My Heroes Have Always Been Indians: A Century of Great Indigenous Albertans

By Cora J. Voyageur

In a series of inspirational profiles, Cora Voyageur celebrates 100 remarkable Indigenous Albertans whose achievements have enriched their communities, the province, and the world.

As a child, Cora rarely saw Indigenous individuals represented in her history textbooks or in pop culture. Willie Nelson sang “My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys,” but Cora wondered, where were the heroes who looked like her? She chose the title of her book in response, to help reflect her reality.

In fact, you don’t have to look very hard to find Indigenous Albertans excelling in every field, from the arts to business and everything in between. Cora wrote this book to ensure these heroes receive their proper due.

Some of the individuals in this collection need no introduction, while others are less well known. From past and present and from all walks of life, these 100 Indigenous heroes share talent, passion, and legacies that made a lasting impact.

Read about:

• Douglas Cardinal, the architect whose iconic, flowing designs grace cities across Alberta, across Canada, and in Washington, DC,
• Nellie Carlson, a dedicated activist whose work advanced the cause of Indigenous women and the education of Indigenous children,
• Alex Janvier, whose pioneering work has firmly established him as one of Canada’s greatest artists,
• Moostoos, “The Buffalo,” the spokesperson for the Cree in Treaty 8 talks who fought tirelessly to defend his People’s rights,
• And many more.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Brush Education
• Release date: Nov 14, 2018
• ISBN: 9781550597578

Cora J. Voyageur

Dr. Cora J. Voyageur is a full professor in the Sociology Department at the University of Calgary, where she has taught for 20 years. Her research interests explore the Indigenous experience in Canada, including leadership, community and economic development, women’s issues, and health. She is a residential school survivor and a member of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation from northern Alberta.

Book preview

Cover: My Heroes Have Always Been Indians: A Century of Great Indigenous Albertans by Cora J. Voyageur.

My Heroes Have Always Been Indians

My Heroes Have Always Been Indians

A Century of Great Indigenous Albertans

Second edition

Cora J. Voyageur

A logo shows a stylized book beside the text, Brush Education Inc.

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgements

A Note from the Author

INTRODUCTION

PART ONE: INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF ALBERTA: THEN AND NOW

PART TWO: PROFILES OF INDIGENOUS ALBERTANS

1. Aatsista-Mahkan (Running Rabbit)

2. Anderson, Anne

3. Auger, Dale

4. Bad Boy, Margaret

5. Benson, Mel Edward

6. Berube, Craig

7. Big Plume, Joseph Lloyd

8. Black Kettle, Maggie

9. Bourassa, John

10. Bourque, Sharon

11. Brady, James Patrick

12. Calahasen, Pearl

13. Callihoo, John

14. Callihoo, Victoria

15. Calliou, Brian

16. Cardinal, Douglas Joseph Henry

17. Cardinal, Gilbert

18. Cardinal, Harold

19. Cardinal, Melvin Mike

20. Cardinal, Tantoo

21. Cardinal-Schubert, Joane Marguerite

22. Carlson, Nellie Mildred

23. Chalifoux, Thelma

24. Chonkolay, Harry Gabriel

25. Clark-Jones, Bertha

26. Collins, Joan

27. Cree, Raphael

28. Crop-Eared Wolf (Makoyi-Opistoki)

29. Crowchild, David

30. Crowfoot, Bert

31. Crowshoe, Joseph and Josephine

32. Crowshoe, Lindsay

33. Crowshoe, Reg

34. Cunningham, Chester Raymond

35. Cunningham, Henry

36. Daniels, Christine

37. Decoteau, Alexander Wuttunee

38. Dickason, Olive Patricia

39. Dion, Joseph Francis

40. Donald, Bella Georgina

41. Eagle Speaker, Casey

42. Erasmus, Peter

43. Fedyk, Cora

44. Fletcher, John Thomas

45. Fortin, Terry

46. Fosseneuve, Louison Shot

47. Friedel, Marge

48. Garrioch, Alfred Campbell

49. Genaille, Sheila

50. Gladstone, James Basil

51. Gladue, Joey Wayne

52. Gray, Delia

53. Guest, Jacqueline

54. Halfe, Louise Bernice (Skydancer)

55. Hope, Adrian

56. Janvier, Alexandre Simeon

57. Jobin, Louis

58. Johnson, Connie Beverly

59. Kane, Margo

60. Lafleur, Joseph Dollar

61. Lewis, Willard

62. L’Hirondelle, Louis Maurice

63. Lightning, Albert (Buffalo Child)

64. Little Bear, Leroy

65. Littlechild, George

66. Littlechild, Jacob Wilton Willie

67. Lusty, Terry

68. Mandamin, The Honourable Leonard Stephen (Tony)

69. Margetts, Jenny

70. McDonald, Dorothy

71. Moostoos, The Buffalo (a.k.a. Louison Willier)

72. Norris, Malcolm

73. Norwest, Henry

74. Omeniho, Melanie

75. Ominayak, Bernard

76. Parenteau, Lillian

77. Poitras, Audrey

78. Poitras, Jane Ash

79. Randle, Kenton

80. Roberts, Jed

81. Samson, John

82. Sewepagaham, William Andrew Joseph

83. Shot in Both Sides (Atso-to-ah)

84. Sinclair, Samuel

85. Smallboy, Robert

86. Soop, Everett

87. Souray, Sheldon

88. Stanley-Venne, Muriel

89. Steinhauer, Ralph G.

90. Supernault, Clifford Rodger

91. Tailfeathers, Gerald

92. Three Persons, Tom

93. Tomkins, Peter Jr.

94. Tuccaro, David Gabriel

95. Urion, Carl

96. Vinson, Laura

97. Voyageur, Alice

98. Walking Buffalo (a.k.a. George McLean)

99. Ward, Ken

100. Willier, Billy

Appendix A: Questionnaire

Appendix B: Introductory Letter to Aboriginal Community

Appendix C: Newspaper Advertisement

Appendix D: First Nations in Alberta

Appendix E: Métis Settlements in Alberta

Notes

About the Author

Preface

The seed of this project was born out of two events. The first was a discussion I had with Clayton Blood. Clayton had been my boss for five summers when I worked for the Indian Management Assistance Program (IMAP) as a graduate student in the 1990s and is someone I respect greatly. At the 1999 Assembly of First Nations Annual General Assembly in Vancouver, Clayton approached me to write something about Indigenous people in Alberta. He stated that most people did not know about the many contributions Indigenous people have made to our province. I agreed and stored that suggestion in my memory bank.

The second catalyst for this project came while I was browsing the website set up by the provincial government to list projects for Alberta’s Centennial in 2005. I was surprised to see there were no books slated for publication at that point in time and that there was no funding allotted for Alberta Centennial–based publications until 2004. Books take time to produce, and one year is a very short time in which to publish a book.

Further to this discovery was the awareness that there were no Indigenous projects listed on the government website. Indigenous Peoples have been occupying this land we know as Alberta since the ice receded during the last ice age. The archaeological record estimates this to be 12,000 years ago.¹ Not only have Indigenous people lived in this area for a very long time, but they have also contributed to its betterment. This fact sometimes seems lost in the focus on pioneers, Europeans, eastern Canadian settlers, and the frontier spirit.

Our Alberta history tells the newcomer stories of the Norwegians, the Icelanders, the Ukrainians, the French, the British, and others. Their hardships and their contributions to our province are the basis of many films, museum exhibits, and books. Tributes to their pasts are valid and are welcomed in our multicultural society. In fact, we have government departments and foundations such as the Alberta Historical Resources Foundation whose mandate it is to document this history and provide funding for these historically based projects.

I would like to thank those who funded my project. They include Alberta Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development who stepped in to allow me to complete my project, Canadian Heritage, and the Heritage Community Foundation.

Second Edition

This updated second edition provides more current information on those profiled, as well as updated references for readers who want more information. The first edition of this book was published in 2010. There have been a number of significant developments within the Indigenous community since then. One of the most significant is a renewed interest in Indigenous Peoples and their cultures. This interest is due in part to the 94 Calls to Action of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission consisted of a chair, Justice Murray Sinclair, and commissioners, Wilton Littlechild and Marie Wilson. Their mandate was to hear testimony about the dark legacy of the Government of Canada’s misguided treatment of vulnerable Indigenous children in residential schools. The Commission had two aspects: truth and reconciliation. The truth part gave residential school survivors and their families an opportunity to tell their experiences to Canadian society. The second part, reconciliation, is meant to help reset the relationship between Indigenous people and mainstream Canadian society. Part of this renewed relationship needs mainstream society to be more aware of Canada’s First Peoples, past and present. I hope this book will assist that goal.

Acknowledgements

A project like this is only completed by the hard work of a great number of people. I would like to thank Clayton Blood of the Kainai First Nation in southern Alberta for suggesting the idea for this book with me all those years ago. The idea stuck with me.

I would like to thank all the people who called, mailed, and emailed nominees to me. The nominees were drawn from all across the province and from all walks of life. I was inspired to research and write about each of these individuals.

Thank you to Terry Lusty for allowing me to use his photos. Thank you to my summer students who worked on this project during the summer of 2003. These include Marlaine Metchewais, Delilah Young, Brenda Prince, Patricia Colosimo, Drew Calliou, and Carly Morton. Also, a few of my students from the University of Calgary agreed to edit their term papers into profiles about Indigenous people. The University of Toronto Press was also generous to allow these profiles to be reprinted.

Thank you to all the writers who stepped up to the plate and helped quickly pull this book together to try to meet the ever-looming deadline. The writers include Lee Tunstall, Michelle Voyageur, Brian Calliou, Casie McGonegal, Joan Ryan, Margaret Burgess, David Christiansen, Theresa Ferguson, Drew Calliou, Vivienne Biesel, and Carly Morton. Thank you to Lea Anderson for helping me with the typing. Thanks to George Melnyk for his great publishing advice.

Thank you to the funders of this project. This project would not have been completed without your support. They include Valerie Kaufman at Canadian Heritage, Adriana Davies at the Community Heritage Foundation, and Dorothy Schreiber and Trish Bartko at Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development of the Government of Alberta.

I had to enlist the help of my family and this book became a family project when the crunch came to complete this manuscript. Luckily, I have a family of great writers. Special thanks to my husband, Brian Calliou, for his support and his keen eye for editing. Thank you to my children, Carly and Drew, for always pitching in to do the little jobs that helped polish it off.

Members of the Indigenous community in Alberta have been very supportive of this project and of me throughout the process. I appreciate the moral support and the encouragement. I am eternally grateful to all of you. I could not have done it on my own.

Cora J. Voyageur, Ph.D. July 2005

A Note from the Author

My family was part of that steady stream of Indigenous people migrating from the reserves to the cities in the 1960s. As an Indigenous child growing up in mainstream society, I noticed a lack of people who looked like me in any of the printed materials or in the electronic media. Indigenous people were the antagonists in Louis L’Amour’s western paperbacks. Academic books were not a part of my world back then. Few Indigenous people were featured in the magazine articles or in the newspaper headlines. We faired a little better in the electronic media with the likes of Jay Silverheels (the Lone Ranger’s sidekick, Tonto) and Injun Joe on The Forest Rangers on television. On the big screen, Chief Dan George made a splash in the movie Little Big Man. This lack of presence carried over into the school curriculum and textbooks, where I learned how the French and English formed Canada but learned nothing about Indigenous Peoples’ participation. Indigenous people were noticeably absent from mainstream society.

This book began as a conversation with a few Indigenous friends who mentioned that we did not learn about Indigenous people in school. We learned about Switzerland, New Zealand, and Africa. We also learned about the French and English in Canada but did not learn about our own Indigenous Peoples. Indigenous Peoples had been left out of Canada’s history until recently.

The recognition of Indigenous people and their contributions to the creation of Canada and of Alberta are essential to the functioning of a modern multicultural society. Indigenous people are members of an active, vibrant, and rich cultural community who have a long-standing relationship with the land and who have made significant contributions to the growth of this province.

This book highlights the Indigenous presence in Alberta and the diverse contributions Alberta’s Indigenous people have made to our province since its creation in 1905. It has two parts. The first part provides a brief history of Alberta and a synopsis of the Indigenous Peoples who live there. The second part is one hundred biographical profiles of Indigenous Albertans. This portion of the book was a grassroots endeavour since the individuals featured had their names submitted for inclusion in this project by members of Alberta’s Indigenous community.

I solicited Alberta’s Indigenous community for nominees and received submissions from First Nations administrators, Indigenous political representative groups, Métis communities, Métis organizations, Alberta Native Friendship Centres, Indigenous newspapers, and other media outlets. Individual community members also submitted names, photos, and short biographies of individuals they felt have made a contribution to the development of Alberta. I solicited about forty nominations in this way. I gleaned the information to write each profile in several ways.

Some profiled individuals are better known than others. Due to their notoriety, more published information was available about them than for lesser-known individuals. The profiles for the more publicly known people contain more published materials, while the profiles for the lesser-known individuals rely on personal or telephone interviews with the individual or the nominator.

As the primary writer and editor of this project, I had the task of deciding who would be included in the book. I wanted to select a variety of people to showcase the talent in the Indigenous community. It was not an easy job because I also wanted to balance many factors: gender, First Nations and Métis, treaty area, and historical and contemporary individuals. It is important to note that this selection of profiles includes some who were born outside Alberta, and in a few cases, born outside Canada. My rationale for including these individuals was their being a long-time Albertan, making their mark on this province, and viewing themselves as an Albertan. Last, for the sake of practicality, there needed to be enough information gathered about an individual through interviews or printed materials to write the profile.

This project is meant to enhance knowledge and challenge previous, and at times erroneous, notions about Indigenous people and their contributions to our society. I hope this publication will be a source of pride for Indigenous people. I hope young Indigenous people take comfort in seeing people in the pages of this book who look like them. The profiled people may come from their city, town, Settlement, or Nation and serve as an inspiration for them to achieve more. I also hope it will work to combat the prejudice and discrimination suffered by Indigenous people at the hands of the uninformed. Thanks to all who participated.

Introduction

Our province of Alberta celebrated its 100th birthday in 2005; it became a province on September 1, 1905. It was named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria. Until then, it was part of the Northwest Territories.

Indigenous Peoples inhabited the land we now know as Alberta long before it was a province and Canada was a country. As a First Nations person raised in Alberta, I find the general Alberta public know little about us. In my view, the media’s portrayal of Indigenous Peoples consists of a steady diet of conflict and sensationalism.

This project is close to my heart. In it, I hope to raise the profile of Indigenous people and highlight the many positive contributions they have made to our Alberta society in the past 113 years. This book highlights the many and diverse contributions Alberta’s Indigenous people have made to our great province since its creation in 1905. It has two parts. The first provides a brief history of Alberta and a synopsis of the Indigenous Peoples who inhabit Alberta. The second part includes biographical profiles of select Indigenous Albertans.

People included in this section are involved in arts, commerce, community development, cultural identity, economic development, education, environment, health, justice, law, leadership, literature, military service, politics, sports, Traditional Knowledge, volunteerism, women’s issues, and other areas. There are 100 profiles in this book.

The profiled individuals fall into two separate but sometimes overlapping groups of Indigenous Albertans. The first group is made up of individuals who have been recognized and received national, provincial, municipal, or local awards. This official recognition may include, but is not limited to, military, citizenship, community service, or volunteerism awards. For example, some of these people are recipients of an Indspire Award (formerly the National Aboriginal Achievement Award) or have been appointed to the Order of Canada. The members of the second group are individuals who have contributed greatly to our Alberta society but have never been formally recognized. They are people who work, or have worked, tirelessly in their communities but have yet to receive formal acknowledgement. I wanted to draw attention to these people and show how they contribute to Alberta in positive ways.

The writing style used throughout this book is geared toward the lay reader rather than the academic reader. However, the book does contain citations from books, academic articles, magazines, and newspapers. Some profiled individuals have published information available about them because of their notoriety. However, some individuals have never been the topic of written work, but they are well known and well appreciated as active and caring citizens in their local community. As a result, these profiles are based on interviews conducted with the individual or from information provided by family or friends and may not be presented as formally.

This project was a truly grassroots endeavour. I gathered information and individuals for this project in several ways. I solicited nominations throughout Alberta from First Nations administrators, Indigenous political representative groups, Métis communities, Métis organizations, Alberta Native Friendship Centres, Indigenous newspapers, and other media outlets. Community members submitted names, photos, and short biographies of individuals they felt have made a contribution to the development of Alberta. I solicited about 40 nominations this way. I then gleaned the information to write the profile.

I took a proactive approach to seek out nominations after I exhausted this avenue. Over the next three summers, I hired student researchers to comb through newspapers, magazines, the Internet, and archives. We gathered research materials from the University of Calgary library system, the Digitization Project at the University of Calgary, Glenbow Archive, the University of Alberta library system, the University of Alberta Book and Record Depository, the Alberta Sports Hall of Fame, the archives of Windspeaker and Alberta Sweetgrass, and a variety of publications, including Alberta Historical Review.

I hope this research is widely received in both the academic and non-academic communities. In the non-academic community, I anticipate this publication would appeal to school students of all ages (including postsecondary), members of the public interested in Indigenous people, and those interested in Alberta history.

There are many people who could have been or should have been included in this project. However, I decided to include 100 profiles to celebrate the 100th birthday of the province, and I selected a variety of people to showcase the talent in the Indigenous community.

In writing and selecting the profiles for inclusion in this book, I had to strike a delicate balance between several factors. I wanted to be inclusive of both First Nations and Métis individuals, and the profiles are split between the two groups. I also wanted to represent each of the three main treaty areas: Treaty 8, Treaty 7, and Treaty 6. In addition, I wanted to show profiles of both historical and contemporary individuals. The historical profiles are those of people who are deceased or still living who have made history in one way or another. It is important to note that this selection of profiles includes some people born outside Alberta, and in a few cases, born outside Canada. I included these individuals if they were a long-time Albertan, had made a mark on this province, and if they viewed themselves as an Albertan. Last, for the sake of practicality, there needed to be enough information gathered about an individual through interviews or printed materials to write a profile of approximately 500 words. Some nominated individuals simply did not have enough data.

This project is meant to enhance knowledge and challenge previous, and at times erroneous, notions about Indigenous people and their contributions to our society. I hope this publication will be a source of pride for Indigenous people. I also hope it will work to combat the racism, prejudice, and discrimination suffered by Indigenous Peoples at the hands of the uninformed. Thank you to all who helped make this project move from an idea to a reality.

Part One

Indigenous Peoples of Alberta

Then and Now

Indigenous people are descendants of the first inhabitants of this province. Many theories have been developed about how the first inhabitants of what is now Alberta got here. However, the most prominent one states that people from northeast Asia walked across a land bridge called the Bering Strait Land Bridge.¹ The exact time people came to the New World is uncertain, but the archaeological record in northern Yukon has evidence dating back 18,000 years.²

The ancestors of Indigenous people of Alberta lived on this land as the ice receded during the last ice age. Even the locations of present-day Edmonton and Calgary were inhabited in prehistoric times.³ Further, recent road construction along the Trans-Canada Highway near Banff garnered items dating back 10,000 years.⁴ According to archaeologist Jack Brink, ancient Alberta hunters and gatherers developed complex and ingenious technologies that allowed them to live in a harsh environment for thousands of years.⁵ The Indigenous people of Alberta would continue living in this area for millennia.

The first reference to Alberta in the historical record was in Henry Kelsey’s journal at York Factory in 1715. Kelsey wrote of a Cree trader named Swan who came from an area that would become northern Alberta: He brought a sample of that gum or pitch that flows out of the banks of that river.⁶ The gum or pitch Kelsey described was tar sand and the river was the Athabasca.

Indigenous people were vital to the creation of Canada and the creation of Alberta. Indigenous labour, technology, and ingenuity were critical to survival in the early days of European settlement on the land that would become Canada. Indigenous people aided in early exploration, such as Alexander Mackenzie’s trek to the Pacific in which Indigenous people served sundry roles such as guides, cooks, and provisioners. This is what Sylvia Van Kirk called social brokers.⁷ For example, historical records show that Indigenous women travelling on the expedition made 600 pairs of moccasins during the trip.⁸ However, over the next centuries, Indigenous people would become viewed as extraneous to the economy and were subsequently marginalized.

I must first outline exactly what I mean by Indigenous people before I can describe the conditions surrounding Indigenous life in Alberta. I will provide a brief definition of Aboriginal people as outlined in the Constitution Act, 1982. I will then touch on the foundational basis of relations between First Nations of Alberta and settler society. Last, I will describe some of the current social and economic characteristics of Indigenous people living in Alberta. Let me begin with a definition of Indigenous Peoples in Canada.

Definitions of Indigenous Peoples

There were trade relations and there were political relations. There were also conflicts. Some First Nations were traditional enemies; for example, historian Olive Dickason comments that the Cree and the Blackfoot considered each other their worst foe.⁹ There were conflicts between the First Nations people in Alberta just as there were wars between countries in Europe.

In Canada, there are more than 50 distinct languages spoken by Indigenous people, including Ojibway, Cree, Blackfoot, Saulteaux, Chipewyan, and others. These languages are as different from each other as French and Italian. First Nations cultures are geographically scattered throughout Canada and have unique historical experiences that shaped their present-day cultures.¹⁰ There are also the Métis with at least two distinct cultures, as I will explain shortly, as well as Inuit with differences among them. However, the most significant distinctions are the legally imposed definitions.

Legal Definitions of Indigenous Peoples in Canada