Turo, Gilbert Print

gilbertGilbert Turo is from Fort Good Hope, NT. His parents are Sheila Turo, and Clayton Lafferty, his grandparents on his Mother’s side are Jeannie Turo and Joseph Turo. His grandparents on his dad’s side are Michel and Judy Lafferty. He is currently in school, trying to earn his GED. His goal is to enter into the Natural Resources Technology Program in Fort Smith. Gilbert is a member of the Sahtu Youth Network, and he is also part of the Environmental research and management forum (ERM). He got involved with the SRRB after he started going back to school, they asked him if he wanted to attend meetings in Tulita and Deline, and he couldn’t turn it down. Through these meeting Gilbert was re-introduced to Debbie simmons, SRRB executive director, who told him stories of when she used to be the caretaker for his Great grandmother Dora Lafferty. He was invited to Stewart lake in the summer of 2014, and it was a great experience for him. He got to see some old friends and made new ones too, the researchers that were at Stewart lake showed attendees how they do their research, and it was a lot of fun. He learned how to measure stream depth, take water samples, and determine the health of the stream, and lots of other things. He hopes to be more culturally active in his community, and encourage other youth to do the same. He sees the Sahtu Youth Network growing into something big, and he believes it’s just what it is needed for the youth to have a voice in their community. Every time Gilbert goes to workshops, he become more and more interested, and hopes that his group will start to have an impact on what is said during these meetings. When asked his favourite part about workshops he said: "I like to hear elders stories, because they have the most experience, and they’ve seen the changes since they were young; So imagine how much change we are going to see in our lifetime, and how much has already happened. Floods in the spring time, low water levels in the summer, warmer winters, all because of climate change. The world is evolving, and we must evolve with it, and adapt with it, but we can’t lose our traditional ways, that is the one thing that the government, or industry can’t take from us."