{"id":104361,"date":"2026-05-04T08:39:35","date_gmt":"2026-05-04T12:39:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/?p=104361"},"modified":"2026-05-04T08:39:35","modified_gmt":"2026-05-04T12:39:35","slug":"its-the-future-drone-training-equips-stoney-nakoda-nation-members-for-high-demand-jobs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/04\/its-the-future-drone-training-equips-stoney-nakoda-nation-members-for-high-demand-jobs\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;It&#8217;s the future:&#8217; Drone training equips Stoney Nakoda Nation members for high-demand jobs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Leah Pelletier, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Rocky Mountain Outlook \u00ceY\u00c2RHE NAKODA \u2013 The future of Canada\u2019s drone industry is taking off within \u00cey\u00e2rhe (Stoney) Nakoda First Nation. With drone operators in high demand across Canada, Southern Alberta-based drone operation and training company, IN-FLIGHT Data, is clearing the way for Stoney Nakoda members to earn their drone pilot licence through a free training program. \u201cIn the next 10 years there\u2019s going to be a wave of high-tech aviation jobs that are going to come into the Canadian marketplace,\u201d said Chris Healy, president and CEO of IN-FLIGHT Data and member of the M\u00e9tis Nation. \u201cIndigenous communities should be fully included in the future of that technology and not just watching it from the sidelines.\u201d The course gives Stoney Nakoda Nation members&#8230; <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\">\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription &#8211; Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F05%2F04%2Fits-the-future-drone-training-equips-stoney-nakoda-nation-members-for-high-demand-jobs%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Leah Pelletier, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Rocky Mountain Outlook \u00ceY\u00c2RHE NAKODA \u2013 The future of Canada\u2019s drone industry is taking off within \u00cey\u00e2rhe (Stoney) Nakoda First Nation. With drone operators in high demand across Canada, Southern Alberta-based drone operation and training company, IN-FLIGHT Data, is clearing the way for Stoney Nakoda members to earn their drone pilot licence through a free training program. \u201cIn the next 10 years there\u2019s going to be a wave of high-tech aviation jobs that are going to come into the Canadian marketplace,\u201d said Chris Healy, president and CEO of IN-FLIGHT Data and member of the M\u00e9tis Nation. \u201cIndigenous communities should be fully included in the future of that technology and not just watching it from the sidelines.\u201d The course gives Stoney Nakoda Nation members... <\/p>\n<div class=\"pmpro\"><div class=\"pmpro_card pmpro_content_message\"><div class=\"pmpro_card_content\">This content is for Yearly Subscription, Yearly Subscription - Corporate, Print Subscription Only, Canada Print and Online, and USA Print and Online members only.<br \/><a href=\"http:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?action=register\">Register<\/a><\/div><div class=\"pmpro_card_actions pmpro_font-medium\">Already a member? <a href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-login.php?redirect_to=https%3A%2F%2Ftheturtleislandnews.com%2Findex.php%2F2026%2F05%2F04%2Fits-the-future-drone-training-equips-stoney-nakoda-nation-members-for-high-demand-jobs%2F\">Log in here<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"author":101363,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"pmpro_default_level":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104361","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-national-news","category-ticker","pmpro-level-required","pmpro-level-3","pmpro-level-2","pmpro-level-5","pmpro-level-4","pmpro-level-6","pmpro-level-7","pmpro-level-8","pmpro-no-access"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>&#039;It&#039;s the future:&#039; Drone training equips Stoney Nakoda Nation members for high-demand jobs - The Turtle Island News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/04\/its-the-future-drone-training-equips-stoney-nakoda-nation-members-for-high-demand-jobs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"&#039;It&#039;s the future:&#039; Drone training equips Stoney Nakoda Nation members for high-demand jobs - The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"By Leah Pelletier, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Rocky Mountain Outlook \u00ceY\u00c2RHE NAKODA \u2013 The future of Canada\u2019s drone industry is taking off within \u00cey\u00e2rhe (Stoney) Nakoda First Nation. With drone operators in high demand across Canada, Southern Alberta-based drone operation and training company, IN-FLIGHT Data, is clearing the way for Stoney Nakoda members to earn their drone pilot licence through a free training program. \u201cIn the next 10 years there\u2019s going to be a wave of high-tech aviation jobs that are going to come into the Canadian marketplace,\u201d said Chris Healy, president and CEO of IN-FLIGHT Data and member of the M\u00e9tis Nation. \u201cIndigenous communities should be fully included in the future of that technology and not just watching it from the sidelines.\u201d The course gives Stoney Nakoda Nation members\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/04\/its-the-future-drone-training-equips-stoney-nakoda-nation-members-for-high-demand-jobs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Turtle Island News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/TurtleIslandNews\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-04T12:39:35+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/theturtleislandnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/facebooklogo.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"725\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"483\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@newsattheturtle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lynda Powless\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/04\\\/its-the-future-drone-training-equips-stoney-nakoda-nation-members-for-high-demand-jobs\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/index.php\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/04\\\/its-the-future-drone-training-equips-stoney-nakoda-nation-members-for-high-demand-jobs\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lynda Powless\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/theturtleislandnews.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/7b188fd7503577895ef8b306988cd458\"},\"headline\":\"&#8216;It&#8217;s the future:&#8217; 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