Skyesong Alexis, one of Canada’s only Indigenous female golf pros from Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation, will be competing in the upcoming Epson Tour (formerly called the Symetra Tour). Backwoods Energy Services sponsored Skye for this event, and we had an opportunity to speak with Skye about her journey for reaching this point in her career.

1. Hi Skye. Can you tell us a bit about yourself, where you live and any hobbies or favorite pastimes that you have?
Abawashded; hello. My name is Skyesong Alexis. I am a proud member of the Alexis Nakota Sioux Nation, and I can speak Sioux language. I’m currently living off reserve with my spouse on the Samson Cree Nation. I am a strong believer in ceremonies and I pray every day for my family and for myself. Growing up, I enjoyed dancing and singing, and today, my hobbies include being the best mother I can be, and showing my babies a lot of love and hard work.

2. You have experienced much success in your golf career. Can you share some of these accomplishments?
I grew up playing on the Canadian Junior Tour and McLennan Ross Junior Tour. I played golf in junior high and high school at Jasper Place in Edmonton, and I had many victories. I have won zones, a provincial medal for high schools in Alberta, along with many Athlete of the Year awards. In 2008 I won gold at the Indigenous Games, and in 2019 I had my biggest win as an amateur at the Sun Life Open. It’s a great feeling to be the first Indigenous woman golfer in Canada to have accomplished all that I have. I’m proud that I pushed through all the challenges to get where I am today- playing at a professional level. I feel like I am exactly where I belong.

3. How long have you been golfing?
I picked up my first golf club when I was 8 years old, and have loved the sport ever since then.

4. What got you interested in golfing?
When I was young, my family always golfed and I spent a lot of time on the course with my parents. That’s when I started to dream about becoming a professional golfer. This big dream of mine seemed like it would be a huge challenge to achieve, and in reality, I love the fact that success didn’t come easy to me.

5. What do you love most when you are out in the field golfing?
To shoot my best score; and the feeling like it’s just me and the golf course, and nothing else. The golf course is like a safe haven for me.

6. What are some challenges that you had to overcome?
Living on reserve, there was no recreation centre to attend where I could improve my golf skills. This led me to the decision to move off reserve and live with my older siblings. Going to school, I dealt with racism, and had a few teachers that made me feel inferior to others. I proved them wrong by continuing to show up and doing my best in my studies and in sports. When I play sports, I feel happy and good about myself. I live for the ups in my life, and learn from the downs, and I continually keep the vision of being a professional golfer top of mind. I realize that in order to continue chasing my dreams, I need support from sponsors, and I am very grateful that Backwoods has sponsored me for the upcoming Epson Tour.

7. What are your future goals of what you would like to accomplish in the sport?
I would like to make it and win in the highest level in golf, which is the LPGA, so I am right on track for achieving these goals.

8. Good luck charms – do you believe in them and do have a special charm that you bring or wear when golfing?
I wear a beaded bracelet that all my sisters have and wear regularly too. I wear the bracelet in ceremony, and when I feel scared or nervous. The bracelet reminds me that I am loved by my family, and it serves as a reminder to how far I have come in my life.

9. Who has been your biggest support system when you are away?
My family and my spouse are always there rooting for me and cheering me on.

10. What words of advice do you have for other young women who look up to you and want to achieve success like you have?
To always pursue your dreams. No matter what happens in life, know that you’re good enough, that you belong, and that there’s nothing in this world you can’t do. There is always a way if you believe in yourself and push through. Remember to keep showing up because your hard work will pay off.

Listen to Skye's interview on CBC Edmonton

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In our third video of the People of Backwoods series we feature Joe Kootenay, a Foreman working in the Civil and Forestry Division and participant in the Backwoods Career Advancement Program.

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In second second video of the series we are featuring Montana Kootenay. Montana joined Backwoods Security through the Internship Program and continues to work with team as he completes his degree.

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The people working at Backwoods are the heartbeat of our organization. Programs have been developed to assist employees on their career path and to further their personal goals. These amazing individuals who participate bring their best to their roles, their teams and Backwoods.

With that in mind, we would like to celebrate them in an interview series called "The People of Backwoods."

Our first interview is with Lacey Kootenay, Accounts Payable Coordinator.

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As part of Backwoods commitment to the Alexis community we have begun a multi-year Alexis Road Rehabilitation Project to help improve the community’s infrastructure. 75% of the crew are Alexis band members and have accrued over 800 man-hours to date. Our Foreman Joe Kootenay does a great job in the video explaining the impact of this work on the community.

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TS Eliot once wrote that home is where one starts from. The line is in East Coker, Eliot’s second poem in Four Quartets. It establishes the emotional anchoring of home – the familiar in which we are based before we head off into a strange world.

The fortunate can understand the emotional appeal of home; we can sense the sights, smells and sounds of our childhood. But home is more than the location of our emotional grounding. For the vast majority of people on the planet, it is also the epicentre of financial wellbeing, the main family financial asset. Home is the place where financial security begins.

Recently, Backwoods launched a first time home ownership program for our employees. As part of the program, we will provide a one-time grossed up payment of 100% of the employees’ savings in their RRSP to a maximum of $10,000. There will also be an incentive of $2,000 per year of employment to a maximum incentive of $10,000. Employees who undertake the program will go through financial literacy training to ensure the decision is right for them.

We conceived the program after making two observations. First, assets are an integral component of financial security. As Stephen Jarrett details in his 2013 working paper, From Poverty Traps to Indigenous Philanthropy, “resilience to poverty depends largely on access to assets.” There is often an asset gap that exists among those families who cannot escape the cycle of poverty. And what is the asset most available asset to low and middle-income families? The home.

Second, Indigenous people own their own homes at a rate nearly 20% lower rate than non-indigenous households.  In addition, homes are too often substandard and overcrowded (CMHC 2019). When families do seek to purchase a home, they too often encounter access to capital barriers making home ownership unattainable.

This is why we decided to launch the program. It became clear to us that home ownership is a major barrier to health and economic empowerment in Indigenous communities. And since it is our mission to drive Indigenous economic growth, we moved to create a program for our employees. That is how this initiative was born.

In many cases of corporate impact work, initiatives are overly complicated, superficial, or reflect PR calculations instead of genuine care. But there are always simple ways companies can matter to their people -- unglamorous approaches that don’t necessarily solve every world problem but can lead to meaningful change. This is what we hope for this first time ownership program.

Home is where we start from – emotionally AND financially. We launched the Backwoods home ownership program to help give our people a better start.

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Backwoods was out in Alexis to celebrate the holiday season. This past December, we participated in the Alexis PCD Day. Our team was out providing youth gift cards, elders gifts and arranged a visit and autograph session with NHL Players Drake Caggiula and Matt Benning. Ish Nish to all who helped make the day such a great success.

Check out the recap on YouTube!

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Happy Halloween at Alexis! On October 31st, Backwoods team members were out participating in the Community Trick or Treat event for the Alexis school.  It was a great morning filled with sugar, spooky costumes and smiles!

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