Humans of SBOC featuring Brittany Olson & McKenna Fineblanket
Making history as the first Indigenous child to be a National Championship finalist at Spelling Bee of Canada. Plus, her mother works hard to overcome hurdles that First Nations communities face.
[First Nations children] deserve just as much a chance to compete just like anybody else. Sometimes they don’t feel that way. I want to show them that they can do anything as long as they put their mind to it.
Brittany Olson, Saskatchewan First Nations Spelling Bee
If you could instantly become fluent in any language, which would you choose and why?
McKenna: I would choose Cree. My grandma tries to teach me and another reason why is that a lot of Indigenous kids don’t know how to speak their own language.
Brittany: There are many types of native tongues and Cree is one of our languages. My grandparents speak it fluently and McKenna’s grandparents from her dad’s side speak it fluently, but there are lots of gaps in generations that don’t know how. McKenna’s father doesn’t know how to speak Cree. We know bits and pieces, but not enough to speak fluently or have a conversation. That was something lost through residential schools and then passed down.
In 2017, McKenna Fineblanket became the first Indigenous youth to place at a national spelling bee and made the top 3 across Canada’s primary students. McKenna, what was it like to accomplish these two achievements?
McKenna: In the first year, I didn’t think I would get that far. I didn’t expect to get first place in Saskatchewan when I first joined Spelling Bee of Canada. I thought I would lose against the boy I was competing with. When I got third place in the country, I was happy but also sad because l could’ve gone further.
What advice would you give spellers who are learning new words?
McKenna: Just the feeling of the possibility of winning and a reward. I study as much as I can. I had the booklet and I would write down the word 10 times for all 400 words.
Brittany: I always tell her to focus on the end result. “Push yourself and work hard so that you’ll be so proud once you’re finished. You’ll have a sigh of relief once you’re finished doing something.” It’s hard to get through sometimes, but when you look at the end result, that’s when you push harder. There are many days where she’s like “I’m kind of over this”, then I’ll tell her that she’s “almost done with this booklet and to just keep pushing”. She pushed until the bitter end; we were still studying the words even on a plane en route to Toronto.
What would you say to other children who feel anxious about public speaking?
McKenna: Just go for it. No one’s gonna judge you. Everybody is doing the same thing.
Tell us how you first got involved with the Saskatchewan First Nations Spelling Bee.
Brittany: McKenna had competed in 2017 and she won first place in Saskatchewan, then we headed out to Toronto for the championships. She won third place and she became the first-ever First Nations kid to place in a national bee. I took great pride in it. She was all over the news in Saskatchewan and a lot of people asked me about it. This inspired me to push it even further because literacy is important to us; without it, we would not be where we are today.
The chapter president at the time asked me if I wanted to go onboard to help out. She wanted to go back to school to further her education so I continued it on and took that lead because they needed someone, plus there were volunteers who didn’t want to stop either. Year after year, I keep going because I find it so beneficial for our children.
What challenges do Indigenous people face in SBOC?
Brittany: There are two big challenges: accessibility to the internet and traveling to places in order to participate in events.
When registering, you could buy packages that have online activities but some kids don’t have internet, laptops, or phones, so they often get the basic package which is just the booklet or printout. They would have a fairer chance of improving their literacy skills if they had more resources. For the 2020 championships, it was hard for the three winners to participate because many had a bad internet connection. Some traveled out of their hometown to go to a major city just to have an internet connection for the bees. We had to pay for hotels and even gifted them all with laptops.
We made the decision to continue next year because we wanted it to be fair for everyone. Some children don’t have the proper resources, like children who live up north where the cell service isn’t very good so their internet connection is bad. We didn’t want to exclude people because they didn’t have internet access where they couldn’t participate in the virtual bees. There have been kids still participating from Saskatchewan but we haven’t been at full force with it because of COVID-19. Traveling is a challenge because some people don’t have family in Toronto so they need to find a place to stay.
There is parental involvement but I could use more parental support for studying words and such. When schools join together for the Bee, it’s often the teachers or the literacy coordinators that are doing all of the studying and practicing with the kids.
How does SBOC benefit First Nations children?
Brittany: We have a lot of social inequalities as First Nations people, so to give them that platform to compete at a national level is big for us. We have kids who come out of reserves to the city and they’ve never been here. Taking them to Toronto made me feel so proud because they fought to get there. They deserve just as much a chance to compete just like anybody else. Sometimes they don’t feel that way. I want to show them that they can do anything as long as they put their mind to it. We show them that there is more in this world rather than what they just see on a daily basis. It makes them want to do better.
I want to spread the word and let people know that there are opportunities out there but they have to search for them. We have so many kids every year that want to compete. The more the word gets out there, then the more people that join Spelling Bee. A lot of schools are registering as a whole because they see the benefits of literacy training and learning new words is a big thing for them.
Tell us about a special moment while you were in Toronto during the championships.
Brittany: The first year we went out to Toronto, Julie had taken us to see a show for the Bee Nation which was played in a downtown theatre. This documentary is from Saskatchewan and it is a story about the First Nations Spelling Bee. A lot of people were in awe because they didn’t know about the lack of resources that First Nations people have until they saw this video. Seeing that is something I hold dearly to.
Every year we went to Toronto, I tried to do something different whether it was to go to the zoo or to Niagara Falls. These are places they’ve never been to, but heard about in a movie or seen in a picture. I like exploring with everybody and seeing the happiness on these children’s faces. It makes them look forward to things, brings their spirits up, and shows them the possibilities in this world. To show them that there is more to life brings me great joy.
What are some of your top goals or visions for the Saskatchewan First Nations Spelling Bee?
Brittany: I want to see more kids involved because a lot of children would benefit from SBOC. There were talks to eventually create a First Nations Spelling Bee in their language because that language has been lost.
At one point, I thought it would be cool to have a southern First Nations and a northern First Nations to divide up the 70 First Nations throughout Saskatchewan. I don’t think there are enough resources or people committed, so we need to find volunteers. It takes a lot of people to have a successful bee.
I think Spelling Bee makes kids so much more vibrant. I feel so proud of them just for trying, whether they win or lose. Even if they get up on stage and get stage fright, I’m still proud of them.
Why is loss of language a challenge for many Indigenous children?
Brittany: The loss of language went through generations after residential schools. Indigenous children weren’t allowed to speak their language and would often be punished for it. The last residential school closed in 1996. My grandparents knew how to speak their language but they were almost ashamed of it to pass it onto my mom and her siblings so my mom and all her siblings didn’t learn the language nor the culture. It was frowned upon to even look native, like having dark skin and such.
There’s so much trauma from these residential schools and language is one of the biggest things they lost and they were punished for it. We suffered for that because there are so many of us that don’t know how to speak the language or know our culture because we weren’t allowed to practice them. Now they’re trying to improve it but there are a lot of barriers we face so just to speak the language would be incredible for all of us because that’s where we come from and that’s what makes us who we are; to lose that is to lose a part of us.
Now, there are lots of reports starting to come to light about what First Nations people went through and how we have always been a part of Canadian history. You get some people who are very understanding but there are people who just tell you to get over it. There’s a lot of healing that needs to take place in order for that to actually happen and to be successful, but there are so many barriers that we have to overcome.
What are some words or phrases in the Cree language that you could teach us?
Brittany: My partner would probably laugh at me because he says I don’t have the accent to speak Cree. You try to learn but you’re so into speaking fluent English now.
We could say “hello” (tanisi) in Cree. You could reply to “how are you?” by saying “m’on ana’ntaw”, which means “good”. “Miwasin” means beautiful. “Hai hai” means “thank you”. McKenna knows how to count up to 3 in Cree, but then the words get harder to pronounce. Her grandma has been trying to teach her Cree but we don’t live on the reserve so we’re not around very much. Hopefully one day we could spend more time learning the language. It’s awesome to expand your vocabulary, whether it’s in the Cree or English language.
As an Indigenous person, what’s one thing you would like people to know?
Brittany: Be proud of who you are and where you come from. Embracing who we are as Indigenous people whether it be through culture or music. We’ve come a long way as Indigenous people and we gotta keep pushing through and keep aiming for success. We’re worthy. Anything is possible, just keep going.
There are so many indifferences in this world and we don’t need them anymore. Be kind, be humble, and treat everybody with respect. You never know what path they’re walking on so you have no judgment to put on anybody, so just be understanding. Acknowledge who we are as people. Treat people with respect.
How could non-Indigenous people be supportive allies to Indigenous people?
Brittany: There are a lot of great people out there. Acknowledgment is a big thing, just as long as they acknowledge people as who they are; they are still human and have feelings. They don’t know what anybody has gone through and that is where a lot of people come with judgments. A lot of the population is of Indigenous descent and there’s a lot of judgment just based on their appearance. If people weren’t so judgemental and realized that everybody has a different story, then the world would be a better place.
I’ve had patients who were non-Indigenous and you could overhear them talking about other patients who were in a room down from them and other little things like that create a domino effect. “If you don’t have anything nice to say then don’t say anything at all” is my motto.
You’re a registered nurse working 10–14 hour-long shifts. What does an average day look like?
Brittany: I work in a hospital and an immunization clinic as a nurse. It takes me about 20 minutes to commute to the hospital and to the vaccine centre. The hospital is known for lots of Indigenous people that come through our doors and many who come from smaller communities need more support. I see a lot of First Nations people and never had a problem with any of them. It’s all about how you approach people. It’s often the ones that don’t talk nicely or are judgemental that have had bad experiences. I find the relationships I have with my patients, whether they’re First Nations or not, are good and I’ve never had any complaints. I love what I do and helping people. I love seeing people get better and looking after their health.
What are the differences between working as a nurse on a reserve versus a hospital?
Brittany: Working on a reserve is a whole different environment. I find that First Nations people are accepting and friendly. They want to see people do better and to succeed in life. They care about each other’s health. They pray for healing and have ceremonies to pray for the healing of other ill members of their community. They all come together as one big family. If you are well known in the reserve, you often have a big team behind you supporting you to get better. When you’re in First Nations communities, you are often looking after minor things like checkups, immunizations, or needing a second opinion.
The community is a lot different from working in a hospital. In a hospital in Saskatoon, I work with acutely ill people like those who have had heart attacks and need to have their hearts monitored, or those finding out they have cancer. In hospitals, things are more confined and confidential, and families come and go. You get a lot of different coloured people and different backgrounds who grew up in different places. They’re all very nice but it’s just a different environment working in a hospital vs. with First Nations people on reserves.
If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?
Brittany: I like hidden gems because I want to go somewhere different where fewer people go. Like a safari in Africa to see animals. I have four little ones so the farthest we’ve gone is Disneyland. I plan to go somewhere tropical but somewhere that isn’t very typical where people often travel to like Mexico or Cuba. Perhaps somewhere like Thailand.
I have nurse colleagues and friends who want to do travel nursing by heading out to a different part of the world, like Australia. The world is big so it’s important to see what’s out there. It’s something I would do if I didn’t have children. Maybe when they grow up, I could go travel nursing because I’m fairly young myself.
What are some activities that immediately relax or calm you?
Brittany: Walking and getting outside for fresh air calms me right down. I like the fresh air and getting out without any kids. Taking a little trip for appetizers with a couple of friends, hanging out, and getting away from the house.
I enjoy the outdoors with my kids. They run freely and play, which gives me time to sit and take a breather.
Reading a good book is a good way to go off on my own and focus on something else. I enjoy the inspirational ones like Think Like a Monk by Jay Shetty. I also like seeing stories of people about where they come from and where they are now. Like, when this bus crash happened here in Saskatchewan, there was a hockey player that wrote a book about one of the survivors.
If you could have any superpower or special ability, what would it be and why?
McKenna: Teleporting. It would be so much faster to get to places especially when you’re in a rush.
Brittany: Teleporting would totally suit McKenna. We’re bad in timing and we’re procrastinators so we’re always slow and do things close to deadlines. If we have to go somewhere and we only have 5–15 minutes to go there, then I say “we have to go now”.
What do you enjoy doing for fun outside of SBOC?
McKenna: I like to hang out with my friends. Also sports; I play soccer. I played it in 2019 but had to quit because of COVID-19.
Brittany: My younger son has baseball too so we’re all so busy during the week.
If you could describe your mom in one word, what word would you choose and why?
McKenna: I don’t know what word I would use, but she’s very motivational. She reassures you that you could do anything if you set your mind to it.
This interview is part of the Humans of SBOC series by Erika Carreon, where her passion for storytelling shines through. As a lover of languages, Erika dedicates her time to learning Spanish.
