Mistissini hosts Quebec Aboriginal Science Fair
About 500 of Canada’s top young scientists have a chance to win almost $1 million in awards, prizes and scholarships at the Canada-Wide Science Festival (CWSF) later this year. For Aboriginal students from Quebec, it all began with secondary students getting top honours at the 2016 Quebec Aboriginal Science Fair (QASF) held April 4-7 in Mistissini.
The 2016 science fair, organized by the Cree School Board and the Quebec Aboriginal Science and Engineering Association (QASEA), hosted 49 teams from across Quebec in the competition at the Mistissini Sports Complex. The QASEA is a non-profit organization, whose goal is to promote science and engineering among Aboriginal youth.
Awards were offered in five categories: Grade 5, Grade 6, Secondary 1, Secondary 2 & 3 and Secondary 4 & 5. The best team in the Secondary 4 & 5 category will also win a visit to a Université du Québec campus.
Secondary teams who achieved top honour at the Mistissini fair will represent the Aboriginal students of Quebec at the CWSF, where Canada’s top young scientists will showcase their real-world solutions to some of the world’s most important issues. The festival will take place May 18-20 in Montreal.
Cash prizes for the Mistissini science fair were awarded to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd place teams. In addition to the cash prizes for the top three teams, four awards of excellence were given to students that performed exceptionally well for Communication, Cultural Heritage, Environment and Health.
This year, the event hosted seven out of nine Cree communities from the James Bay region. Other Aboriginal teams came from Témiscaming, Longue Pointe, Kahnawake, Puvirnituq, Salluit, Wemotaci and Manawan.
The Mistissini Cultural Department hosted a feast for attendees while the Mistissini Youth Council organized activities for visiting youth. The Cultural Department also arranged to have Elders on hand throughout the event to help out.
Winning secondary teams that will be competing at the Canada-Wide Science Festival met on the final day of the fair, April 7, with Marc Lalande, President and Treasurer of QASEA, and Martine Couture, Coordinator of the Aboriginal Quebec Autochtone Region.
“This event is so important for our youth,” said Curran Jacobs, a schoolteacher in Kahnawake, who chaperoned for the fair. “It gives students something to strive for with their projects. It also allows them the opportunity to have their academic effort recognized and it’s especially important for Indigenous youth to be a part of science initiatives because they are our future.”
