I can remember the first time I ever saw a bear. I was nine years old, away at summer camp in Waterton Lakes National Park in southwestern Alberta, about an hour and half from where I grew up. It had been a late year for berries and there had been more bear sightings in the area than usual \u2013 so we were told. One day I was walking through the camp when suddenly the bell rang to let us know a bear was in the camp and to run into the closest cabin for safety. Not quite grasping the concept that I was supposed to be afraid, I had heard the bell and looked around only to see one of my counsellors yelling at me to run. I turned to my left and about 20 metres from me was a young black bear. He was a cinnamon-coloured black bear, not yet fully grown, and he seemed as surprised to be looking at me as I was looking at him. Quickly coming back to my senses, I ran into the nearest cabin, feeling a rush from the experience. Our camp would go on to have 13 bear sightings that week, but this first encounter has stuck with me ever since.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n In the 20 years since this first encounter, I have remained fascinatingly in love with bears. I have encountered black bears out on a hike in Pincher Creek and seen grizzly bears huddling together near cabins while working as a camp counsellor in Beaver Mines. I have even had a young, orphaned bear cub run across my path while leading a group of kids out in the woods. Yet for all the bears I have encountered, I have never had a fear of them. For me, bears have a special place in my heart, and while I have no intentions to come across an angry grizzly \u2013 and I do carry bear spray while hiking \u2013 bears will always carry the same sense of wonder for me that they did when I was nine years old.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_2″ _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_image src=”https:\/\/cusjc.ca\/mrp\/paksikoyi\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/43\/2023\/04\/70D72487-6CD6-4ECB-8817-C5B23315A42B_1_201_a-scaled.jpeg” alt=”Joy SpearChief-Morris stands on the Kainai Blood Reserve, traditional lands to the Blackfoot Confederacy and grizzly bears.” title_text=”Joy SpearChief-Morris Bio Pic” _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”-22px|||||” hover_enabled=”0″ global_colors_info=”{}” text_font_size=”14px” sticky_enabled=”0″] Joy SpearChief-Morris stands on the Kainai Blood Reserve, traditional lands to the Blackfoot Confederacy and grizzly bears.<\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”-16px|auto||auto||” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.18.0″ _module_preset=”default” custom_margin=”-30px|||||” global_colors_info=”{}”] \u2026<\/span><\/p>\n Joy is an Indigenous Black Canadian writer, advocate and athlete. A journalist and storyteller, Joy specializes in news and long-form print writing as well as audio broadcast stories. As a proud member of the Kainai Blood Tribe who grew up in Lethbridge, Alta., she reports on the toughest Indigenous issues in our country and telling Indigenous stories through Indigenous voices. Joy has bylines in\u00a0<\/span>The Globe and Mail, The Narwhal<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>The Walrus <\/span><\/i>and <\/span>CBC<\/span><\/i>, covering everything from the 2022 Papal Visit, the Hockey Canada sexual assault scandal, the Canadian housing crisis, environmental, federal and Indigenous politics as well several op-eds. Through her reporting, Joy hopes to give a voice to those who feel underrepresented in the media because of their gender, race, ability or privilege.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Joy has a Bachelor\u2019s degree in history and First Nations studies and a Master\u2019s degree in political science specializing in transitional justice and post-conflict reconstruction, both from Western University. Her research focused on Indigenous land claim settlements and reconciliation within Canada, looking particularly at land and relationship.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n This project was produced as part of her Master\u2019s of Journalism degree at Carleton University.<\/span><\/p>\n Joy is also a retired 100-metre hurdler in athletics. She is a three-time Canadian National Championship finalist and has represented Team Canada internationally twice.<\/span><\/p>[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" About the AuthorI can remember the first time I ever saw a bear. I was nine years old, away at summer camp in Waterton Lakes National Park in southwestern Alberta, about an hour and half from where I grew up. It had been a late year for berries and there had been more bear sightings […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":46,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-105","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\n