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“My past life has been very difficult because of one simple contract,” she wrote.

Beyond just history, Morrisseau Whiskeyjack’s speech tells her personal story of living the ongoing effects of Treaty 6 in Saddle Lake. She describes living in a house with leaks and mould, daycare and preschool with teachers who did not treat her well, and being sick often with little access to medicine or health care.

“The conditions I experienced in Saddle Lake is what a lot of First Nation families go through,” reads her speech. “The First Nations people are still waiting for what they were promised 143 years ago.”

At the urging of Elder Wilson Bearhead to turn her the speech into a book for the UNESCO competition, she wrote for hours — “I even skipped watching TV with my brother” — to turn it into a page-turner in just four days.

UNESCO is a United Nations agency focused on building international cooperation through educational, scientific and cultural pursuits.

Her grandfather, Merle Morrisseau, is her “biggest fan,” and helped her choose images to illustrate her personal story. The two travelled to Victoria, B.C., with her older brother Cashton last weekend to accept the award at Government House. “It was like a big palace,” she said.

Morrisseau Whiskeyjack will now become a child ambassador for UNESCO and her book will be published in six languages — plus Cree, she hopes — in a collection of stories from other youth around the world.

She is focusing her summer on water fights and finishing the fourth Harry Potter book, but she is already planning her next story about a young French boy in the 19th century who changes the treaty before it is signed.

“I am one of many strong and proud members of the Saddle Lake Cree Nation who have walked these lands for thousands of years,” her speech reads.” I will not allow my people and the problems they face to be ignored any longer.”

mwyton@postmedia.com

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