Hailey Sutherland walked the runway four times during a fashion arts festival, an event focused on Indigenous-made fashion, textiles and crafts
It was 2017, and Hailey Sutherland was living in Windsor when her father became ill. She felt she needed to return to her home community, Constance Lake, an Oji-Cree First Nation located near Hearst in Treaty 9 territory. Now, not only is she pursuing an education that will support the people of her community, but also, she is pushing herself to be an example, to represent her nation in the arts, and in health care.
Sutherland walked for high profile designers like Metis artists Evan Ducharme and Amy Mallouf, as well as Lesley Hampton from Temagami First Nation, and Celeste Pedri-Spade of Lac des milles lacs First Nation. Pedri-Spade was formerly a professor at Laurentian and lived in Sudbury for some time, something the two women bonded over at the show.
“It was so welcoming,” said Sutherland. “There was so much diversity in sizes, in skin color, and it just felt so great. And it came together all at once, and it was very emotional.” “I always adored looking at older pictures of when my dad was young, or when my kôhkom was young, and I always wondered, ‘why isn't this encouraged, why isn’t it in the media today?’ We're beautiful people, and we have so many talents and gifts.
More than anything, she said she began to suffer “imposter syndrome,” the feeling that she wasn’t enough, that she was pretending to be something she couldn’t be. “But this was the confidence boost I needed to keep on going.” She would like to focus her work with the youth of her community, not only because she didn’t feel she was able to have “big dreams” as a child, but she knows that is still the case. When Sutherland went back to Constance Lake to care for her father, she was able to work as a teacher there, working with a small class of children in Grade 5 and 6.
She said that she loved her time working with the children, but soon realized she was limited in her ability to help them.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Britain’s rail network faces major disruption again as staff stage walk out over pay disputeThe 24-hour strike by more than 40,000 members of the RMT and TSSA unions forced around half of Britain’s rail network to close
Read more »
Sunflower Festival about to bloom at area farmFamily-friendly walk-through attraction will be held at Foreman Farms starting in mid-August
Read more »
Suspect sought in east-end sex assault investigationToronto Police are alerting the public of another sexual assault on east\u002Dend walking trails.
Read more »
Fear for other victims after Sudburian taken in grandparent scamAn arrest has been made after an elderly Sudbury resident was scammed for $9,000, but police suspect there may be other victims
Read more »
Britain’s rail network faces major disruption again as staff stage walk out over pay disputeThe 24-hour strike by more than 40,000 members of the RMT and TSSA unions forced around half of Britain’s rail network to close
Read more »
Hockey Canada CEO says he will not resign despite calls for overhaul to organization‘I will not walk away from the demands you have rightly put before us,’ Hockey Canada’s CEO Scott Smith says, repeating variations of the statement to committee members
Read more »