Photo Caption 1: Blood Tribe Employment and Skills Training employees gather for a group photo with Chief Travis Plaited Hair at the Blood Tribe Resource Fair at Red Crow College in Standoff, AB, on April 17th, 2025. Photo Credit Henry Heavyshield.
Inaugural Blood Tribe Resource Fair benefits Kainai youth and job-seekers
Story by Henry Heavyshield, Blood Tribe Communications Officer
Standoff, AB. –– Blood Tribe Employment and Skills Training (BTEST) hosted the first-ever Blood Tribe Resource Fair for tribe members seeking information regarding employment opportunities and to upgrade their current job-skills.
The Resource Fair took place at Red Crow College in Standoff, AB, on Thursday April 17th, 2025, from 11 am to 5 pm.
BTEST plays a vital role within the community by providing a central hub for all information regarding employment and training opportunities. Their goal is to help Blood Tribe members living on and off-reserve achieve independence and self-sustainability through their comprehensive employment and career services.
Before the event Levi Little Mustache, BTEST Director, stated one of the Resource Fair’s primary goals was to facilitate networking and relationship building.
“We plan on gathering and sharing labour market information,” said Little Mustache. “What we really want is to bridge the gap between job-seekers and employers.”
Jaime Blood, Employment Officer and Event Coordinator, said over 37 tables and information booths hosted by Blood Tribe departments and entities were in attendance to promote their programming and services. This was a great opportunity for Blood Tribe members to learn more about what our community has to offer. Several local vendors also set up tables to market their wares.
Throughout the day students and community members accessed career counseling services courtesy of BTEST, information about employment opportunities, and applications for training and job skills programs on the reserve.
Chief Travis Plaited Hair began the fair with an opening prayer and remarks. Josh Mountain Horse acted as master-of-ceremonies, whose humour and encouragement maintained the event’s momentum throughout the day. He also helped distribute door prizes that were generously provided by Blood Tribe Departments and entities. After closing remarks, attendees were treated to a barbeque flank dinner catered by Blackfoot Grill.
Unity was a common message conveyed by event organizers and participants. Little Mustache emphasized the importance of events such as this for strengthening the community and establishing a dialogue between employers and job-seekers.
“This event is one of the first ever of its kind to be held on the Blood Reserve. We want to show what the possibilities are when we all come together as one.” He added “we wouldn’t be able to do what we do without the support of Blood Tribe Administration and its entities.”
Goals are already being set for future Resource Fairs. For instance, Little Mustache aims to provide more direct job connections for prospective clients.
“Kainai Board of Education actually did interviews for some of their positions on-site,” he said. “In the future we really want to see more hired outcomes.” He added that he would also like to see increased post-secondary involvement.
“With post-secondary [representatives] there, we could help people decide, help them answer that question: ‘if I want this job, what should I pursue for education and training?’”
There was a great turnout for the inaugural Blood Tribe Resource Fair with almost 300 community members in attendance. BTEST hopes to build off its success and see the Resource Fair grow in scope next year.
“We have a large tribe,” said Blood, “we want to see more public come out.” She added “I was so appreciative of all the departments coming together to offer their services, resources, and opportunities and to share that with the community.”
Photo Caption 2: Blood Tribe community members engage with BTA department and entity information booths at the first-ever Blood Tribe Resource Fair at Red Crow College in Standoff, AB, on April 17th, 2025. Photo credit Henry Heavyshield.
Photo Caption 3: Chief Travis Plaited Hair poses amongst the crowd at The Blood Tribe Resource Fair at Red Crow College in Standoff, AB, on April 17th, 2025. Photo Credit Henry Heavyshield.
Photo Caption 4: (From L – R) Natera Eagle Plume and Willow Big Sorrel Horse learn about the field of communications with BT Communications’ Lenora Many Fingers, Executive Administrative Assistant, and Amber Sugai, Communications Officer, at the Blood Tribe Resource Fair at Red Crow College in Standoff, AB, on April 17th, 2025. Photo Credit Henry Heavyshield.
