Kikino Citizen of the Year

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William Erasmus, 76, is the Citizen of the Year for 2000 at the Kikino Metis Settlement. The honour was awarded during the August's Kikino Settlement Days and Silver Birch Resort Rodeo.

Erasmus is probably the best-known Elder in the community of 1200. He is a frequent guest at the elementary school, which is built on land he donated. He also donated the land for the settlement office and community hall.

Every Rememberance Day he shares his experiences as a soldier in two wars, World War II and Korea, with the Kikino students. In World War II he served two years overseas. He was wounded in Italy, and spent three weeks in hospital before being sent back into action.

Erasmus was born and raised in the Goodfish Lake area. He moved to the Kikino Metis Settlement in 1942, just before joining the army.

In 1947 he married Bertha Ladoucer.

They raised a family of three boys and three girls, plus a boy and a girl they adopted as an infant and toddler when their mother, a relative, died at a young age, plus numerous foster children. With 25 grandchildren and 18 great-grandchildren, their home continues to be filled, especially during holidays.

Soon after he was married, Erasmus embarked on a lifelong involvement in Native politics. He was chairman of the Kikino Settlement and a councillor for 25 years, and president of the Alberta Federation of Metis Colonies in the early 1960s. He was also the vice-president of the Alberta Native Communications Society.

"It was difficult to be on council at that time because the (government-hired) supervisor had the last say," William said. There was also no funding for Metis local government. "We had to pass the hat around so leaders could travel to Edmonton." Often, the lack of funds meant their mode of travel was hitchhiking.

Erasmus was also the first Native court worker in northeast Alberta, covering Lac La Biche, Boyle, Athabasca, and Smokey Lake. He walked away from the job when he could no longer stand the harsh sentences routinely handed out to Natives. Although there have been improvements, that discrimination still lingers in the justice system, he said.

In a life of political activism, one of William's biggest successes came from involvement in a 1960s month long sit-in aimed at keeping a Native education program running in Lac La Biche. He was one of five delegates who travelled to Ottawa to represent the people occupying the New Start program's building. The protest resulted in the Pe Ta Pun ("New Dawn") board getting two years' funding to run the school. After two years they got provincial funding as an Alberta vocational centre. Today it operates as Portage College, and the school continues to emphasize the education needs of Native communities throughout northeastern Alberta.

The Citizen of the Year award came as a complete surprise to the modest man. "I didn't know anything about it until someone came to pick me up (to go to the ceremony)," said Erasmus.