When we think about who we should trust the most in this dysfunctional world (outside of our own family members), we realize that it is the person/politician we voted for to represent our voice in Houses of Assembly.
When I look at the person seeking to get elected to political office with the aid of my vote, I try to see what is honourable about the candidate, not only through my eyes but also through the eyes of my grandchildren. For it is they, the next generation of our bloodlines, whose health and wellness will be impacted the most by decisions of concern to the environment, healthcare and human rights, our political leaders make today.
On behalf of my grandchildren and great-grandchildren I want questions answered by people hoping to secure my vote on election day. “What is your plan to stop crime, to fight abuse of power by corrupt politicians, to combat homelessness and to assure sensible medical aid for all citizens?” To bring peace to my mind I want to know the principles that will guide the person I will support with my vote! My relatives not yet born are counting on me to do my part as a voter in bringing in the best of the best to lead us into a gentler and better future.
It is true that money corrupts but I put my trust (my vote) into a person I believe will never sell out to anyone. I do not want to worry about the person I voted for being bought by powerful lobbies or corporations in this country. The person I vote for will be expected to fight the oppression of any human beings on this earth, regardless of skin colour or cultural background. I expect them to do so with every fibre of their being. If they don’t, I will regard it as a broken trust and I will not be quick to forgive.
Some of you reading this might not like it, but when Justin Trudeau was elected Prime Minister, I was happy. He got my vote! I believed in him and put my trust in him when he promised “a Nation to Nation relationship” with the Indigenous Peoples of this land. No more!
Trudeau broke the trust I had in him further when he brought Canada into a dark place where Canadians found themselves being complicit in a genocide (Gaza). The Liberals lost my support! I have no trust in Poilievre (that’s a straight up no-brainer), he would be a disaster and march lock step to the orders of other world leaders as Trudeau did. In the next election I am voting NDP.
I support Joel Harden’s nomination for Ottawa-Centre and I will be voting for Gilbert Whiteduck in Pontiac-KitiganZibi.
I trust in both of them to uphold the values I stand to protect and defend. Both Gilbert and Joel have proven themselves over the years I have known them, to be ‘honourable” men who will do all they can to make our world cleaner, safer and fair for all.
I believe in a loving, understanding and forgiving Creator! Human beings are creatures of many faults and shortcomings. No matter how hard we try to be gracious and accommodating, our limits are all too often tested, leading to wrongs being perpetrated. Thank goodness Creator is patient with us.
I believe I can, through the force of deep spiritual meditation, communicate the concerns I have for family, all my relations and also my Nation to Creator in a good way. I believe that the doing of good deeds by human beings is recorded and celebrated in the world some of us will go to after our lives come to an end for us on this plain.
I believe in love of family. They say that “Blood is thicker than water” and that “Water is life”, what more needs to be said! The blood flowing through the hearts of my family members and the birth waters of my mother are sacred to me. I believe in friends, real ones! In my life I’ve known (and have today) friends who are compassionate, empathetic, supportive and loving. The kindness of their hearts is what attracted me to them. They have my back! I have theirs! It saddens me to know that the world has people in it who don’t know the difference between what is a ‘friend’ and what is an acquaintance. I do! I have had enough of false friends and no longer make space for them in my life.
I believe in doing all I can to make sure that the Anishinabe Algonquin Nation gets its due respect on our never surrendered territory. To our guests and visitors I say “tread softly on the rights of the Algonquin people.” I never cared much for the words “since time immemorial”. These words are not strong enough to describe how long the people who have become known as ‘Algonquin’ have been living here. Our Creation Story begins here within the perimeters of the Kichi Zibi watershed and even beyond that time, never doubt it! If you wish to know how long the Algonquins have been here, ask Creator!
I believe in the Anishinabe Algonquin legends and their ancient lore, passed on to our people by our ancestors. I believe in the wisdom of our old people and in the strength and energy of our young people. I believe in honourable role models and in kind-hearted mentors.
I knew a wise old man years ago, a good friend, who would bark, “Come on in out of the storm” when he came to answer my knock on his door. He would say this in the way of a welcoming, no matter if it was the dandiest day of the year weather-wise. He knew life was a ‘storm’. A storm that had the ability to consume you if ever it found you in a state of weakness. The storm which has engulfed the earth for centuries has gotten far worse today. We need to keep strong teachings by our side to shield us, to defend us and to believe in, to give us a chance to survive ferocious, opposing winds. I recall a person up in age at a pow wow, who said, “It’s not the price of a gift which makes what you are given precious. It is the good intentions of the gift giver which are priceless.” I agree!
We need something to believe in! If you don’t have it, find it!
My poet’s heart sang and danced last week when I found myself at Pinecrest Public School, a public elementary school (OCDSB). As I expected would be the case, the students at Pinecrest were extraordinarily welcoming and gracious!
I was invited to Pinecrest by Principal Naya Markanastasakis to speak to the students about my children’s story ‘The Maple Leaves of Kichi Makwa’ (written 30 years ago). While there, I was thrilled (not to mention super surprised) and humbled to see on walls of the school, maple leaves in the likeness of those in my story, drawn by students. I saw questions and statements about the story, posed and declared by students as young as 6 years of age. These were also interspersed on walls of the school (see link: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1NsCs-oyogJJ41u-xrLRTG1qHWCGn9OeixXjtkPAivw8/edit?tab=t.0).
After the students had entered the gymnasium/auditorium in a mannerly and organized way, they sat on the floor facing the stage where I sat with five student school leaders. The energy was delightful! A broad smile stayed fixed on my face throughout their entry, I knew right away that we were going to have a good time!
The story ‘The Maple Leaves of Kichi Makwa’ tells of the maple leaves on the limbs of maple trees in the magical land of Kichi Makwa (Great Bear). The story tells how the maple leaves became upset when they observed that their friends and neighbours around them were painted with several colours. The flowers were colourful, the birds too, even the rainbow. The leaves didn’t think this was fair, they had only one colour: green! So they cried countless tears, not for days or weeks but for many months. Eventually Aki, the spirit of Kichi Makwa, fed up with the constant wailing of the crying leaves granted the maple leaves the gift of colour.
The leaves, now bright and majestic with the colours of orange, red and yellow felt that they and they alone, were the most precious and the most beautiful of all the beautiful life forms of Kichi Makwa! They became egotistical and mean-hearted. The maple leaves bullied and teased everyone around them! This constant harrassment by the leaves made all their neighbours feel angry and frustrated!
Aki was watching, what she saw made her heart race, and in her displeasure with the leaves (she had no tolerance for bullies), used her great power to create the land’s first autumn. Kichi Makwa had before then, known only one season, summer! Cold days and nights along with winds unknown before in Kichi Makwa loosened the leaves from their branches and off they flew, leaving the trees empty of their presence. “I never want to see a maple leaf again,” declared Aki. “They are forever banished.”
The story does have a happy ending. Forgiveness occurs, the leaves return, Aki’s wisdom and compassion saves the day! The purpose of this tale is to remind all of us that you, whoever you are, wherever you come from, are already perfect in the eyes of Creator. The story teaches us that bullying is not acceptable! No human being comes from a culture or heritage that is greater before Creator than the one of the people living next door or sitting beside you in a classroom! We learn that no matter the skin colour of the person next to you, he/she is as worthy of being treated with equal respect and dignity as ‘you’ are. We are all citizens of this great land, let’s recognize it and together, make Canada better for it.
The students at Pinecrest have found a place in the heart of a poet and storyteller. And I feel I have grown emotionally and spiritually because of it. Pinecrest is a wonderful school!
To purchase a copy of ‘The Maple Leaves of Kichi Makwa’, check out my website at http://albertdumont.com/books/the-maple-leaves-of-kichi-makwa/. The story of the leaves has been written into a play. Pinecrest is considering performing it at their school. I look forward to seeing it.
This old logging route going from Wakefield, Québec to Maniwaki, is a lot like my past life. It has its dangerous curves, it has its rough surfaces (boy I’ll say) but it also has areas that are straight and easier to navigate (since my sobriety in 1988).
By and by, the old highway has become for me, a ‘time machine’. As I drive along the shoulders of the Tenagadino (Gatineau River), I find myself able to see quite vividly, my ancestors, in their magnificent birchbark canoes, making their way south, heading for Akikodjiwan (Chaudière Falls) for ceremony and feasting or perhaps going to where Ottawa is now, for the purpose of trade. As a man who retrieves a great amount of healing from swimming, I find it strange today that I have never gone for a dunk in the Tenagadino. I have never canoed on her either but will do both in 2025, this I promise!
I often reflect on long forgotten memories while heading north on the 105. I remember things such as when I was a child and being in a car with family, going to Kitigan Zibi from Pontiac, to visit with grandparents. I remember the conversations my parents were having with the driver of the car (often a relative from the Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg) who had driven from K.Z. to Pontiac to bring us north. The chatter might go as follows: “Oh, this is where an Algonquin died in a car crash,” my dad would say in the way of beginning a conversation with the driver of the car. All details were known somehow, such as who was driving, where the passengers were sitting, who was killed, who lived. It is certain that over the many years since the 105 was constructed, far too many deaths have occurred throughout its length. May all who died on the 105 rest in peace!
There are places on this roadway where teachings I share at conferences or to make a point, had their origins on the 105, such as the maple tree on a high hill between Wakefield and Low which has taught me about the strength, beauty and glory of my Algonquin roots and why I, as an Algonquin storyteller, have a duty to keep our circle strong.
Alongside the 105 you will see trees growing from what appears to be solid rock, balsam fir and cedars, all healthy, teaching us that they are like the Algonquins. Though oppressive laws and policies of the Indian Act left us with little, we survived, grew and flourished all the same.
I see secluded houses off the highway and I wonder if the children who grew up in them knew every nook, cranny and crevice of the rolling hills not far from their homes. I know that if it was me who had lived there when I was little, the hills would have been a great place of adventure and peace for me. Even now, I have the urge to go into them and explore what mysteries await the gratitude of the human eye!
When I drive through Low, Québec, I often bring my old friend ‘Beverley’ to mind. She lived into her 93rd year of life (deceased in 2013) and was a huge fan of my poetry writing. Beverley had a deep respect for Indigenous people. Her ancestors were driven out of the USA after the War of Independence was won by the Americans and forced the British to leave. Beverley’s family lineage became known as the ‘United Empire Loyalists’. They came north from the U.S. in the 1700’s and settled on lands the Algonquins had never surrendered. Beverley was a firecracker and I miss her a lot.
The towns and villages on the 105 all have interesting stories and interesting people! Over the passing of my 74 years, thus far, I have stopped in most every place of business and eaten in most every one of the restaurants on the 105. The food was always good, the merchandise purchased was top of the line! The people I’ve met, the Algonquin, the French, the English and other citizens were/are all peaceful and friendly. The 105! It’s a scenic drive!
The biggest loser in the election last night was our dear Mother Earth. How she will suffer, how she will weep! I wonder to what degree she will fight back when her wounds open wider and her blood (water) is poisoned to degrees never imagined before a man like Trump became (again) leader of the USA.
A convicted felon who believes that Global Warming is a hoax has been elected president of the most powerful country on earth. “On the first day of my presidency,” he promised, “I will drill baby drill!” (fracking), something he promised to thunderous cheers from his supporters. A MAGA voter said in an interview this morning about Trump’s win: “It means more money in my pocket!” ‘Money’ – yes our dear Mother Earth needs to learn that ‘money’ is more important to most people of this world than is the health of the water we drink so we can live.
Trump told the world during the campaign that when elected president, he will advise Netanyahu to “finish the job”. This could only mean wiping Palestine off the face of the map. There is only one Palestine on this planet. I fear that very soon, Palestine will no longer exist, the genocide will be complete! A people who have been severely oppressed since 1948 and have been enduring unimaginable suffering for over a year, are destined it seems, to experience even greater misery now that a leader from Turtle Island gives the green light to the war mongers to wipe out Palestine. Palestinians were removed from the lands they had lived on for millennia and placed on reserves: Gaza and the West Bank. My heart, my spirit, my energies, go out to them now and I am afraid for them. Joe Biden and Kamala Harris are co-combatants in the force delivering the death blow to many thousands of innocent Palestinian children. The blood of those children cannot be washed clean from the hands of the war criminals.
The violent extremists who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2020 and were jailed for their criminal actions will be set free by Trump. Women’s rights will be set back decades! Trump promised to be a ‘Dictator’! “You won’t have to vote again,” he promised. When a convicted felon makes a promise like that, you got to take it seriously. Good human beings worry for the future of their children while others are concerned about money in their pockets!
Trump is a vengeful man (keep Project 2025 in mind)! People who crossed him better beware now that he will be the president. He is not the type of man I would want marrying into my family but for most American voters he’s their guy simply because they believe it means ‘more money for themselves and cheaper gas prices’.
A dying planet, where people whose ability to gather kindness into their hearts, passed away somewhere on their life’s trail. Proof of it lays in the results of last night’s election in the USA. It’s a different world! Let us do all we can to keep the circle strong.
I remember a man from my youth, who after being involved in a terrible car accident, was left without the ability to mentally function again in a normal way. A bad fracture of his forehead was doctored by the installation of a steel plate where bone had once protected his brain. ‘Jimmy’ was never the same afterwards! He ended up living on the streets of Ottawa, where on several occasions I chanced to meet him. When Jimmy and I did bump into each other, I would invite him to have a meal with me in one of the many ‘greasy spoons’ found in Ottawa in the 1970’s. He was homeless and fun loving! He was gentle and honourable! Jimmy died of an epileptic seizure when he was only 38. May he rest in peace!
For as far as my ‘city’ memories go, I see that I have always nurtured a warm place in my heart for ‘street people’, no doubt placed there through the friendship I had with Jimmy. Creator knows that back in 1973 I came very close to ending up on the street myself! At that time I and another alcoholic began buying 40 oz. bottles of Club House Golden Sherry and sitting in a park all day, getting drunk. This was something I did for half the summer of 1973. I was able to break free! Many could not! My drinking buddy of that summer never left the street. He died a drunkard less than 10 years after beginning his street life.
Almost 60% of Ottawa’s street people are of Indigenous bloodlines. I wrote a poem dedicated to those people of Indigenous ancestry who die on the streets. The poem is titled ‘Do Not Pity me’. The City of Ottawa recorded it when I served as Ottawa’s English Poet Laureate. I dedicate this poem to the Indigenous people who weren’t able to endure the weight brought down on them by the tremendous force of the Indian Act! Here is the link to it if you have an interest in hearing and watching it: https://youtu.be/pgrm84TOgSE.
It is true that during the years when the tremendous cruelty living in the world of addiction weighted me down and even at times, left me for dead. Emotionally I no longer had a heartbeat! I cared not for the wellbeing of my community or nation. What a terrible waste those years were!
When sobriety began for me, it brought a faint pulse once again into my emotional domain. With the help of ancient ceremonies (for so long outlawed by Canadian law) I was able to stay strong in my vow to forever renounce a life of nonsense and waste. The pulse of my emotional realm grew strong and healthy and remains so to this very day (since 1988). But it was more than ceremonies which lifted me out of the gutter. It was also the beauty, the wonder and the genius of the Anishinabe Algonquin Nation which placed a shield before me, to keep temptation at bay.
To me, there is no greater evidence of Algonquin genius than the birchbark canoe. It truly is a world wonder! Recently I was contracted by the Museum of Science and Technology to write a poem on ‘precision’ as seen through the eyes of our people. I immediately thought of human beings in a birchbark canoe ‘chuting the rapids’. The canoe is medicine! The canoe calms, it sings a song, it is a gift to us from ‘All Our Relations’!
If you are in a world of addictions and want to free yourself of it, I urge you to take up canoeing. The canoe is a powerful healer. Give it a try in your healing.
The following is the poem I wrote for the Museum, enjoy!
Human beings Holding dear, in heart and spirit Trust, in oneself Trust, in the spirit of the river Trust, in a vessel, made of birchbark To gracefully perform its dance Over the waters of swift moving rapids
Oh, aware they are That the white waters, hunger For the touch of the canoe And the melody sung By the skin of a tree, rises In harmony, with the ancient song Being sung by waters and rock
Flesh and brawn, skill and courage Along with spiritual energies, entering human beings Making them one, with the canoe
The structure, wonder and genius Of Creator’s craft Its weight, its length, its width Assures it will survive The force of swift-moving waters
Human beings in harmony with The paddle How deep, how close, how far From the canoe When, where, why Like medicine The canoe defeats the rapids And onwards it travels On the Great River of Life
How does one define what is a spiritually awakening day?
Saturday, August 3, my day began at about 5 AM, when a throaty, short chopping sound awoke me. It was coming from my open bedroom window. I peered out the window and saw a chipmunk sitting on a basketball-size rock, I think it had climbed there to get access to some of the wild blackberries growing near my log home. Some ripe berries were within reach for the chipmunk because of the presence of the rock! I didn’t know chipmunks ate blackberries (?).
I returned to my bed and expressed gratitude to spirit for the sound and sight offered by my little buddy, the chipmunk (I call him Uncle Chippy). Maybe 15 minutes later, I heard coming from somewhere in the sky, the excited call given by a loon in flight. “Oh,” I thought, “the loon is telling all things who hear it to expect rain before the daylight hours of this summer Saturday come to an end!”
Later, as my coffee was brewing, I went into the yard, as I always do, to let the skin of my feet absorb the dew moisturizing the skin of Mother Earth. I go out into a dawning day as well, to fill my lungs with the cool morning air, taking in the wind, untouched by the pollution of a city and instead, full of forest energy! While there, I heard crickets happily singing somewhere on the forest floor. I heard the chirps and tweets of birds playing somewhere in the forest. I heard the gentle rattle of the poplar leaves, responding to the soft breeze heading east.
How delightful it was for me to be spiritually mesmerized by the wonder given this day by the different colours of ‘green’, perfectly spread out among the trees, the grasses, the shrubs, flowers and so on! A great gift of beauty presented for the eyes of human beings from the waters contained in the body of Mother Earth. It is water that creates colour on the land! A young artist from Slovenia, here in the territory a few weeks ago made a profound statement about water when she visited my home. “We are all children of water,” said Radharani Pernarcic. “Water is an entity that loves all her children equally!” Her words will not be forgotten.
In the grass near where I stood, a little toad no longer in length than a 10 cent piece is wide, hopped three or four times and then sat still. A large blue jay alit on a lower branch of the nearby spruce tree, then climbed up to the top, jumping from one branch to the other like a worker making their way up a ladder. A hummingbird suddenly appeared only 4 ft. from my face. Its wings swiftly fanning the air, it lingered for a few seconds, then in a flash it was gone. A beautiful monarch butterfly fluttered about in the yard, stopping on a plant here and there and then bouncing away again on the breeze.
My morning passed. Then at about 3 PM the heavy rain, as foretold by the loon in flight, began its descent. It was accompanied by streaks of lightning which I marvelled at and welcomed as they were the first I had seen this year! Thunder so loud, it vibrated in my ears for a second or two when it cracked, seemingly right over my head! In the evening, a red sun, a perfect circle, rested on the branches of the tall trees on the western horizon for a while, before closing the day. As I lay in my bed, ready for sleep, I held the events of the day in spiritual ponderance. I wondered, after I die, “will I no more experience such days?” It wouldn’t be right if we, the people who love and honour the earth to be denied these joys forevermore.
I believe that when we do not feel the need to condemn the atrocities occurring on the planet, we lessen our chances of being rewarded in the afterlife. It is said ‘Every Child Matters’. And it is true! Every creature of such innocence should be defended by human beings everywhere! There are genocides occurring in different corners of the planet. Children are being blown to smithereens by bombs made in the USA and supported by Canada and other western leaders. Ethnic cleansing is a crime against humanity and a great wrong against the love bestowed on us by Creator.
It is my spiritual duty as a human being to condemn it. If I do not, then the day I saw on Saturday will never be seen by me again in the Great Spirit Land after I leave this physical world. Let us all speak out against genocide!
I go often to my forest healing circle, where the breath of purity and the vibrating energies present there always bring peace to my heart. And it will do so for all who go to such a place for the purpose of spiritual discovery. The forest circle offers much, willing to cleanse me of negative energies. I embrace it all, fully!
The purity of the trees, standing tall around me and the saplings just at the beginning of their life cycle. The purity of the things I see in my circle, growing and living on the skin of Mother Earth. The moss carpeting the black earth and the decaying remnants of trees fallen by storms long ago. The purity still alive in the leaves scattered on the forest floor (yes, I believe that the leaves from past autumns are ‘alive’ in their contribution to health and wellness of our beloved forests), offering safety through camouflage to the noble partridge. The purity of the ants, worms, caterpillars and slugs which live in all places of the forest welcoming them a life on the skin of Mother Earth (the soil would not be rich if not for them). The purity of the moths who seldom fail to visit when I sit in the centre of my circle, colourful and delightful, my spirit dances in harmony with them. The purity of the songs, birds sing from the branches of nearby trees. These things! All, are by my side, when I speak for any cause in the community, I put my energies towards. All these things mentioned here are the purest of what is pure, and what we honour, when we say the words “All my Relations”.
The placenta I took from CHEO after Carter, my great grandson was born is only a short distance from where I sit. I buried it there in ceremony over a year ago when Carter was born. Carter passed away on this day, July 9th, one year ago! I meditate on the purity of a human being. It is only real for the babies, the toddlers and the youngsters of all the peoples of the world! Carter in his innocence was as pure in spirit as all things sacred around me in the forest! Carter was stronger than any man who ever lived. He had more courage than any warrior who ever received honours for his brave deeds on any battlefield in the history of the world. Yet, he was what defines ‘love’ and would have been an honourable man had he lived into adulthood!
I go to this place of purity and I present myself to all life found there, as their impure relative. Not always, but often, I reflect on the wrongs of my past when I sit in the centre of my circle. The ugliness of my actions when I roamed the city streets and bars, in a state of intoxication. I renounce those days as wasted times. The many years of being fooled by an unjust society into believing that I needed alcohol in my life, came to end in the spring of 1988. Purity, at least to a degree came into the life of this Anishinabe Algonquin man’s after I flung the bottle from my troubled life!
I saw a soaring hawk today after leaving my healing place. It went from one end of the open sky to the other in 3 seconds. Oh the wind and the hawk, what a wonder they are when they work together. I thought, “How does the hawk put the brakes on?” But then, why would it need to? The hawk is free! Never should it ‘stop’ in its duties as a sacred messenger!
When I walk to my circle, it’s a downhill exercise, which means, when I return to my home, I have no choice but to walk uphill. The trail is narrow and steep. I rely on the young trees to assist me as I take steps forward and onward back to my house. I take hold of a poplar stem. “Please,” I say, “be kind and help an old man.” They always oblige me and I get home without falling on my face!
To be pure of heart, like that of the birds, fish and animals is something that human beings will never fully realize. All we can do is go to a place of purity and there, humbly make a request from them who are pure in spirit, to help us in any way they can.
Something I never even dared to dream, has happened. Many, if not all who knew me “back in the day” as the saying goes, would have ever believed that an Honorary Doctorate from Ottawa University might one day be presented to me at a grand ceremony honouring over 700 graduates in its ‘Education’ sector.
It is with a humble heart indeed that I write to heap a universe of gratitude on all who felt I was deserving of it. Imagine, a man with a Grade 7 education (received an official high school diploma from Hillcrest High School in December 2022) getting such an honour! A rare occurrence to be sure!
At the Honouring Ceremony, after I had read the speech I prepared (see attached to this blog) I spoke words on the topic of oppression. I pointed to the fact that most settlers who immigrated to Canada in the 1800’s didn’t bring kindness in their hearts with them for the Indigenous Peoples living here. It was these settlers who created the ‘Indian Act’. The Indian Act signalled in a time of great misery and untold sorrow for the First Nations, Inuit and Métis people living on their traditional lands. I mentioned how a human being living under oppression, feels like they have suffered some kind of amputation, not a physical one, but one that impacts you spiritually, mentally and emotionally. I told the graduates about how the oppression of human beings by other human beings is something foreign to the human heart.
I implored the over 700 graduates present to renounce oppression wherever it is taking place on our dear planet. When I mentioned this request, someone in the audience shouted “Free Palestine”! It seems to me at this time that the only thing with the ability of “freeing Palestine” is the love and energy of Creator. We need to be reminded sometimes that all of us have a bit of Creator’s energy in our hearts. In my circle of friends I see it in abundance.
‘Oppression’: If ever it were to disappear from our world in my lifetime, I would be the happiest human being on the planet.
A friend, Lisa Howell, who works at Ottawa University and who was also part of the group who put my nomination forth, said to me, “Thank you for all you do.” My response was, “If my actions have done anything in bringing peace to anyone’s heart, then it was because I was inspired and motivated to do so by people like you.” The list is long!
If I am brave, it is because I remember the heartbeat of my mother. If I take a stance against tyranny and oppression, it is because I do not want anyone else to experience what I and other people of Indigenous bloodlines have endured in the past and even today, continue to live through oppression! Whenever human beings oppress the ‘rights’ of other human beings, rebellion and bloodshed will surely follow. It is impossible to count the millions upon millions of people who have died, either at the hands of oppressors, or been killed fighting to end oppression of their fellow countrymen. I condemn oppression, whether it is taking place in Canada, the Congo, Ireland, the Middle East or anywhere else on this planet. We all should. The love and energy of Creator instructs us to do so.
I want to extend a special migwech to Sylvia Smith (also supported my nomination), founder of ‘Project of Heart’ and Lindsey Barr, founder of ‘World Changing Kids’. I admire these brave women because they stand against racism and oppression! The world needs more human beings like them in it. In my heart of hearts, I know that it is women, like my beautiful granddaughter Kyrstin Dumont, who will lead the change in ending oppression in the world. Let us do all we can to help them make it happen.
I am attaching below the speech I wrote and delivered at the Honouring Ceremony. I hope you connect with its message.
Speech
I am at peace and I wish everyone well.
I began my life on worksites with only a Grade 7 education to assist me on the road to success. Success though, is something rarely achieved when the tremendous weight of racism and oppression is constantly present in mind, body and spirit. It leads you, oftentimes into a reckless lifestyle. I fell victim to severe addictions, mostly alcohol at the age of 15. I live every second of every day with back pain, so great that there are times, I can barely rise from a chair. Crushed and cracked vertebrae are not fun things to experience.
The lessons given me by ‘All My Relations’ have taught me that if I shun thoughts of self pity from my life’s trail, I will in the end, enjoy a good life! I prefer to soar on the blessings one receives through a hard work ethic rather than crawl day after day, in the slime of self pity.
The forest is the greatest teacher! The common garden snake as an example, has taught me to shed all negativity from my life. In the shedding of the old skin, it instructs me.”Get rid of it”. The snake teaches me to be gentle in my interactions with Mother Earth. In soft caress of the soil under it, the snake moves forward. What amazing teachers snakes are!
I am the father of daughters. When my daughters were teens, I would advise that they do all possible to find someone who is honourable to make their life with. “If you are living under the same roof as someone who is honourable,” I would tell them, “then this old dad of yours won’t worry too much about how you are being treated in your household.” The lessons I learned through the traditional teaching stories of my bloodline have always guided my councils with them.
I learned long ago through stories, many thousands of years old that things will go from bad to worse in the fast lane when one over-reacts to other people’s shortcomings or one’s own dysfunction. I learned through the spiritual force of the sharing circle, that if you hold by your side, anger, jealousy and vindictiveness, you greatly weaken the Nation you claim to love.
I learned over many years that trees are the wisest of all gifts Creator gave to humankind. I know a place where at the top of a high gravel hill, there stands today, a great maple tree. Because of storms washing away the gravel under the tree, its roots are exposed. Only the roots on its side and those at the back of the tree hold it in place. One day in the future, the tree will no longer have the ability to stay where it has stood for several hundred years. It will topple over and its life will end. Not so for us. We as human beings possess the ability to bring into our lives what will assure we do not fall.
To bring my spiritual bundle into the forest and place it on the skin of Mother Earth in ceremony assures that for me, I will find peace and wellness more and more in all the remaining days of my life.
