13. George Gordon First Nation 1984-87

I married in 1983 to a man from George Gordon First Nation. When I was done University in May, 1984, I was pregnant and we moved to a house on the reserve. I went back to work for MSB, and was assigned to work on the reserve as the nurse (the regular nurse, Marian Zerr, went off on maternity leave, so I filled in her position until my own maternity leave in November). Our office was in Fort Qu’Appelle, so I had to drive to the office to pick up the government vehicle. After a while, they decided that I could keep the car on the reserve, so I just had to drive in on Monday morning to pick up the vehicle, and return it Friday afternoon. During this time, I felt like I couldn’t ask for anything, so I just did whatever I was told. I didn’t care for the Zone Nursing Officer, and I thought that if I asked for anything, it would be denied.

I was assigned to both Gordons and Muskowekwan First Nation. Gordons was bigger, with about 800 people, and Muskowekwan was about 150 people. The CHR on Gordons was Shirley McNab. Even though she was older than me, she was very respectful. When we would go visiting around, she would tell everyone that I was her boss! We would laugh about that, because she was really the boss. Shirley and I were related through marriage, my husband and her first husband were first cousins.

The CHR Advisor also lived on Gordons, Bill McNab. Everyone called him Big Bill. He was a traditional Pow wow dancer, maybe that’s where his name came from. He was also my husband’s first cousin and brother to Shirley’s first husband. Big Bill and I would travel to the office together in Fort Qu’Appelle. I got along good with Big Bill too. Big Bill was an advisor to all the CHRs in the Fort Qu’Appelle Zone. There was another Advisor, Violet Piapot, and they divvied up the CHRs, as it was a large zone, including reserves around Yorkton/Kamsack, Rose Valley/Wadena, Fort Qu’Appelle, and Broadview.

Shirley had people well-trained at the reserve. If they came after hours to her house, she would tell them she kept regular hours at the clinic, and that if it wasn’t an emergency, they could come and see her there. Some other nurses would complain that there was people at their house all hours of the day and night, but no one bothered me too much when I lived on the reserve.

Shirley was the CHR at Gordons until Big Bill retired. Then she was hired as a CHR Advisor, and she would go and visit other CHRs on other reserves to provide advice and support. During this time, the government moved to have CHRs be hired as ‘band employees’, rather than government employees. Because Shirley had been around so long, and Gordon’s wouldn’t accept her employment (in support of her), she remained a government employee until her retirement. She was able to receive a government pension for her many years of service. She earned it! (For many years, most First Nations didn’t have a benefit package, and many staff worked for years without a pension plan. This has changed since the 1990s.)

I especially enjoyed being part of the community. People got to know me, and see me with my extended family. Gordons had some non-Indigenous people that had married into the community, and were generally pretty accepting of others. This changed as I lived there, and was worrying.

I can’t write about Gordons, without talking about the Residential School. A day school was started on Gordons around 1880 or so. In the early 1900s, a Residential School was built. It burned in the 1920s and a new Residential School was built. It was Anglican, and people from the reserve sent their kids there, or to Muskowekwan (a reserve about 15-20 minutes from Gordons) which was run by Catholics. This division is still evident today – Anglicans and Catholics, along with several evangelical groups. The children that attended the Gordon Residential School were from Gordons, but also many from other reserves around the province. Andrew Gordon was 11 years old in 1939, and he froze to death trying to walk home to his reserve. Survivors of this school have difficult stories to tell, similar to many others, like the cutting of hair and ill treatment, not enough food, etc. William Starr was the Administrator from 1968 to 1984. He had the behaviours of a pedophile, and molested many of the young boys in the school. The abused men started court proceedings when they were older, and in part, caused the government to apologize and then give the Common Experience Payment to all survivors of Residential School in 2005-2011. The government wanted to avoid every former student of a Residential School taking them to court, so they established the Common Experience Payment. Students got $10,000 for their first year and $3000 for each year after that. However, the money did not heal people, and did not take away the trauma that the staff at the school inflicted on defenceless children.

William Starr did not act alone, and several staff at the Residence were involved in the sexual abuse of students. It is well-documented about the boys being molested by Starr and other men, but I have heard at least one story of a female staff also molesting a young boy. One of the problems with this, is that people that have been sexually abused may go on to sexually abuse others. The abuse at the school has since infiltrated the reserve, and there is considerable lateral violence, and specific cases of violence and death as a result. William Starr was charged and given a sentence of 4 ½ years in prison. He served less than 2 years. Luckily, he served his time in prisons in Ontario. If he would have been in the prisons in the prairies, he likely would not have survived.

The other impact, after generations being taught that traditional customs were ‘evil’ and ‘devil’s work’, is that most do not speak their language (Cree and/or Saulteaux), or practice their culture. There has been renewed interest since around 1980, and a few people are re-learning their cultural practices and attending ceremonies. There are also few cultural Elders on the reserve, and Elders from nearby reserves are asked to help with pipe ceremonies and other events, from Kawacatoose and DayStar First Nation.

My father-in-law, Hilliard McNab, ensured that the government retained responsibility for the school. The government was giving the schools to communities to run, and the offer was made at Gordons, but it was turned down. When the court cases started, it was a relief that the government was responsible, or the Band would have been sunk with payments to victims. Even so, included in the court cases were local people that worked at the school. This was all kept very quiet, so I’m not sure what happened in these cases, and if individuals were held liable.

The government and Gordons finally came to an agreement, and the Residential School was closed in 1996. It was the last federally-operated school to close. A new school was built on the reserve. The old school was demolished. I was thinking that many former students would be very happy to see that old building go down, and dance over the dirt! Instead, there was a line-up of cars by the clinic (the area was restricted, actually a huge area was fenced off so no one could be near the demolition). In the cars were people that worked at the schools, cooks, maintenance, child care workers, and they were sad to see the building go down, as some had worked 20-30 years and got their government pension from their years of service. There were lots of mixed emotions that day, some joy, some sadness, maybe some regrets.

I’m not sure what year it happened, but Gordons had tried to build a hockey rink in their community, with some funds from Indian Affairs. Of course, the money ran out before the rink was completed, and it sat, unfinished. I was always embarrassed by the ‘white elephant’, as I thought of it in my mind. Another example of Indian Affairs planning! The rink sat unfinished for 20 years or more. Someone took a look at it, and they were worried that it was deteriorating. Gordons was known back in the heyday for having the best hockey team in the province. The rink was important for the next generation of hockey players. Gordon Golden Eagles were well-known for years, and won many tournaments. I think they used the rink in Wynyard to practice.

So, the band worked with Indian Affairs, and got some funding to make an addition on the side of the rink to house the Band Office. Up until that time, the Band Office was in an old house that had been renovated. Then the community formed a committee to fund-raise to get the rink completed. Their main fund-raising activity was Bingo. I am not a bingo player. So, I was assigned the Box! It was a big clear acrylic box that I would put in Nevada tickets (the pull-type tickets, that break open about 5 tabs or so). I carted that darn box all around! So, I attended many bingos and events, selling tickets to the people.

We also had bingos in Regina, usually at Queen City Bingo. Before they changed the rules, groups could make significant money at a bingo. We would do midnight bingos in the city, and could make $4000 a night. I would be a volunteer there, selling tickets. A group from the reserve would organize it, and get workers. And others from the reserve would come and play to support the project. A lot of work and effort culminated in the rink being finished, along with the new Band Office. I was very proud of the community for this!

One of the issues on the reserve (and many Indigenous communities) was worrying about the money. There were/are many examples where someone has taken off with money that has been raised. When a committee was forming to do something, they needed a reliable person to ensure that the money did not disappear and that it was spent appropriately. On Gordons, that was Shirley McNab. She was known for managing money well, so she was often asked to be on a variety of committees. It is understandable that when poverty is a large part of many people’s lives, that money is sometimes taken and spent on essentials. I don’t criticize when that happens. A desperate act of a desperate person.

I was pregnant with my daughter, and I worried about the impact on her. One of the teachings from the Elder is that while pregnant, a woman is supposed to care for herself, and keep away from negativity. Maybe she would grow up with an affinity to Nevada tickets! Hahaha…. I recall that I had a favorite show on TV, called ‘V’. It was a show about aliens that came to earth and had relations with humans. I used to watch with a tea towel draped over my tummy, so that my baby couldn’t see it. One startling scene was a human/alien baby was born, looking normal. And then its tongue came out, and it was long and then split into two like a snake! When my baby was born she had a very long tongue. So, maybe??

In 1984-85, there was a big change to the Indian Act. The change was to eliminate discrimination that was in the Act. Prior to 1985, a woman that married an Indian man gained status. So, when I married my husband in 1983, I gained status, even though I was Métis. Ever since, when I am asked, I will say that culturally, I’m Métis, but according to Canadian Law, I am First Nations, a band member of Gordon First Nation. My two children are also members of Gordons.

Prior to 1985, if an Indian woman married a non-First Nations man, she would lose her status. And following, her children would also not have status. So, it was unfair. One group would gain and the other group would lose. My husband was hired to develop a Band Membership Code – this was required by the change in law. In 1984, he was visiting people and asking them what should be in the Code. There was a lot of hostility at this time on the reserve to ‘others’, other women that were on the reserve that had gained status. There was talk of throwing all the ‘white women’ off the reserve.

And there was hostility towards the women that had lost their status. There were several that lived in town, and people on the reserve ‘didn’t want them to be part of the Band’. When we talked about this at home, I was distressed. Some of these women were my husband’s sisters! The change in 1985, caused dissention and difficulties in some reserve communities.

This change increased the numbers of First Nations in Saskatchewan. I think the government was overwhelmed by the numbers. I know that when I first started nursing, there were about 40,000 First Nations people in Saskatchewan. After 1985, the number doubled or more, to about 90.000 people! Today, there are approximately 180,000 First Nations people in Saskatchewan. And Indigenous people are the fastest growing segment of the population on most provinces.

Once the process of re-gaining status began, pressures were felt on the already limited housing on the reserve (many housing lists on most reserves are in the hundreds, with a community building 5-10 new houses a year – simply do not meet the needs of the people!). The federal government then provided money to build houses for the Bill C31 (the name of the bill that went to the House of Commons for the change in 1985) people.

Gordons was opposed, and refused the funding for a few years. I have been to other communities that took advantage of this program, and built townsites with it. On Gordons, many houses are built in clusters, with family groups living together in these clusters. There is no townsite, with shared services like water, sewer, etc.

I recall one time visiting Beardys & Okemasis First Nation. We talked to a guy, I think his name was Jake Mike. Some people called him ‘Jake the Snake from Duck Lake’! Hahaha… we always have some kind of nicknames. He was telling us, ‘we have our own United Nations here’. “We have Black people, Chinese people, White people’. Beardys had built a townsite with their Bill C31 funding, and many of their women were returning home with children of all colours.

I like a teaching that Phil Lane gives. He says that ALL people were tribal at one time, and that they need to seek their roots to find their tribe. The Circle of Life has four colours – yellow, red, black, and white. These four colours represent the Four Races of Man – Asian, Indigenous, Black, Caucasian. Each race was given a ‘gift’. His reminder is that we are all on the circle, and we are all related.

While I lived on the reserve, around 1986 the Regional Nursing Officer position came open. I applied and was given an interview. I don’t recall much about the interview, but I was quite pregnant with my second daughter. I was young, and actually thought that I had a chance for the position. Of course, they didn’t choose me. When I was young, I thought that I could become a high-level person in government, but as I grew older, I knew that I wasn’t interested in that anymore.