St. Theresa Point educators thank longtime ally with tikinagan, ribbon shirt

A group of educators from St. Theresa Point First Nation showed their appreciation for a longtime ally witha custom-made tikanagan and ribbon shirt on Tuesday.

Stephanie Wood, the advocacy team lead for the First Nation's school, and other educators from St. Theresa Point, metStrini Reddy for lunch in Winnipeg to honour theretired educator turned volunteerand Order of Canada recipient.

"He's a very selfless person," she said.

"It's nice to give something to somebody that has given so much to everyone else."

Wood and her colleagues gaveReddythe tikinagan,a traditional tool used by First Nationsmothersto carry infants on their backs, and the shirtas appreciation for more than a decade's worth of behind the scenes work that he has done for St. Theresa Point,which is about 450kilometres north of Winnipeg.

Over the years, Reddy, 83, has helped the Anishininew (Oji-Cree) community with summer literacy programs, winter clothing and boots, sports equipment and a number of book drives.The most recent resulted in129 boxes of children's books for the community.

"I have never met anyone that has such an impact on people," said Wood.

"We want the spirit of the work that he doesto to be part of our school system, for our childrento appreciate themselves and one another, andto volunteer to do things, to volunteer their time, to be giving individuals, to be giving people of society."

'Being supportive in any way that I can'

Before he retired,Reddy wasthe first superintendent for the Frontier School Division, which operates 44 schools across the province,and made connections in northern Manitoba.

Hegrew up inSouth Africa during the apartheid era and said he was shocked when he witnessed racism and discriminationtowardIndigenous peoplein Canada.

"I got very involved with working with Indigenous communities right from the time I was here," said Reddy.

"When I retired, I decided this is what I wanted to do spend most of my time trying to do some positive things, being supportive in any way that I can, because I have learned so much from my Indigenous friends and I've grown and developed with them."

Reddyis the director of International Services for the Rotary Club of Winnipeg, and said Rotary Clubs across Canada are committing to reconciliation work.

Reddy said hiswork with Indigenous communities is not about getting gifts or recognition, but saidit wasmeaningful for him to be appreciated by the people of St. Theresa Point.

Lyle Wood, principal for the early years school in St. Theresa Point, saidbooks go a long way in helping with the community's literacy butthe relationship with Reddy is also important.

"We need different perspectives from different people and how like he has his own culture, we have our own culture," said the principal.

"So it's like those two cultures are meeting and we have to build bridges, not burn bridges."