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Hebron Sinclair Jr.
Written by Chanda Hunnie
In an emotional speech that had the audience close to tears, nineteen year-old Hebron Sinclair Jr. made his point simply and clearly – “Hands up if you know someone who is in jail. Hands up if someone close to you has committed suicide.” A sea of hands rose in the crowd of 300 Aboriginal people gathered for the annual National Day of Action.
Hebron Sinclair Jr., a regional leader of the Manitoba First Nations Youth Council (MFNYC), praised the people in attendance asserting, “It tells me you want to see a difference.”
First Nation youth leaders in Manitoba are a growing force. Many youth are taking the future of their lives and culture in their hands by seeking to become more involved in shaping it. Of a total of 98,197 First Nations people in Manitoba, 62,846, or 64%, are under age 29 — about 10 years younger, on average, than the overall Canadian population.
The Manitoba First Nation Youth Council Initiative is a positive effort by Manitoba’s First Nation Youth to establish a recognized voice for the First Nation youth population. The MFNYC mission statement states, “Our Youth are our future and they must be prepared to accept the challenges the future holds.”
First Nations people continue to be over represented by the social ills faced by society and there is a need for youth to actively take a role in creating solutions. Hebron’s motto is, “It’s time to move forward.” He believes, and strongly stands by the idea, of community solidarity. He equates it with the analogy of a wildfire; “It’s like a flame. If you strike a lighter you have but a small flame. If you set that flame to a tree, you have an unrelenting fire.”
Hebron is from Lake St. Martin First Nation. Located 260 kilometres north west of Winnipeg, the community is located between Lake Manitoba and Lake St. Martin at the northern tip of Manitoba’s picturesque Interlake. This area is an ecological paradise and abounds in boreal forest wildlife. Black bear, moose, and waterfowl thrive in the area’s lush landscape. The diversity and health of the local species however, is dependant on the state of the ecosystem – an ecosystem that is under threat from activities that are degrading and polluting surrounding lands and waters.
“It’s all about respect. You respect Mother Earth like you respect your fellow humankind. When we tear down trees, it’s like ripping off Her skin.” Plainly revealed, Hebron says, “When we destroy the earth, we destroy ourselves.”
The solutions aren’t always easy or obvious but Hebron believes a lot of the answers can be found in his traditional culture. He advocates for youth to reconnect with their traditional values and beliefs. For millennia, First Nations have been stewards of the land and have effectively managed and cared for these resources. But as the elders’ knowledge is continually being lost, wisdom that was once so prevalent is now something that requires diligent cultivation by the growing youth population.
“We aren’t trying hard enough. We need to do this [stand up], and we need to do it everyday. The future is now in our hands. The elders have fought for us for a long time. Now it’s our turn.”
