Elder leaves behind a lasting legacy

Page 5

Hobbema Loses A Good One

Tansi!

Alberta has lost another one of its more prominent and respected leaders and Elders.

On May 12, former Samson Band chief, spiritual leader and Elder, Johnny Samson, died at age 85.

Apart from being a very active community member who always praised the value of education, he, along with the late Metis president, Stan Daniels, made history in 1966 when the two walked and hitch-hiked to Ottawa with two pounds of sausage, to protest the extremely high cost of food in northern and remote Native communities of Alberta.

Mr. Samson had been in hospital following diagnosis for cancer. Sadly, it was already at a highly advanced stage and, coupled with a bout of pneumonia, his body gave in to the spirit world.

Mr. Samson was buried in a traditional fashion May 15. After a funeral service at the Howard Buffalo Memorial Centre, he was taken by horse and wagon to the cemetery where he was drummed out and laid to rest. As is the custom among traditionalists, a riderless horse was on hand for his spirit.

Mr. Samson was predeceased by his wife, Nancy, two years ago. He leaves to mourn three sons, three daughters, 35 grandchildren, 23 great-grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren.

Top Dogs at Pool Tourney

Remember that Byron Dodginghorse Memorial Pool Tournament I mentioned in my last column? Well, as predicted, Edmonton came out on top in two categories. Kevin Cardinal and his team, the Aboriginal Originals, took first in the teams followed by Andy Onespot and the King's Raiders from Tsuu T'ina, and Thunder Struck from Tsuu T'ina and Calgary. In the men's singles, the winner was Stan Tourangeau from Ft. Chip (now living in Vancouver) and Kevin Cardinal from Saddle Lake, but now living in Edmonton. Third was Dave Meguinis from Tsuu T'ina.

Brenda Ouelette from Tsuu T'ina won the women's division while Tina Roasting of Hobbema placed second.

In all, another successful tournament.

Deadline Looms for Input

The May 15 deadline is now past for the submission of recommendations to Alberta Learning regarding the proposed Native Education Policy Review headed up by Terry Fortin. A preliminary report will conclude by the end of June, then be analyzed by the advisory committee before going on to the Minister of Learning by Sept. 30. After that, it will go to press and be available to the public. Further info is available on the web at http://ednet.edc.gov.ab.ca/NatEdPolicy/prod/index/html or by phoning (780) 427-2043.