A young woman from Walpole Island First Nation is being honoured by the province for her creative writing skills.
The James Bartleman Indigenous Youth Creative Writing Awards were announced recently, recognizing six indigenous students per year.
The award was established in 2008, but has not been handed out for the past few years.
Awards were presented to twelve writers for the years 2020, 2021, and 2022. Among them, is Asia Nahdee-Wagner in the 2021 senior on-reserve category for her poem Self Love: Kindness Through the Eyes of an Anishinaabekwe.
Nahdee-Wagner said her poem is about the hardships she faced growing up in her skin.
"I talk about the struggles I went through being bullied for my skin colour, or for my hair being big," said Nahdee-Wagner. "The poem is also about me reconciling with myself."
Through guidance from an elderly woman at the First Nation, Nahdee-Wagner said she was able to learn how to love herself.
"I know what I went through and I felt like I needed to set an explain for the ones who are here and the ones who have yet to come," said Nadhee-Wagner. "That path wasn't paved for me, so I want to make sure that path is paved for them."
Nahdee-Wagner has always considered herself a writer, but it wasn't until she got to high school that she acknowledged it. She credits her high school English teacher for pushing her to do just that.
Writing the poem was emotional for Nahdee-Wagner. She said a lot of truth was put into the piece, which was an emotional experience for her to process and work through.
"There was a lot of anger, pain, and raw emotion," said Nahdee-Wagneer. "It was emotional but very rewarding."
The recipients of the award are chosen by an independent selection committee of members from Indigenous communities.
Recipients receive a citation and a one-time award of $2,500.
The annual award honours Indigenous junior students, 12 years old and younger, and senior students, 13 to 18 years old, enrolled at an Ontario school for their creative writing talent in three geographic categories: fly-in community, on reserve and off reserve.