Sage Broomfield

Tansi, my name is Sage Broomfield I am joining this program as a queer and non-status nehiyaw iskwew. My familial and cultural ties are to the sweet grass fields of Treaty 8 and 6 territories with my father, my late Kokum, and much of my paternal family belonging to the Sawridge Cree First Nation.  I grew up between my ancestral lands and as a guest on unceded Coast Salish territory on Vancouver Island, with my English Irish Mother.

In May of 2020, I completed a Bachelor of International Relations at the University of British Columbia where I focused on the intersection points of policy and technology, taking a keen interest in alternative energy sources. During my undergraduate degree, I was challenged by notions of 'progress', I was simultaneously fascinated by the prospect of future-building and disheartened by the linearity of the conventional development mindset. It is this tension that continues to excite me and inform my approach to energy sovereignty. 

Since completing my degree I have been a youth worker in an alternative education program for Indigenous youth housed by the Urban Native Youth Association (UNYA) in partnership with the Vancouver School Board (VSB).  This position has allowed me to further reflect on the importance of joy in learning and the need for mentally and emotionally empowered Indigenous youth and communities. I will bring these lessons with me as I re-engage with my own learning in the education system. 

I look forward to practicing what learning in good relation means in the MDP.