The Whitecap Dakota First Nation brought together aboriginal business suppliers and industry on Thursday.
The band hosted its first-ever business forum to identify the opportunities in the oil, gas, and mining sectors.
Whitecap Chief Darcy Bear says the band’s company, Whitecap Industrial Services, has already reaped the benefits of partnering with large companies.
He says the band owned company completed a $1 million contract with Cameco and has a $6 million contract with Enbridge through a partnership with Tarpon Energy.
“We want to be a part of the economy. Our ancestors were never lazy people, we’re not lazy people,” Bear said. “We’ve taken our community from a 70 per cent unemployment rate down to a five per cent unemployment rate.”
He says the Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies is partnering with the Saskatchewan Polytechnic to develop programs that lead directly to employment.