Leanne Sicker, executive director of the Urban Society for Aboriginal Youth, which publishes New Tribe

Actions speak louder than words, as the old idiom goes. That said, it is often words that instigate one into action. And if words are the catalyst for action, then the work produced by a local youth-driven magazine could set off a sea change in how aboriginal youth perceive themselves, their communities and their futures.

Since arriving on the scene in 2002, New Tribe magazine has taken dead aim at the mainstream media’s negative portrayal of aboriginal life: gang violence, substance abuse, domestic violence, unemployment. The fledgling publication doesn’t turn a blind eye to these issues so much as it turns the angle on its head, addressing the subject matter with solutions and highlighting the positives of aboriginal communities.

Housed in a loft-like attic above the office of the Urban Society for Aboriginal Youth (USAY) near 17th Ave. S.W., the two-person operation churns out 11 issues a year. It’s an impressive feat considering the magazine’s bare-bones annual budget of $150,000 provided by Heritage Canada. Though the circulation is small at 5,000 copies per month, the magazine’s impact can’t be overstated. It is one of the few magazines in the country marketed towards and produced by aboriginals, and is the only monthly one in the province.

“People love New Tribe. The community loves New Tribe,” says LeeAnn Sicker, the 23-year-old executive director of USAY. “Instead of focusing on crime, poverty, alcoholism and unemployment, we focus on healthy eating, what you can do in the community, positive role models and travel stories. I think it’s more hurtful to see how your community is suffering rather than seeing the people that are standing out,” she argues.

The approach appears to be working. Seven years after its launch, the once skeletal 12-page newspaper has fleshed out into a 40-page magazine circulated throughout the city and satellite communities. Its success can be attributed to both the dedication of the staff as well as the aboriginal youth who account for the bulk of the content. This platform provides youth, many of whom are still trying to find their way in an urban setting, with recognition and validation they may have never experienced, says Sicker. “Just having your voice published means something… that you matter.”

Lynn Calf Robe, a former managing editor of New Tribe, knows first-hand how frame of mind can change one’s perception of themselves and of their community. After finishing a Native studies program at MacEwan College, Calf Robe was hesitant to take a job at the Siksika Reserve newspaper as a reporter. Having spent time as a child on the reserve, which lies about an hour east of Calgary, she was well aware of the negative aspects of life there.

“When you get older and are exposed to the alcohol, the drugs and the violence, it’s a place you don’t want to be in. It’s a place you just want to escape,” she says.

However, as a reporter she began to mingle with people who were doing positive things in the community. This interaction, she says, changed her perspective about life on the reserve and subsequently shifted her focus.

“There are positive things going on in the community, and it’s important for our youth,” says Calf Robe. “It’s not just important for mainstream society to know, but it is really important for our own people to see that. There are positive things. There are role models. There is success at the end of the long road.”

Calf Robe left the Siksika paper to pursue a business diploma at SAIT. Shortly before graduating in 2003, she went to work as an assistant at USAY. Soon after, she stepped into the role of managing editor of New Tribe, where she drew upon her previous experiences at the Siksika paper to shape how aboriginal youth in the city viewed themselves.

Now manager of the Chinook Lodge Aboriginal Resource Centre at SAIT, Calf Robe sits at her desk, recalling the impact of the experience. “It made me think that it’s not just all about the drugs, the violence and the gangs,” she says. “There are actually positive things going on here. You just have to open your eyes.”

She says she hopes non-aboriginal peoples can also come away with a different outlook after reading the publication. “The mainstream society is just too misinformed, and it’s very evident in our daily lives,” says Calf Robe. “When you’re going to the store, when you’re going to the bank and you have somebody looking at you like you’re nothing, how is that OK? But it’s only because this person on the other side of the desk doesn’t know.”

For Steve Vaivada, a regular contributor to the New Tribes music section, the publication not only provides a voice, but also helps aboriginal youth from reserves and small communities adjust to the challenges of urban life. “If the youth come from the reserve or come from a smaller community and they’re coming into the city, I don’t think people realize how hard it is for them to make friends or to make the right kind of friends,” he says.

“Journalism has provided me with the ability to ask questions and use my voice and teach others to use theirs. USAY and New Tribe has connected me back with my culture, my people. It’s provided me with answers,” says Scout.

After 10 years as a journalist and two years at New Tribe as managing editor, Scout handed over the reins to the publication this March. Her replacement, John Medeiros, has high expectations for New Tribe’s future: Expand the page count, increase the number of contributors and broaden the readership base. “It helps for the non-aboriginal person to learn about the culture and the stories and a little more insight into the community as well,” says Medeiros, a former online magazine publisher and book distributor.

As Scout prepares to walk away from the job that has occupied her life over 20 issues, she pauses to think about New Tribe’s impact. “I’ve had people look at our magazine and look at what we’re doing and tell us, ‘You guys are pioneers. One day you’re going to realize how important what you’re doing is,’” says Scout. “That’s cool. I can go with that.”