Meet Nurse Hope Canada's Indigenous superhero from Oneida's comic con

"Your future is bright."

Nurse Hope's words resonated with Indigenous kids and youth who donned superhero costumes on Sunday at what's said to be Canada's first Indigenous comic convention on Oneida Nation of the Thames.

"Don't give up. Love yourself."

Lela George's infectious smile and positivity radiated at her debut as the first-ever Indigenous superheronurse tasked with instilling hope in youngsters who longfor it.

"I'm encouraging them to not give up and push through their struggles and hope for a better future. It gives a positive outlook for our future," said George.

"There are too many stereotypes of our people this is a way of showing that we are real people human beings we are everything but the stereotypes," she added.

More than 250 people poured into the Oneida Community Centre to meet up to 25 of their favourite superheroes, including Canada's Wonder Woman, the Stratford Dark Detective and Spider-Girl.

The first annual free event was tailored to Indigenous families in areaFirst Nations.

Beyond hope

There's more to the superhero in the turquoise cape and old-style nurse's hat than meets the eye, according to a comic by the Association of Iroquois and Allied Indians.

In it, she's called on to save the day after a group of young children find a used needle intheir playground.

"She educates the children and lets them know what happens when they touch something like this and lets them know who to contact and what to do if this ever happens to them," said George, who's also worked as a personal support worker for more than a decade.

The tale extendsbeyond the pages and to reality.

George said children on Oneida and elsewhere have been exposed to used needles and drug paraphernalia. She noted that some are even washing up along the river banks on the reserve.

"It's a really big issue. Not only is it an issue here but it's an issue in all of our communities and not just on reserve but off reserve too. Not just with First Nations people but non-Indigenous people too," she said.

"We're educating [our children] now so we can keep them safe. Because if we don't do that, who's going to do it for us?" she asked.

Young superheroes, future leaders

The comic convention included comic book and games vendors, archery, face painting, anti-bullying skits and art workshops led by local Indigenous artists.

The event faced some uncertainty last week when its top funder dropped out. However, an online donation page was able to raise the amount needed for it to keep going.

Among several Nurse Hope Jr. costumes, many other young superheroes were in attendance.

Spider-Girl Mylynn Schyler is already looking ahead to next year when she's set to dress up as batgirl because "batgirl saves the day. I want to save the day because I want to help people. I want to save the day because I like saving the day."

Eight-year-old Elva Mae Antone dressed up in her homemade batgirl costume andsaid she's "a helper of batman and it makes me feel not alone."

Her mom Tonya Antone added "there are no limitations to what these young people can achieve."