CARLYLE — Jade Littlechief had a past that was less than perfect, but he chose to make something of himself instead of dwelling on the negative. This included him completing high school at a later age and looking forward to a career that he had always wanted.
Jade was born and raised at White Bear First Nation (WBFN). His mother was in a relationship that made things difficult for Jade and his older brother. He attended Carlyle Elementary School and finished one year of high school at Gordon F. Kell High School before moving to Regina. At the time, he also had four other siblings under the age of 12.
A big influence in his life was his grandfather Angus Littlechief, who passed away in 2016, and was a father figure to Jade growing up. He looked up to his grandfather, but after his passing, the issues at home became too much.
When he moved to Regina, he jumped around from school to school, feeling very unsettled, but finally found a school where he would stay at, but before he completed Grade 12, due to complications at home, Jade would drop out of school and go into the work force and move away from home at the age of 18.
For five to six years, he stayed out of school. During this time, Jade met his partner Elaine Pinacie and today they have two children. Mila Littlechief-Pinacie is their five-year-old daughter, and Myra Littlechief-Pinacie is their two-year-old daughter.
During the years that Jade was not in school, he sought work as a youth care worker. This experience really had an impact on how he viewed his experiences and how he could use them to be better to others and through this journey, help other young people.
When he saw and heard the backgrounds of Indigenous youth in care and heard their stories, it really steered him in the direction of positive changes. He became a role model and today this is the mentality that he has now.
“I knew I needed to show future generations that it is possible to set goals and inspirations for yourself,” said Jade. “I gained a lot of maturity that fortunately helped throughout my experiences in the past.” The trauma that he had experienced in his past was not going to set his future path.
When Jade returned to high school to complete his Grade 12 diploma, he still had no idea what he wanted to do. Spending years in the city, he missed the connection with nature and thought of a career in that direction, but was not sure in what direction he wanted to go.
It was not until he went to the museum in Regina that it hit him. He saw all the wildlife props, and he knew that he wanted to get back to being around wildlife as his career. He spoke to his teachers and guidance counsellors to get the information he needed to become a conservation officer.
Jade has just completed his first year in becoming a conservation officer, but he was also surprised by receiving awards for his roles. He received the Indigenous Role Model selection, and this was a big confidence booster for him. A prior Indigenous Role Model had motivated him to accept the selection of becoming a role model.
His second award left him speechless. On June 19, he received the Reconciliation in Action Award during the convocation in Prince Albert. Jade did not even know that he had been nominated for such an honour. To the best of his knowledge, he received this acknowledgement for bridging gaps towards Indigenous values and views in the field of environmental law.
He has spoken a great deal about his plan to return his knowledge to his nation so that they can practice their inherent right to self-determination and self-governance. “I bring a unique perspective with both conservation law and Indigenous resource rights. I did not expect to receive these awards in my first year, to be honest,” said Jade. “I feel that I was chosen for them for a reason.”
Jade is thrilled to be able to get back to nature through his career and will complete one more year of schooling to finish his degree as a conservation officer. It is his way of showing that no matter what life throws at a person, it is up to the person themselves how they are going to handle it, and he feels being positive is the best way.
