Victim services manager given Blackfoot name

By Alexandra Noad - Lethbridge Herald Local Journalism Initiative Reporter on November 15, 2024.

Submitted photo Elder Warren Drunken Chief leads a Blackfoot naming ceremony for Catherine Pooley (wearing ribbon skirt) alongside Heidi Heavy Shield, Janice Randhile, Sean Pooley, Hannah Pooley and Kane Pooley.

A member of Lethbridge Police Service Victim and Witness Services Unit (VWSU) received a Blackfoot name last week.

Cat Pooley, program manager of VWSU, received the name Anut’sipis’taakii which translates to Pretty Owl Woman from Elder Warren Drunken Chief, member of the Siksika Horn Society.

Pooley says it was an incredible honour to receive a name from someone she respected.

“It certainly was an incredible honour to be gifted with a name from someone I respect and hold as dear as Warren Drunken Chief,” said Pooley.

Pooley says Drunken Chief has been an inspiration to her and has used his teachings to positively impact every part of her life.

“(He) has been absolutely inspirational to me to learn how we can do better for our community in terms of practical reconciliation, but also how we can do better for humanity as a whole and his gift of teaching and sharing his knowledge is something that has permeated every corner of my life,” said Pooley.

For Pooley, reconciliation is a devotion of a lifetime and is something she hopes to be able to pass on to her future generations.

“I’m just so grateful for the opportunity to learn how I can change my own personal practices and the way I can lead my family and my children to be more aligned with the Blackfoot way of knowing,” said Pooley.

The naming ceremony took place during one of the VWSU meetings which allowed the entire team, which consists of volunteers, to appreciate along with Pooley’s immediate family and close friends.

Pooley says it was a remarkable experience to be able to share the experience with people she looks up to.

“A lot of the work that’s being done by my unit, the credit really needs to go t my incredible volunteers and the staff here. To be able to share that with them was really quite remarkable,” said Pooley.

Pooley also gives credit to those same people for the opportunity to receive a Blackfoot name.

“While this honour was given to me, the work being done by the Victim Services Unit is part of why I was given that honour, so I really want to turn some of that credit back to the and staff (who) have done this work,” said Pooley.

While she has been to a few naming ceremonies, Pooley says this one touched her in a very special way.

“I can’t think of another that has been as touching as this one was for me,” said Pooley.

Moving forward, Pooley hopes to be able to use the honour to bring more reconciliation to all those she encounters in her daily life.

“I think (this) is a step forward in reconciliation because I’m not going to approach my life through that colonial lens anymore, given the gifts I have been given before this name and the ones I anticipate will come from knowledge as I move forward.”