Ravens take flight in Esquimalt
Military training and education program gives aboriginal youth a path into Canada's armed forces, and their journey's only just begun
Ordinary Seaman Meagan Anishinabie performs the Jingle Dress dance at the Naval Officer's Training Centre in Esquimalt, B.C., on Thursday. She is one of 48 graduates of the Raven youth initiative, a regional program formed in 2003 to build bridges between aboriginal communities and the military.
Ordinary Seaman Justine Black from Yellowknife joins in a traditional dance at the Nixon building in Esquimalt on Thursday.
The Raven program is one of three youth employment projects for native youth in the military.
Bill Stewart wears the Moon Star emblem, a Ross family symbol from Ucluelet, B.C., at Thursday's graduation ceremony.
Participants in the Raven youth initiative join in their graduation parade at the Naval Officers Training Centre in Esquimalt, B.C., on Thursday. Raven is a summer training program first established in 2003 to build bridges between aboriginal communities and the military.
B.C. Lieutenant-Governor Steven Point salutes the Raven graduates.
Ordinary Seaman Jontae Desroches from Laloche, Sask., stands in uniform with his fellow graduates.