The good news continues for Portage la Prairie's new Bear Clan Patrol.

The group is now officially incorporated.

Co-chair of the Indigenous Women's Council Vienna Muise explains why this is a huge step forward.

"We have the same rights as any person would have. We can open up a bank account. We can apply for grants on our own to continue to move things forward," says Muise. "We're going to be able to have a location that would be under our name. It's very exciting because now we're an entity acting on our own."

Although the members of the Indigenous Women's Council and the Leadership Committee are all volunteers, they are looking to fill one paid position.

"Being incorporated means that we can hire the Bear Clan Coordinator. We can have our own bank account so we can therefore pay that person," says Muise. "We're not relying on other organizations to do these things for us, and so, in a sense, using up their man hours and their space. It's not a problem, and people have graciously offered us things. It just allows us freedom."

Another benefit of being incorporated, is that the group can bring more members of the public on board.

"We can have members from the general public. We can have an annual general meeting," says Muise. "People are able to see what's going on. Everything's more transparent that way. It's exciting because it does give us an amount of freedom as an organization to do things."

The Bear Clan's first patrol in Portage will be taking place Friday, January 24th from 6 to 8 p.m. Muise says they are still looking for more volunteers.