen girls. In the end charges of death threats and assault with a weapon were set upon the girls.

I, myself, have never received such e-mails but can only imagine what it was like for those who go them. It would certainly break someone down and damage self esteem and put fear into them. Some incidents even lead to suicide.


 * 1) 5. Bullying from the Perpetrator’s Point of View

Not only was this woman the perpetrator, she had also been the victim who then turned to old students to help her get back at those who bullied her. Now she is embarrassed and ashamed of what she has done.

I have never experienced bullying to this extreme, other than being called something that I’m not and I mostly keep to myself.