Yvonne Lepage’s understanding of acceptance, community engagement and Métis relations

By Laura Mushumanski, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

(ANNews) – Growing up as a Métis woman with ancestral ties to Fort Chipewyan, Alberta, Yvonne Lepage is proud of where she comes from – and she continues to support our Métis relations in any way she can. “Stay strong and resilient in the face of adversity in all forms. All kinds of things will be thrown your way, it’s when you stop getting up is the problem,” she says. “You will get knocked down, but you will get back up – [you will] get stronger when you keep going. And there have been many times when I had to do that.” This is the advice that LePage, a self-employed consultant, said she would gift to her younger self, and these experiences led her to work within Métis specific relations in various community engagement roles throughout the nation.

Over the years, Lepage has come to know the importance of, “when we are stronger together as Aboriginal peoples versus being divided, we have stronger communities,” and it all starts with learning how to collaborate by being good to one another. “This is part of growing – what to study, to think about, what not [to be a part of], what is meaningful, and how to bring this back to community and our nations,” said Lepage, about how she has come to understand who she is as a Métis woman.

Métis people are known for their mixed heritage amongst First Nations and European Settlers. The beautiful union between the two cultures merged their own group of people, the Métis, based on acceptance, understanding, and togetherness. Lepage’s ancestral lineage passed these teachings to her and taught her how to thrive in the world. These teachings that she walks with daily continue to gift her perseverance, courage, and compassion on how to build meaningful and genuine relations. The relations that Lepage sustains with Métis peoples and their surrounding communities are rooted in understanding how they can co-exist in harmonious ways. “I[‘ve] seen and learned a lot over the years [that helped me] understand who I am today,” Lepage shared about how a philosophy of living a good life was embedded into how she came to understand relationships.

Lepage comes from a heartfelt place of understanding and authenticity when navigating differences amongst cultures. Her own lived experiences and foundational teachings of what it means to be a Métis person is emphasized on the importance of collaborating, so historical events of hardships do not repeat themselves. This understanding of how to go about achieving and maintaining good relations has taken Yvonne into consulting for Indigenous relations, business and economic development, and who she is as a Métis woman – in honour and sustainability of the Métis peoples.

Yvonne Lepage is self-employed as a consultant, with a rich and vast knowledge within policy development, protocol and cultural awareness, and Métis rights and accommodations within government relations.