SIIT President and CEO Riel Bellegarde along with SIIT Board Chair and Whitecap Dakota Chief Darcy Bear at Thursday’s gala.
Representatives of the Saskatchewan Indian Institute of Technologies were in a celebratory mood on Thursday night.
The organization was celebrating its 40th anniversary at a fund-raising gala in Saskatoon.
Several hundred people were in attendance for the event with entertainment from keynote speaker and television personality Rick Mercer.
SIIT Chair and Whitecap Dakota First Nation Chief Darcy says the educational institution is quite the success story.
“It’s been 40 years and about 54,000 students have been through the doors,” says Chief Bear. “It originally started with 1 campus and now we have 3 campuses and 8 remote sites.”
The SIIT Chair also says there are several opportunities for First Nations students going forward.
“The boomers are retiring and we have a young First Nations population, so I believe SIIT will play a significant role in educating our people.”
Other First Nation leaders and dignitaries were on hand for the gala as well and many had good words to impart on the organization.
FSIN Chief Bobby Cameron says SIIT is a success story the original FSIN founders would be proud of.
“They laid the foundation and now it is our turn to build on that success to create the opportunity for treaty right to education,” says Chief Cameron.
All money raised through the gala will be used for the SIIT Scholarship Fund.