First Nation, Métis and Inuit youth are eager to have their voices heard. Each year the Dominion Institute receives hundreds of short stories and poems submitted from young people (ages 14-18 and 19-29) across the country to the Our Story Canadian Aboriginal Writing Challenge.

Nigel Grenier, for example, a 15-year old resident of North Vancouver, won first prize in the 2008 Our Story Canadian Aboriginal Writing Challenge (14-18 age category). His short story "Unmasked" tells the legend of an ancient mask that reconnects a young scientist with the stories of his ancestors.

The Atlantic provinces boast their own young upcoming Aboriginal writers. Last year the second-place prize winners in each age category were from Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. In the 19-29 age category, Jason Matthew's haunting story "Constantinople" shed light on the fragmentation of the Mi’kmaq due to centralization policies in the 1940s. In the 14-18 age category, Ashley Brown explored Beothuk History with "The Capture of Demasduit."

The Our Story Canadian Aboriginal Writing Challenge was created in 2005 in order to give young writers like Nigel, Jason and Ashley a voice and help cultivate the next generation of great Canadian Aboriginal writers.

The Challenge invites young Canadians of Aboriginal descent (First Nations, Métis and Inuit) to submit creative writing that explores a moment in Aboriginal history. This could be an event of personal, regional or national significance.

These young people have written on a wide variety of topics, from ancient legends to contact with Europeans, residential schools, the "sixties scoop," and even the Oka Crisis. Submissions are judged by a group of esteemed Aboriginal writers, leaders and artists including Tantoo Cardinal, Tomson Highway and Joseph Boyden, winner of the 2008 Giller Prize.

The first place participants in both age categories are awarded a $2,000 cash prize, a trip to Calgary to be honored in front of a group of Aboriginal leaders, and their stories published in The Beaver: Canada's History Magazine. In addition, all those who place in the top ten in both age categories receive cash prizes.

This year's contest deadline is March 31, 2009. Interested participants can visit www.our-story.ca for the full contest details.

The Dominion Institute was founded in 1997 and has focused its efforts on conducting original research into Canadians' knowledge of the country's past and building innovative programs - such as The Aboriginal Writing Challenge - that broaden appreciation of the richness and complexity of the Canadian story. Visit www.dominion.ca for more information.

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Eliana Busheikin is the Coordinator for the Canadian Aboriginal Writing Challenge. She can be reached at eliana@dominion.ca or 1-866-701-1867.