A Collective Step Forward

I am an Algonquian Indian who grew up west of North Bay, Ontario. My home reserve is Kitigan Zibi which is located close to Maniwaki, Quebec. The Ontario reserve that I lived on was a ‘satellite’ reserve of the larger Quebec reserve.

My father was a soldier in the First World War and he was responsible for looking after the horses. He lived with his grandmother and never went to school. He could not read until he went overseas and fellow soldiers taught him to read the Bible. My mother attended school until Grade 3. She married my father when she was 14 and had eight children. She had a very hard life with my father and left him and the children when she was 32.

Basically, my home life was a very Spartan existence. We didn’t have plumbing and relied on a wood stove for heat. My childhood consisted of chopping wood, picking berries, and snaring rabbits. My father was very harsh and I did not have a happy childhood; however, I did not have to go to residential school and I was able to live at home until I was ready to leave.

My father was very strict about attending school. He told us that if we did not finish high school, then we would not go anywhere. I went to the town of North Bay to attend elementary and high school. I experienced racism from the other students; fortunately, the school work was not difficult for me. I did not have any aspirations of a career or profession – I just wanted to make enough money to live.

My first job was with McGraw Hill Publishing. Basically, I was the ‘office boy’. I picked up and delivered the mail and did all the menial tasks. I knew I wanted a better job so returned to school for upgrading and applied to Waterloo Lutheran University (now known as Sir Wilfrid Laurier University, Ontario). I finished my degree, married and had two children: Jennifer, who works at Stevens and Company and PJay, who passed away in 1998 from cancer.

I worked for Canadian Pacific Airlines as a passenger agent: checking passengers in, printing boarding passes, and taking luggage. I was promoted to supervisor, relocated to Vancouver and traveled around the world supervising Canadian Pacific staff at all airports.

Eventually, I thought I could be doing more and completed a personality inventory which identified possible jobs: minister, horse trainer, social worker and lawyer.

I chose law and enrolled in University of British Columbia’s law program. I continued to work with the airline part time and attend school. I completed my articles with the Department of Justice. It had been my hope to open a law office; however, my marriage ended and I needed the stability of a job and steady paycheque. I accepted the position of becoming the first Director of the Native Law Program at UBC.

The purpose of this program was to increase the number of First Nations lawyers in British Columbia. I travelled throughout BC, speaking to high school students and assisting them when they came to UBC. I stayed with this job for six years and decided to try something different. I became the Administrator of the Justice of the Peace Program for the Northwest Territories.

In the north, the average community consists of 200 people and local people are trained to be the Justices of the Peace. Court is held infrequently with the Judge, Crown Prosecutor and Defense flying to the community monthly. The Justices Of The Peace live in the community and are able to deal with certain offences until court arrives. My job allowed me to travel to these communities and train the local justices.

Eventually, I did open my own practice in Parksville. I had remarried and had three more children: Ceilidh, Joseph and Isaac. I was doing mostly criminal and family law. A client came to me 6 years ago and asked me to work in Indian Residential School cases. After giving it some thought, I agreed I could start doing this kind of work. She went to Vancouver and interviewed potential clients. She returned the following Monday with eight new clients.

And so this work with residential school survivors began. It is a privileged to work with you, the survivors, as you regain control of your lives and rebuild the person you were meant to be.