COURAGE, CULTURE, AND CANDOR: TRACIE LÉOST AMPLIFIES THE VOICES OF INDIGENOUS
YOUTH BY ALEX CARTER
Métis youth are using sports as a platform to spread awareness about Indigenous issues while creating a space for Indigenous youth to “get up and rise” to explore and celebrate their identity and culture.
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hile attending high school, Tracie Léost learned that if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. An Indigenous studies assignment and a personal challenge would carry her on a journey that would shed light on a deliberate human-rights issue and change the course of history in Canada. As a Métis—a distinct Indigenous people recognized by the federal government— Léost grew up embracing her Indigenous culture and identity, despite being raised in a predominantly white neighbourhood in Manitoba, resulting in a sense of never fitting in. However, when Léost was in grade ten, she participated as a runner in the North American Indigenous Games (NAIG). There, Léost recalls her first experience being in a space supportive of her Indigenous identity and talent, “it was really empowering…I always say, ‘that’s where that seed was planted.’’’ Her participation in NAIG gave Léost the courage to explore more of her Indigenous history and culture.
