The concerns of the Elders should concern us all

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The Gathering of Elders 3rd National Aboriginal Symposium on Aging held Oct. 30 to Nov. 2 brought seniors from across Canada together to discuss shared concerns and to share diverse knowledge.

The symposium dealt with a wide variety of issues, including the retention of culture and values, health and housing problems, urban programs, traditional medicines and wellness and support.

Understanding who and what an Elder is is vitally important, said Master of Ceremonies Wilson Okeymaw. "Elders are not self-proclaimed. An Elder is defined as a true spiritual Elder, which means they are the professors in culture."

Okeymaw said it's the community that defines who the Elders are.

"There are people here in Edmonton who say they are Elders, but Elders don't play Bingo," said Okeymaw. "It's a sacred position."

Okeymaw explained the overall objective of the symposium.

"The whole thing is to involve the urban Elders and to inform them of the services that are available to them," said Okeymaw. "Services that will create awareness about proper nutrition and exercise, and this needs to be properly communicated to them. A lot of our Elders die because of the lack of communication."

On the second day of the symposium, Okeymaw, along with Peter Waskahat and Geraldine Cardinal, talked about traditional medicines and wellness.

"We took a closer look at our traditional medicines and focused on how to share that," said Okeymaw.

He said the sessions also looked at how do we protect from the abuse of Elders.

"Elders are too kind," said Okeymaw. "They need to learn tough love and learn how to say no."

Okeymaw said there is all sorts of Elder abuse, not only physical abuse. He said many times Elders are taken advantage of through baby-sitting all the time and through financial pressures to loan money to relatives or friends.

Cardinal and Henry Laboucane shared their knowledge on what Elder abuse truly is through the Elder Abuse Discussion and Grieving Workshop.

Cardinal spoke about her residential experience and the loss of her parents and the recent passing of her brother and she said through all of this, the Elders are the ones who helped her to go on.

"Respecting the Elders, and sharing and loving them gave me the strength," said Cardinal.

When she was living in Sucker Creek First Nation, she would invite the Elders to come over so they could share their stories with one another.

"I asked them over so they could laugh and share their stories and they were really happy about this," Cardinal said.

Laboucane explained the many forms of abuse, such as financial, emotional, physical, sexual, medicinal and neglect.

"I think what keeps coming uueis the residential school experience and that's where most of the abuse happened," said Laboucane. "In 1947, I was abducted by aliens. You know, the one's with the white collar. When I was kidnapped they broke my little heart and when they did that they splintered my spirit and I think that's what happened to most of us."

Laboucane said people need to remember the saying that it takes a whole community to raise a child, but "it also takes a whole community to care for an Elder."

"All of us need to start taking care of our Elders," said Laboucane.

He said the most important thing to do is "to find a sense of who we are." The abuser, in particular, needs to describe how they are really feeling before his or her actions escalate.

Laboucane said the abuser is often moody or angry and those extremes change frequently.

"Our Elders are the ones who make the mistakes, but learn from it and what they've learned is what is past on to us," said Laboucane.

An Elder from the group asked Laboucane what the solution is and Laboucane explained in Cree what it was. The Elder then said 'No, that's not it. I told you what it is, and it's our ceremonies.'

Pearl Calahasen, provincial minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development, attended the symposium to congratulate everyone for attendig and talking about the issues that were concerning them.

"We have to respect our Elders and our children," said Calahasen. "We have to look after our children to ensure they are there in the future. You Elders are the key who can help us, the young people. As the minister of Aboriginal Affairs, I often stated that I like to see solutions so I'm asking you today to find those solutions because you have the teachings and knowledge."

For Alice Curry, an Elder from the Montana reserve in Hobbema, what she has heard is nothing new to her.

"I always enjoy going to these meetings, but what I've heard in the two days is what I was brought up with," said Curry. "The presentations on the teachings is nothing new to me because we were [given the teachings] right from the beginning and it doesn't ever leave you."