Remembering Dr. Howard Adams

Page 5

On Sept. 8, Dr. Howard Adams passed away at his Vancouver home.

Born and raised in St. Louis, Adams was a highly respected Metis leader, academic, writer and activist.

Following are excerpts from a story on Dr. Adams we originally published in 1999, when his contributions and achievements were recognized with a National Aboriginal Achievement Award in the Education category.

Ten years past retirement, Metis educator Howard Adams still defines his views as "radical." Whatever the political stripe, Adams' conversation and writing reveal the passion of a man who has made a career out of combating the systemic racism he says holds Aboriginal people back.

His is a lifetime of daring and innovative support of unpopular Metis and Indian social causes. Great numbers of publications illuminate his historical research, and his books are classics of Native literature. Adams' efforts and example continue to motivate Native people to aspire to quality education and to challenge the status quo.

Political action to improve opportunities for Aboriginal people started early for Adams.

"I can remember holding a demo in high school," he said.

Later, while completing his Ph.D. studies at the University of California, Adams was inspired to action by the free speech movement that fueled sit-ins, strikes and demonstrations. He saw the aims and causes of the 1960s movement as "kind of parallel to our own people."

His sense of Metis identity was boosted by his uncle, Medric McDougall, who related how his great-grandfather, Maxime Lepine, and his great-uncle Ambroise stood with Riel. By the time Adams returned from the University of California at Berkley in 1965, he claimed "radical, revolutionary ideas," which stemmed from this heritage. He identified fully with ancestors who had sacrificed everything for their home and people.

Adams found a job as associate professor at the College of Education, University of Saskatchewan, where he eventually obtained tenure and taught for 10 years, until 1974. From 1968 to 1972 he was also president of the Metis Society of Saskatchewan. Throughout the 70s and 80s he taught summer sessions, wrote, and was active in human rights issues.

From 1986 to 1989, as professor at the University of California, he taught minority students and conducted demographic research on Indian reservations. In the first half of the 90s he taught summer sessions in Native Studies at the University of Saskatchewan, lectured across Canada and in Germany on Aboriginal issues, did a stint as a radio announcer, and founded the Vancouver Metis Association.

Adams wants only to be remembered as a person who worked uncompromisingly to get his people a fairer deal.