A Sense of Community

Vanessa Plain Eagle has always put other peoples’ needs before hers. Her parents passed away when she was young so her grandmother raised Vanessa and her two younger siblings as a single parent.

After graduating from high school, Plain Eagle worked at the Piikani Nation Reserve for 12 years, first for the housing department and then for the utilities department. She had always lived on the reserve but in 2006, she decided it was time for a change. She wanted more for herself. She had always wanted to go to school and at one time even considered studying in Arizona but she felt she couldn’t leave her grandmother behind.

“I needed to take care of her and make sure she was okay,” says Plain Eagle. “I always put my family before me and then one day I finally just decided that I couldn’t do it anymore.”

Plain Eagle decided to try her luck in Calgary. She attended an information session about SAIT’s Oil and Gas Land Administration program and filled out an application. “I just wanted to see if I could get in,” says Plain Eagle. “I was already familiar with oil and gas utilities from my job on the Reserve so I thought maybe this could be something I could get into.”

A few months later she was called in for an interview and chosen as one of 12 to study in the program. After nine months in the classroom and one practicum semester, Plain Eagle graduated from SAIT. It wasn’t always easy.

After so many years on the reserve, Plain Eagle found it difficult to adjust to life in Calgary. “It was hard because I had never really left my family. I wasn’t used to being around non-aboriginal people so it was a challenge for me.”
Plain Eagle says that she was relieved to find a place like Chinook Lodge at SAIT.

“At one point I was struggling financially and I didn’t know what to do. I went to Chinook Lodge and they told me about the resources available to me,” says Plain Eagle. “I thought I was going to have to drop out and find a job, but they told me not to quit. They were really understanding and they boosted my confidence.”

Plain Eagle didn’t quit. She went on to finish the program and landed a great job working for Shell. Now she says she is proud to back to the Reserve and tell people what she does for a living. One day, she says she may like use her skills to help the reserve and even work there again.

“Chinook Lodge was a comfort zone to me,” says Plain Eagle. “Coming from the reserve to go to the school in the city is a big transition. It’s about retaining a sense of community.”