SOAR WITH BOLD EAGLE
A Canadian Forces summer program taught Grade 12 student Dylan Carrier-henry to believe in herself.
If anyone asks young Dylan Carrier-henry, “What did you do on your summer vacation?” she has an inspiring answer. The Indigenous 17-year-old, now in Grade 12 in Regina, spent six weeks taking part in Bold Eagle, a culturally sensitive, challenging, confidence-building experience run by the Canadian Armed Forces. The six-week summer employment program is conducted in Wainwright, Alta. for First Nations, Metis or Inuit youth who are from western Canada or northwestern Ontario. It combines Indigenous culture with military training, with the aim of developing life skills such as selfconfidence, self-discipline, physical fitness, teamwork and respect. Dylan, of Cree ancestry, is a member of Piapot First Nation who grew up in Regina. She strikes a visitor to the family home as being calm, intelligent, good-humoured, fit and, yes, self-confident. How much of the latter might be attributable to her participation in Bold Eagle? “Before the program, I kind of felt really self-conscious; I didn’t have much confidence in myself, I didn’t know I could really be capable of doing it, anything like that.”
She says, “But after going through what we went through, and doing what we did, it made me see myself way more differently. I definitely do feel more confident, I believe in myself more. I don’t know, it just made me see the world differently.” The Bold Eagle program is composed of two parts — a week of a cultural camp, followed by five weeks of basic military training. The cultural camp encompasses instruction in traditional Indigenous values by Indigenous elders and cultural staff. Some of the young participants are familiar with many of the teachings, while others are not so much. “It was very uplifting, to find out more about who you are, and your background,” Dylan said of the first week. “It was just more like a bonding time for us, to get to know who we are, and to form friendships and bonds with your peers. And it just gave you more confidence about going into the program, and actually starting to begin the (military) training, knowing that you’ll have people by your side who’ll be going through the things with you.” The military training is conducted by Canadian Armed Forces instructors. It includes weapons handling, navigation with a map and compass, first aid, drill, outdoor field craft and survival skills. It also includes long hours. Dylan said they woke up at 5 a.m. and went to bed around 11 p.m. “It was worth it, though,” she said with a smile. Several parts of the training made a big impression on her. “I think one of the biggest moments for me was probably the gas hut,” she said with a laugh. “It was so scary. Before going into it, and seeing people go before you, and how they reacted to it made me even more nervous. “But as long as you knew your drills, you’d be OK.”
Rappelling was another standout experience. “It was really tall, that little tower.” She recalled they also did field exercises for three days, including navigating from point to point at night using a map and compass, and sleeping outside with only a tarp attached to trees for shelter. “You just sleep on the ground,” she said with another chuckle. “It got pretty cold, too.” There was an obstacle course, which was very much an exercise in teamwork. Dylan’s mother, Vanessa Kumar, had to remind her of the weapons training, including taking a gun apart and putting it back together. “Taking the gun apart wasn’t that hard,” she said. “I think the hardest part for me was probably shooting it. I’d never shot a gun before, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect. It was pretty easy, though. “And you have the great instructors that are helping you get through, too.” Dylan was modest about her impressive achievements in the course; her mother had to remind her to mention that her supervisors named her the Second Place Candidate of her 43-member platoon.
It was just more like a bonding time for us, to get to know who we are, and to form friendships and bonds with your peers.