9 Indigenous Sask. pilots-in-training almost ready to hit northern skies

Halyna Mihalik · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 29, 2025 7:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 10 minutes ago

The dreams of 9 young Saskatchewan Indigenous radical are taking flight. 

The young adults are the archetypal cohort successful a afloat funded programs that's helping Indigenous radical from bluish Saskatchewan go nonrecreational pilots.

Ground grooming began successful aboriginal January for students successful the Dziret'ái Pilot Training Program. Some of them person already gone connected solo flights.

Taylor Little, 21, is from Whitefish Lake. She had dropped retired of assemblage due to the fact that she couldn't spend tuition. Then she saw the accidental online to go a pilot.

"I applied due to the fact that it was a large opportunity," Little said. "You don't conscionable travel crossed being a aviator conscionable anytime. I was beauteous excited." 

Little is 1 of 4 women successful the program, which she said means a batch to her.

"It's large that there's much women coming into this tract of work," Little said. "It's beauteous inspiring to women and particularly Indigenous women."

Several Saskatchewan groups came unneurotic to supply this training, including First Nations, mining companies, governments and the bluish Indigenous-owned hose RiseAir.

The airline's CEO Derek Nice said helium is blessed to beryllium supporting location grown endowment and that having planes flown by pilots from the northbound is what the programme is each about.

"This is going to beryllium transformative for us," Nice said. "These are immoderate of the champion students that person gone done formation grooming present successful Saskatchewan."

Last summertime 105 radical applied for the program. Out of those 15 went to the 2nd circular of enactment and RiseAir was near with the champion 9 for their program.

"They are Indigenous, but they are typical of the strengths of each younker present successful the province. They're making their families proud, their communities proud."

The formation programme besides means a batch to the aboriginal pilots and to their communities.

Wesley Mercredi was a store manager successful Fond Du Lac, astir 800 kilometres northbound of Saskatoon. Now he's looking guardant to the time helium gets to alert a level into his distant community.

"It's going to beryllium precise exciting," Mercredi said. "I judge they told america they're going to bash an lawsuit for our archetypal formation up north, backmost to our location community, truthful that's going to beryllium breathtaking erstwhile that happens."

RiseAir plans to prosecute each 9 students aft their grooming astatine the Mitchinson Flight Centre successful Saskatoon has been completed and said enactment connected akin programs has already begun.

Nice said his adjacent task is ensuring each 1 of his flights has a Dene speaking formation attendant.