Accompanied by their parents and mentors of the state of the west of Wisconsin, the group carried skirts and handmade tape vests with seven colored bands, each symbolizing a sustainable development objective (SDG) of personal importance, such as good health and gender equality.
He also visited the UN in New York for the first time that day was Brenda Reynolds, a social worker from Canada and a member of Fishing Lake First Nation. She was joined by her husband, Robert Buckle, and the 12 -year -old granddaughter, Lillian, and had one of her own tape skirts for the occasion.
Mrs. Reynolds will receive the Nelson Rolihla Mandela of the United Nations 2025 on July 18. The prize, presented every five years, recognizes two people whose life work exemplifies the service to humanity. Mrs. Reynolds will receive the award together with Kennedy Odede, a social businessman from Kenya.
Mirian Masaquiza Jerez, a UN Social Affairs officer, and Brenda Reynolds, receiver of the Nelson Rolihla Mandela Prize of 2025, Nelson Rolihlahla Mandela, brief indigenous young people who visit the UN headquarters in New York.
Change agents
After a UN tour (unanimously enjoyed) and a quick stop for lunch and memories in the UN bookstore (where a teddy hummingbird was changed to a green turtle called “coral”), the group was installed in a report room.
On stage, Mrs. Reynolds joined Mirian Masaquiza Jerez, a Kichwa woman from Ecuador and a social affairs officer in the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (undesa), easily recognized in the UN corridors for always using the traditional gift of her indigenous community of Salasaka,
“Wherever you go to public spaces, use who you are,” he said. “The UN is the place to raise your voice. Be free to be who you are.”
Encourage them to speak their languages ​​and honor their cultures, Mrs. Masaquiza urged young students to see themselves as agents of change.
“You didn’t come by invitation. You came because you belong,” he said. “You are the future. You are the present. As indigenous, we have the space. Use it.”
A painful past
Mrs. Reynolds shared her personal history with the group, reflecting on her early career as a counselor at the Indian residential school of Gordon in Saskatchewan, the last residential school financed by the federal government in Canada.
He described seeing children as young as five separated from their families for one year at a time and issued shirts with numbers instead of their names written inside: “The only one again that I had seen people identified that way was when the Jews had numbers tattooed in them.”
During his first year in Gordon’s in 1988, a young woman confided that she had been abused. The next morning, 17 would be presented, launching what would become the first case of important residential school abuse of the province.
Mrs. Reynolds, then labeled as a “uproar”, helped to shape the agreement of the Indian residential schools and advising the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. His work has hit hundreds of thousands of indigenous people throughout Canada.
The room echoed laughter, noddings of knowledge and tears, and phrases of Ojibwe and other languages ​​represented by indigenous peoples in the room, including potowatomi, Ho-Chunk, Ojibwe, Menomonee, Oneida, Navajo, Hawaii, Icender and Afro-Inceigenal communities.
Brenda Reynolds, winner of the Nelson Rolihla Mandela of the United Nations of 2025, poses with a statue of the South African president who died at the UN headquarters in New York.
Full circle
The young people came from the daughters of tradition and the sons of tradition, part of a long -term healing initiative of the Milwaukee Intergenerational Welfare Institute (Hir), which supports indigenous communities with mental health at no cost and other services.
The founder, Lea S. Denny, wants indigenous young people to be seen in power positions. This particular group has been together for eight years, and some went to university in autumn.
A father, who attended his three daughters, reflected on the breeding of indigenous young people in the digital age. “We want them to access the world,” he said, “but also protects the inner world that we want to appreciate.” He said he also offered the advice that “if you don’t see yourself on the screen, sometimes you have to be the first.”
The day ended with hugs and exchanges of handmade leis as a symbol of life breath and sharing a good source of life.
They will meet on July 18 to see Mrs. Reynolds accept the Mandela award in the General Assembly Hall.
Before that, a planned detour to visit Times Square.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Reynolds and her family discussed their plans for a Broadway show. When leaving, he stopped to embrace a real -size bronze statue of Nelson Mandela, a gift from the South African government to the UN.
“I started my work with children,” he said. “And today I talked to the children. This feels complete for me.”