Piikani First Nation woman helping build bridges between business and Indigenous communities

Chief David Crowchild was considered a trailblazerfor his work bringing Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities together.

On Wednesday, an award named in his honour was given toShawnaMorning Bull of the PiikaniFirst Nation for her dedication to improving the lives and the economy of Indigenous people.

Morning Bull,the businessmanager for the Community Futures Treaty 7 group, is following in the chief's footsteps by helping small businesses and entrepreneurs.

At the same ceremony, Wacey Little Light, who studies ecotourism and outdoor leadership at Mount Royal University, received the Aboriginal Youth Achievement Award.

Morning Bull spoke to The Homestretch this week about her work seeking socially innovative ways to help nurture a new generation ofFirst Nations entrepreneurs.

Q: How do you feel?
A: Excited and humbled.

Q: Tell us about the award you received.
A: It recognizes individualsor groups of people or organizations that bridge gaps culturally or [by providing] employment training or are just out there, connecting those communities between Indigenous andnon-Indigenous.

Q: What's your involvement?
A: I've been on [the Community Futures Treaty 7 group] board since 2011. We're working on different projects solar power, wind becauseas you know, in southern Alberta, we have lots ofwind.And where there's wind, there's sun.

We're working on some projects down there, and it's pretty exciting to be working in economicdevelopment. Smart communities can be self-sustaining.

Q: Talk about bridging that gap between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous community.

A: We have a resource group that started in 2010 and at that time, there was only threeof us at the table: the Blood Tribe, AlbertaIndian Invest Corporation, and Community Futures Treaty 7.

Now it's grown where we have a group of MPP post-secondary institutions, like SAIT, Junior Achievement, to name just a few, [as well as] the bands Tsuut'ina, Blood Tribe, Piikani. We bring them together at the table andtalk about the challenges our entrepreneurs face.

Q: What are some of the obstacles they face?
A: Capital. Access to capital. Collateral.

Q: Why?
A: There's not a lot of jobs on the First Nations that allow people to save money so when they do try andstart a small business, they need equity and so if the lender is going toput some skin the game, they want the entrepreneur to put some skin in the game.

Sometimes thechallenge issaving that money. Often times, they're working paychequeto paycheque.

Q: What needs to happen?

A: Awareness. Working with the individuals, [providing them with]trainingand allowing them to come to the table and say, 'these are options for you and there are ways to save money.'

Some of the First Nations have grant equity programs that can help them utilize that service, so they can take that equity to the bank but it's putting a businessplan together with financial statements and sometimes, if you'renot keen on doing that, you'regoing todrag yourfeet.

Q: What kind of support are you getting?

A: At Community Futures Treaty 7 and our resource group, we all work together to have training and we work together to have a symposium we usually have onein the fall and this year, we're going tohave our 20th annual youth entrepreneur symposium at Grey Eagle [Casino].

It's [all about] bringing together individuals who are like-minded that want tostart these businessesand bringing these resources in to give them opportunity and ideas that they can use and share.

Q: Do you have any success stories to share?
A: There is an individual who came to our camp back in 2008 or 2009 who put together a businessplan with his group and presented it to a bankers' panel. The bankers' panel gave them awesome feedback, andthey ended up starting a restauranton Siksika.

There's another girl. She was working retail andactually wanted to be a crafts person and make earrings andbeadwork so she left her job, and took a leap of faith, and after getting it done, was actuallyinvited to put some of her wares in the Golden Globe swag bags.

Q: Are you developing role models who can serve as an inspiration for the younger generation?
A: Absolutely. In our youth symposium, we have panels andbring back these entrepreneurs to talk about their success stories. And where they come andwhere they've gone to, and some have even become facilitators. We do have our group of mentors, helping andtalking about the good, the bad andthe ugly [of starting your own business].

• MORE CALGARY NEWS|NEB seeks contractor to monitor 'vast amounts' ofonlinechatter for potential security threats
• MORE CALGARY NEWS|Elbow River swimmers warned to 'be cautious' on section still contaminated by fecalcoliforms
• Readmorearticles byCBCCalgary, like us onFacebookfor updates and subscribe to ourCBC Calgary newsletterfor the day's news at a glance.

With files fromThe Homestretch