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Anyone listening to Rose Thomas will walk away with a sense of pride and hope.
She is role model for young First Nation females; young and old alike. Her disposition
is one that is entrenched in the historical framework of our culture and tradition.
She wears her humility on her sleeve and she resonates a quiet confidence that
transcends a sense of humility, genuineness and peace.
As a member of Pimicikamak First Nation (Cross Lake, MB) she values the teachings,
ceremonies and teachings of our Creator. She cares for and about people; she wants
to emulate the traditional teachings and practices the ceremonies which will solidify
our Culture that she is so passionate about.
Rose is not out for personal accolades; rather she sees her role as a person who
wants to be at peace with herself who wishes to lead by example. She is very proud
and honoured to embrace the traditional lifestyle instilled in her through her
parents. As a result, she has the self confidence from her commitment to our Culture,
Traditional teachings and ceremonies.She recognizes we have many challenges in
life; however she is quick to point out that we cannot “cry about it”
because “crying about it will not get us anywhere”. She goes on to
say that “we need to get past it…..let it go…move on and be
happy.” Her approach is not new; however, it is very refreshing.
To substantiate her passion she sums up her culture and lifestyle in the following
quote. “I do live traditionally as I can, as much as one can in this day
and age. I smudge daily, I attend Sweats and other sacred ceremonies at my father’s
place on weekends. I am learning my ceremonies from my father, my mother and my
older brother. But more so, I do my best to live honestly, respectfully, and humbly”.She
goes onto outline her “goal is to raise my daughter to be a strong, honest,
resilient First Nation woman. I am a boxer. I train out of one of the boxing gyms
in Winnipeg. I have had one MABA fight in March 2009. I trained and fought that
bout to show my daughter she can do anything she puts her mind to”. For a
young person Rose has this to say about what a Role Model is: “I believe
a good role model is one who lives life, to the best of their ability, in a good
way. Others will recognize and respect that. A role model does not necessarily
need to be famous or in constant recognition.”
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