Spotlight shines on Six Nations members at gala

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Six Nations of the Grand River was well represented when this year's National Aboriginal Achievement Awards were handed out in Saskatoon on March 31-two of the 14 recipients honoured at the gala event are from the community.

Dr. Thomas Dignan and Joe Jacobs were both honoured by the National Aboriginal Achievement Foundation for their many accomplishments; Dignan in the area of medicine, and Jacobs for his contributions to arts and culture.

It was Thomas Dignan's lifelong ambition to become a doctor, and it is something he managed to accomplish despite the numerous obstacles he had to overcome to reach his goal.

When Dignan was 14 his father died, and he gave up on his dreams of becoming a doctor. He dropped out of school halfway through Grade 10 and found work to help support his mother and two sisters. When he was 18, he decided to would need to get a better education if he was to turn his life around, and he joined the U.S. Marine Corps, earning his high school diploma in night school during his time in the service.

After his discharge he returned to Canada and spent seven years in computer operations, one year with IBM and six more with McMaster University's computer centre.

But Dignan came to the conclusion that working with computers wasn't what he wanted to be doing with his life, and decided to chase his childhood dream of becoming a doctor. He couldn't get into university because he didn't have a Canadian high school diploma, so he took yet another detour, enrolling in St. Joseph's School of Nursing as a mature student. He made history when he graduated from St. Joseph's, becoming the first Native male nurse in the country.

His work in nursing saw him working in the adolescent unit at the Hamilton Psychiatric Hospital and later at the Outpost Nursing Station in Berens River, Man.

Dignan went back to school in 1974, earning his bachelor of science of nursing degree from the University of Alberta, then became a clinical nursing instructor at Mohawk College in Hamilton.

He then tried again to get into medical school and this time was successful. In 1981 he graduated from the faculty of medicine at McMaster University, becoming the first ever First Nations graduate from the program as well as its oldest graduate.

Dignan began his career as a doctor in Thunder Bay, becoming the community's first emergency physician, then went on to spend nine years in emergency medicine and anesthesia at South Muskoka Hospital in Bracebridge. As a licensed pilot, he also worked as a fly-in physician, serving communities in northwestern Ontario.

Dignan was the first president of the Native Nurses Association of Canada, and a founding member of the Native Physicians' Association. He currently is working as a medical officer for the Ontario region of Health Canada's First Nations and Inuit Health Branch, works part-time as a primary care physician for the Anishinawbe Muskiki Native Health Access Centre in Thunder Bay, and is pursuing his masters in public health at Lakehead University.

Joe Jacobs, a stone carver and sculptor whose works are much acclaimed and much sought after, came to his career as an artist by accident, quite literally. Jacobs was working as a roofer when he was injured on the job, forcing him to find another livelihood. He took up carving, and within a year had produced more than 40 works carved in soapstone, limestone and ivory.

Jacobs finds inspiration for his creations within Iroquois legend and myths. In some of his works, interpreting the stories in both abstract and representational forms.

Jacobs' talents as a carver and sculptor have assured that there is a buyer for each and every piece he produced and his works can be found in museums and galleries across the country, including the Museum of Civilization, the Royal Ontario Museum, the Joseph Brant Museum and the Whetung Ojibway Centre.

One of his works can also be seen on Parliament Hill-a five-panel, 12-foot b 4-foot limestone relief he carved in 1985 and which was installed in the members' entrance of the House of Commons. The images carved into the panels depict the Iroquois story of creation.

The National Aboriginal Achievement Award is just the latest in a long string of honours Jacobs has received in recognition of his artistic talents and his work to preserve and promote Iroquois culture through his creations.

He received an honourary doctorate of law from Trent University in 1983 and an Iroquois Arts Award in 1985. In 1989 he was named to the Order of Canada

This year's other National Aboriginal Achievement Award recipients were Bertha Allen, Lolly Annahatak, Andy Carpenter Sr., Sharon Anne Firth, Brenda Chambers, Dr. Eber Hampton, Judy Gingell, Douglas Golosky, Fauna Kingdon, Dr. Emma LaRocque, Dr. Gerald McMaster and John Joe Sark.