I was privileged to speak at the World Indigenous Conference on Education, July 24, 2017 in Toronto, Ontario. My topic was Pedagogy of Indigenous Health: Indigenizing Curriculum for Community Wellness. This is a very important issue as indigenous peoples from around the world embark on a journey to reclaim their identity and culture.
I spoke to many delegates from around the world, saw old friends and made new friends. I didn't take many pictures because I felt uncomfortable taking pictures and decided to just be. So, the best and most interesting accounts are stored in my memory.
Growing up with ten brothers, plus one, in the hamlet
of Fort Chipewyan, Alberta was crazy hectic, and unpredictable. I was always surrounded with
strong-minded guys who knew how to diffuse conflict using humour and straight talk. We have our differences but they will always hold a sacred place in my world.They are respectful of
women, that is important quality to me. Moreover, I never have to worry that they would disown me over any disagreements. My brothers have never treated me badly, never said an unkind word about me or to me. We are family in every sense of the word. My brothers treated me like brothers treat their baby sister do the world over, teasing me, challenging me and protecting me.
I
am grateful that my brothers have the kindest heart and are responsible men; even
through they experienced many challenges in their life. They struggle with their own demons resulting from residential school. Although, they didn't all go to residential school, but the older ones, still had to go to Edmonton for high school.
Some of my brothers fought alcohol abuse, and by-in-large, I am pleased to say they won. I continue learning from them. The bond that connects us is our culture, Denesuline and humour.
PETER
WANDERING RIVER
Peter Deranger 2010
I love this picture, i took it at breakfast 2016
Peter is my oldest brother.My earliest memory of him was in Uranium
City, Saskatchewan.He carries me
through dense bushes on a narrow pathway until we reached the edge of the lake
where a floatplane was waiting for me.I
remember my little arms clinging to his neck and didn’t want to let go; he
whispered, be a big girl, as he handed me over to someone standing on the
floats.I watched him getting smaller
and smaller as the plane went higher up into the sky.He stood there, waving until I could not see
him any longer. I think I was about three years old.
He always had a stacks of books, which I
remember reading when I was younger. He loves reading.
Peter was an environmentalist, before the
word became politically correct. When it actually meant a way of life. He
lived a simple life on the land with his young family when he was a young
man.Later, he became an activist and
fought for Indigenous rights across Canada and into the United States with American Indian Movement (AIM) He is also
a writer and a darn good storyteller.He
is a gentle man, not known for any outbursts and holds an attitude that is akin to
a wise old man. He is a hippie
elder.
“The land is our life.We are related and connected spiritually to all creation. The wind of
the north, east, south, and the west, is our breath of life.” Peter.
“There was a time, a long, long, time ago, old people
say “ inkonze” (traditional knowledge) ancient times. The legend says that
animals turned themselves into people; salmon people, crow people, bear people,
caribou people, etc.and they would
visit among real people.They came to
teach us how to care for our animal relatives and the lands we shared. However,
in the early 1950’s when the children were forced into the mission, nuns and
priest told us not to believe in these stories old people told us. Then we were
taught to laugh at the legends.We were
told that our grandfathers were superstitious and simple.Sadly our animal relatives communicated with
us no more.”That is how we lost our
power. The truth is, this ancient power is still there.It survives deep in our DNA, deep, in our
soul and mind.All we have to do is
awaken it. Go to the land, sleep under the stars and among the trees.” Peter
FREDDY
I have many memories of Freddy when I was
young.I remember his wedding as a young child. ; it was
December 27, just after Christmas.His young Blackfoot bride, Hazel was so beautiful, they both looked so happy, over 300 well-wishers arrived at our house in
Doghead after the church service, all in a celebratory mood.
He was funny too. Once when I was living with
him in Fort Chipewyan; he came home after getting a loan for his business.He had tons of money. More money than I ever
saw, which he proceeded to throw on the bed and told me to play in the money. I
started jumping up and down on it. He
stood there laughing while I rolled all over the money.Crazy what we remember as kids!
Freddy is a kind charismatic man.He loves history and mathematics. Studied Engineering. He has strong views on politics, which we
sometimes disagree on.I like that we
can disagree on something and moments later he will tell me a joke.He does not hold grudges and his smile can be
so disarming.His favorite saying to me
is “Don’t say I know!”And, I would say
I know.Lol
JIMMY
Jimmy is the brother who once took me to a
political delegation meeting.And before
I knew it he was telling me I should go on stage to put my name forward to be a
delegate. Next thing you know, I was on the plane to Ottawa as a youth
delegate, sponsored by the Ghermezian brothers, famous for building the West Edmonton Mall.I have no idea how he got them to sponsor me!
He studied political science at university of Calgary. He was always interested in politics.We could talk for hours about it.He gave me so many recommendations of books on history and politics. He
however, never forgot his roots and balanced city life with the natural appeal
for the simple life of the land.
As an elder he has so much knowledge and is
willing to share them with anyone who wants to listen. He calls me “the most
beautiful big baby girl in the world! ”
BILLY
1950-2012
I will always remember Billy for his
humour.He was a welder by trade. Astute and brilliant
at making people feel at ease. A month before he passed away he called me and
said he didn’t think he would make it until Christmas. I said, "don’t say
that!"But he knew, I am glad he called
to talk to me before he died just before Christmas.
When I was young he would tease me all the
time.Once, after some of the boys came
back with fish, just as he was going to tell me not to touch it, I had already
put my little hand in the fish’s mouth and it closed around it. I yelled! He
carefully opened the mouth and took my hand out. Then laughing, he told me to
stick with washing dishes and leave the fish to the big boys.
PATRICK 1951-2019
Patrick,David 1951-2020
I never heard Pat raise his voice at
anyone.He was a gentle and calm
man.One of my favorite memories of him
was when he received a guitar for Christmas.He taught himself how to play within no time.
And I will always hold as a special memory
of when he told me about why love was the strongest emotion one could
have.He said, nothing else mattered but
love.
He is now a respected elder and teaches
others about the special relationship between mother earth and humans.
RONNIE
Ronnie’s eyes sparkle like diamonds!You get right away that he has found inner
peace and wisdom. A memory I have is of him telling me to get onto the handle
bar of his bike.I remember feeling safe
as the wind blew my hair, but at the same time, still feeling absolute fear as
he peddled faster down the hill in Doghead.In this memory, I still feel both the exhilaration and fear. He is an amazing human being, with so much positive
energy.He never complains about
anything or anybody.He practices Taoist meditation.He has learned how to
cultivate mindfulness and positive energy. In fact, he is the person who
introduces me to Buddhism after our brother Christopher died.The first book he gave me was “Living in theFace of Death”.After reading the book
on the plane from Regina, Saskatchewan to Ottawa, Ontario, I was convinced that
Buddhism was right for me.
DONALD
Donald is my
nephew but we were raised together, making him more like a brother. I looked up to him.
He always had this big
grin and a pleasant disposition. Since he is older than me, I remember him
always being responsible and hard working. I remember when he ran for school president on the student council, the first thing he
did was get a movie projector for the school.I thought at the time that he could and would do anything he sets his
mind on. One summer when the family was on N22, he went missing. Everyone was searching for him. Thankfully, I think, it was two days later, he walked back into camp.
He walks the fine line of being a cultural man and being on the board of directors of a major oil company.He understands the struggle of protecting the
environment and the necessary economy of First Nations.He is a forward thinker, you might even say,
futurist.Certainly he is a man in the unique positionof being from the past, present and
future.
ROGER
artists / writer
My memory of Roger, when he was a young boy, is he loved studying
religion.When he was about 13 he had
developed arthritis in his knees but that never stopped him from doing the things he enjoyed.Even today, nothing stops him from getting
where he needs to be.He is the epitome
of the nomadic spirit.
One Christmas, he gave me an album - the
Jungle Book.I really loved that movie
and would play the record all the time.I don’t even know where he bought it.
A couple of years ago before our mom died,
we both were heading into the hospital to visit her, when a lady approached us.We stopped and Roger started speaking
Denesuline with her in a dialect I didn’t recognize.He was speaking with ease, which really
surprised me.As it turns out he speaks many Denesuline
dialects fluently.Who knew?It is something he picked up in his travels
among the various Dene from Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and NWT.
Roger is an artist. He studied journalism and native communications.That investigative nature continued as he
traveled around to the many different Dene communities. He is a writer and currently
working on a collection of stories.
This is an excerpt of his writing;
I was
spending Christmas at my mom’s placein Fort McMurray, where she moved in 1975,when I received an unexpected phone call from Yellowknife, NT.It was a job offer thatwas to begin on January 2nd, 1982, in the land of
the midnight sun. They offered me a journalist position over the phone writing
for a bi-weekly native newspaper.That
call made my day and my answer without hesitation was, “yes,” to be a newspaper
reporter for a native paper that is what I went to university for. My expectation and enthusiasm was over the moon. Once, again, I’m going
to experience something new, the people and the land!However, I wasn’t in a rush. I enjoyed my time
with my late mother at her Christmas dinner, and then I had a good few days
with the rest of my family. I told them that I am leaving again. By now, most
of them didn’t care because they were getting used to me traveling all the
time.
Being up North overwhelmed me with something I can’t describe. Whatever
it is, it first took my spirit in 1979 when I first went up there and it will
forever be a part of who I am.I was
looking forward to this new adventure.
ROSSI
1957
– 2016
loved to make people laugh
He was my big brother, my
protector and we were very close.He could make me laugh like
no other person and we certainly had plenty of laughs over many years.I am so thankful to have had him in my
life.We spent so much time
together, sometimes in silence.
An early memory is when we were playing
with a little ax in the yard. We were
way too young to play with axes.Not
sure how it happened but I ended up with almost cutting my tiny finger off and
Rossi ran to get help.I think, he
always felt bad about it.
Rossi loved to travel and hitched hiked
across Canada when he was only 14 years old to visit a cousin in Ontario. His fondest memory was our trip to NYC. He was adventurous and playful but also had his
serious moody side.
Music and driving were his passions. He
loved driving and earned a good living driving taxi in Edmonton for many
years.
CHRISTOPHER
1961-2001
I smile when I think about Chris, because I
always think about this incident when we were young.Chris and his best buddy Colin used to play
in the hills behind our houses.One
evening we were waiting for him to come in for supper.One of my other brothers went out to get him,
apparently he was afraid to come in.When we saw him at the door, we all burst out laughing.He stood there, face blackened, and no eyebrows.Apparently, he and Colin were trying to light
a can and it blew up in their faces.Fortunately, they were not hurt, just embarrassed.
Chris was a great dad and loved his
children.You would see him taking them
for walks all the time.
MAX 1963-2019
( Bushman 1963 - 2019)
Max is my youngest brother. Max was always
very athletic.When he was in high
school he was part of a wrestling team and apparently very good too. I remember when he came to visit me at
university, he would walk up with me six flights with weights on his legs and still
made it to the top before me. I don’t have many memories of him when we were
young because he would always travel with our mom during the summer months to
visit relatives in Saskatchewan. I remember that he loved to play with his cars
and line them up across the living room floor.And no one could touch them.
Max is a deep thinker and mostly keeps to
himself.He is called “bushman” by some
of his friends because he lives to be in the bush.He is
also a very compassionate person and was the caretaker of both our parent when
they got older and needed someone to be there with them all the time.He also took care of Rossi the summer of 2016
after the fire in Fort McMurray.I think
he missed his calling as a nurse.
A couple of years ago he came to visit me
in Ontario.It was so nice to have him
here.Not only because he shovelled the
snow. Lol
