Excelling . . . in everything from acting and politics to music and sports

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Margo Kane

Edmonton-born Metis actress Margo Kane, 36, overcame prejudice, drug and alcohol abuse and thoughts of suicide to become a successful actress and national Native role model.

She has starred in television shows ? the Beachcombers, Danger Bay and Spirit Bay, as well as numerous plays including a self-written, directed and acted one-woman play. She is now attempting to set up a national network for Native actors and actresses.

"The network would help development communication among Native actors across Canada," said Kane, who also sees the network acting as a type of referral and information bureau.

It is the type of network that someone like Kane could have used during her formative acting years. She was adopted at an early age says she has always wanted to work in the performing arts.

"I've always been performing. I used to sing to the songs on the radio. When I babysat I would make up stories to tell the kids and when I was 12 I was a go-go dancer with a bunch of friends," recalls Kane.

But the actress, despite her optimistic outlook on life faced many obstacles in her life including prejudice and drug and alcohol abuse. At 18, having dropped out of school even though an honor student, Kane even contemplated suicide.

"I felt I had failed," says Kane. "Nothing I could do was ever good enough. I had dropped out of school and I had no one to turn to for help.

"Then I stopped and began to ask myself questions and I asked myself what was I here for?" Eventually, it was her craving to perform that pulled her from her slump.

"When I heard the music and when I danced I could feel this energy in me. I felt complete with the universe and I knew I had a gift." Kane went on to study dancing, acting and singing. And her new energy led her to look more closely at her culture and her Indian origins.

"The prejudice I saw and felt because I was an Indian made me more proud and more determined to be an Indian," says Kane. But in acting that prejudice took a new form. Kane, like most ? if not all Native performers, was continually cast in the role of a Native.

In the Beachcombers Kane played a doctor ? a Native doctor. Similarly, in Spirit Bay she played a Native teacher and in Danger Bay a Native lawyer.

"Being typecast into Native roles is a problem," says Kane. But I think it is something we could work on if we can get this network set up."

Kane, who now makes her home in Vancouver, sees a future for young Native performers but warns there are often financial and emotional barriers to overcome and live with.

"I think attitude is the most important thing," says Kane. "You have to be always willing to watch, to listen and to learn.

"Life is a classroom and we are the students."

Maurice L'Hirondelle

Mark McCallum

Maurice L'Hirondelle is still waging the battle for Metis rights, a struggle he's been a part of more than 50 years.

The 77-year-old is a key source and representative of Alberta's eight existing Metis settlements, currently searching for clues they hope will establish claims for the surface value (trees for harvesting, soil for farming, etc.) of four disassembled Metis settlements and the below surface mineral rights for the 12 original settlements set aside by the provincial government for the Metis people.

A founding member of the Metis Association of Alberta in 1932, L'Hirondelle says the government set aside the settlements for "homeless" Metis families in 1938. But, he claims the decision was met with anger from farmers and loggers at the time because it was the "Hungry '30s" during the depression when "everyone was starving." What followed was the disassembling of four Metis settlement ? Wolf Lake, Dutch Wood Lake, Cold Lake and Marlboro.

Born at Lac La Nonne near Barrhead, L'Hirondelle says the Metis people have come a long way in the past 50 years. He recalls early Metis settlers could rarely afford to even hold organized meetings. Raising what little money they could, he sys many used the Lac St. Anne religious pilgrimage as a meeting place. Today, although government funds assist Metis people to a larger degree, L'Hirondelle concludes Metis people must continue to struggle for their rights.

Ian Willier

Mark McCallum

Actor Ian (Dale) Willier has put away the movie scripts after appearing in the full length motion pictures ? Loyalties and Daughters of the Country. The 15-year-old's biggest worry today is algebra and finishing high school at Blue Quills.

Although the teen actor from the Driftpile reserve is still pursuing his movie-making career, Willier is currently in his second semester of Grade 10 studies at the Blue Quills educational facility near St. Paul.

Willier has balanced both acting and education in the past. "I can do both," he says, noting a school tutor held classes with him on the set of his second acting job. He passed his courses and completed work on a four part mini-series two years ago. He appears in the third part of the mini-series, Daughters of the Country, which follows the course of a Metis family from the turn of the century to modern day.

Willier was 13 years old when he landed his first acting role in the move Loyalties which went on to win five major awards at the 13th Annual Alberta Motion Picture Industries Association (AMPIA) presentations last year. In the film, now available at some video outlets across the country, he appears as the son of a strong-willed Metis woman, played by seasons actress Tantoo Cardinal.

Willier has his mind set on finishing high school and acting. He also enjoys portrait painting, which he may later develop into an art career. On weekends, he usually spends his free time with relatives at the Hobbema reserve.

Steve Collins

Dan Dibbelt

He is one of the top 10 best ski jumpers in Canada and at 23 years of age he was one of the country's brightest hopes for a medal at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.

While he didn't win a medal at the Olympics, Steve Collins, a Objibway from Thunder Bay, Ontario, did win the admiration of more than 60 Native youths gathered at an Aboriginal youth conference in Calgary.

"If they've (the youth) got goals for downhill skiing they should never let down on themselves," advises Collins. "They have to go out and try their hardest and then try harder yet."

Collins began his skiing career when he was only five. He says it was a passion that possessed him. "I was just skiing all the time," he says. By the time Collins was 10 he started competing in downhill and at 14 he began ski jumping.

In 1984 Collins participated in his first Olympics placing ninth in the 90-metre jump and 28th in the 70-metre.

"I've set goals for my life and have always aimed for them," says Collins. "You have to do what you want to do. Don't let anyone else tell you what that is."

Scott Lawrence

Mark McCallum

While most children were still learning their ABC's, eight-year-old Scott Lawrence was becoming a country music sensation.

Lawrence learned his alphabet. But, unlike most children his age, he began playing the violin at age three. The toddler later learned to sing and took the show on the road, accompanied by his parents, of course.

Father Leonard J. Lawrence explains that although his son cannot read music, Scott has a "musical ear" and natural talent for entertaining. The Slave Lake-born child prodigy has won about 50 trophies for singing and fiddling, says Leonard, noting 80 per cent of these are first place finishes. The proud pop adds Scott's biggest stand-out was at last summer's "Back to Batoche Days" where he took first place in the singing and fiddling categories.

"I mostly like fiddling," says Scott bashfully. He explains he picked up his musical talent from his father and enjoys country music above all other forms of entertainment. His dream is to play fiddle and sing at "The Grand Ole Opry" in Nashville.