Elder teaches important lessons to P.A. Police
Policing a community as culturally diverse as Prince Albert carries significant challenges, but when the police in Prince Albert need help or advice they have a unique advantage – Julie Pitzel.
Pitzel, a life-long educator and Indigenous peoples’ advocate, has been the Prince Albert Police Service’s on-staff Elder since 2014. She helps the police understand First Nations traditions and protocols through training, advises Chief Troy Cooper on culturally-sensitive issues and events, attends meetings with victims of crime to ensure they are conducted respectfully and sometimes even acts as an interpreter when Cree, Dene or Michif translation is required.
No stranger to First Nations advocacy, Pitzel has spent her entire life fighting for the rights of Canada’s Indigenous peoples. Born in northern Saskatchewan and raised on a trap line, Pitzel said her grandfather told her to never forget where she came from, a lesson she took to heart. After earning her degree in education Pitzel spent years working with various boards and committees helping pass legislation on domestic violence and ensuring treaty rights for women. She once travelled to Rome along with other members of the Métis Nation to advocate for traditional land rights, and was granted an audience in the private chambers of Pope John Paul II.
“My belief is that everybody deserves to have a safe place to grow up,” she said, “and that every woman and child deserves to have a good place to live.”