ASALUTETOEllenMcDonald

As we compiled updates from our RP-CWY participants, we continue to
discover the accomplishments of past participants who carried on the ideals of
Canada World Youth, making a difference in the fields they have chosen,
impacted the communities they lived in and those whose lives they have
affected. Every month, we will honor these individuals. This month we salute:

ELLEN McDONALD-TORNG
Community Development
RP-CWY 1977-78

Nisga'a Adoption

        Ellen lists her greatest achievement as being adopted in two
First Nations: Nisga'a and Cree.

       She was adopted by Sadie Tait, a wonderful Nisga'a
Matriarch, who is a member of the Nisga'a Eagle tribe with the
beaver as a subcrest. It is a long process to be adopted into a
Nisga'a tribe. The family must first announce their intention of
adopting you in public, and then they train you for a few years
before the actual adoption. The intent is to make you feel at home
and to give you a family for help and guidance. On her adoption,
she was given the wonderful name, Nax-nok Ksim Ts'imilx. (the
x and k should be underlined) which, translated to English means
magical being of the beaver or She who makes magic happen.
The late Rod Robinson once told her that the Nax Nok are
believed to be gifts from this “Great Spirit.” She loves her adopted
family and is closest to her brother Alver Tait and his wife Lillian.
Alver and Lillian are both artists living in Aiyansh, British Columbia.
She feels greatly honoured to have received this name and will
always be there for her family whenever they need her.

Ellen believes that First Nations will rise to take their rightful place in
this land.

Public announcement of her adoption in front of Sadie Tait's
house in Prince Rupert.

Albert Tait introducting Ellen as his adopted sister during the
adoption ceremony held in Prince Rupert, British Columbia.

Lily Doolan, matriarch, calling her Nisga'a name

Outstanding Alumni > 1 > 2 > 3 > 4 > 5 > 6 > 7 > 8 > 9 > 10 > 11 > 12 >

RP-Canada World Youth Alumni Foundation (Canada)
Headquarter: 33 Springbank Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M1N1G2 Canada
Mailing Address: P. O. Box 17017 Toronto, Ontario M5E 1Y2
Website: www.rpcwyalumni.org Email: admin@rpcwyalumni.org Phone: 416-265-9449

RP-Canada World Youth Alumni Association, Inc.(Philippines)
Head Office: 1229 Chino Roces Suite 412, MCS Tower Condominium, Barangay San Lorenzo Village, Makati City, Philippines
Email: admin@rpcwyalumni.org
Phone: 011-632-889-0929

A SALUTE TO: RP-CWY OUTSTANDING ALUMNI

Her CWY Story:

"I remember lying in a hospital bed in 1976, recovering from a major car
accident. Flipping through the channels of a small b/w bedside TV, I came
upon a talk show about CWY. I vowed that I would apply and see the
Philippines, the home of many of my elementary school teachers.

For the next five months, I focused on healing my body and while
doing that, I applied for CWY. How excited I was after the CWY
interview to receive a large brown paper envelope, which I knew
contained the many forms which needed to be completed for my
medical assessment.

Growing up in a small isolated Labrador community this was an
opportunity of a lifetime: an opportunity to see and experience another
culture. It was definitely one of the most rewarding years of my life.

Canada World Youth laid the foundation of my life as a social and
spiritual activist. I have been working as a Community Development
worker/Adult Educator since 1978, in a variety of First Nation
communities developing and implementing community/economic
development initiatives for women and youth.

I love and excel at what I do, and am constantly amazed at the many
people I meet in my field who are also ex CWY participants and group
leaders.

Long live the spirit of Canada World Youth and the many friends I
have made during the 1977/78 Canada/Philippine Exchange."

Ellen is a mother (she has two sons), a sister, avid reader, poet and
writer. We will feature her literary works in our next edition.