Kamea Aloha Leemai Lafontaine [windspeaker confidential]

Windspeaker: What one quality do you most value in a friend?
Leemai Lafontaine: I value friends who are honest. Nothing is better than a dose of the truth when you really need it. 
 
W: What is it that really makes you mad?
L.L.: When people complain about their situation, but do nothing to change it.

W: When are you at your happiest?
L.L.: I’m happiest when I am with my family in Hawaii.
W: What one word best describes you when you are at your worst?
L.L.: Beastmode.

W: What one person do you most admire and why?
L.L.: I admire my Mother.  She has five extremely strong willed Children and 15 soon-to-be strong willed grandchildren, and somehow she has made each of us feel loved.

W: What is the most difficult thing you’ve ever had to do?
L.L.: The most difficult thing I’ve had to do is get through my education.  Ten years of school before I could have a career.  There were many times when I wanted to give up.

W: What is your greatest accomplishment?
L.L.: My greatest accomplishment is convincing my wife to marry me.  Together we’ve had two beautiful children and one on the way, and recently opened our first business together called Aloha Dental in Regina, Sask. (www.alohadental.ca)

W: What one goal remains out of reach?
L.L.: I haven’t been invited to the Bilderberg group meeting.  I guess they haven’t realized that you need an Aboriginal/Polynesian dentist to help solve the world’s problems.  (smile)

W: If you couldn’t do what you’re doing today, what would you be doing?
L.L.: I would be performing on stage like Usher and acting in movies like the Rock.

W: What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
L.L.: However beautiful the strategy, you should occasionally look at the results. – Winston Churchill

W: Did you take it?
L.L.: Of course.

W: How do you hope to be remembered?
L.L.: As someone who prayed less with his lips, and more with his legs.  I have lots of goals, lots of dreams, lots of ideas....I may not accomplish all of them......but I want to be known as someone who died trying.

Kamea Aloha Leemai Lafontaine was born and raised in Regina as the fourth of five children to parents that brought two cultures to their children; Polynesian and First Nations (Devils Lake North Dakota and Peepeekisis First Nation on his paternal grandfather’s side. His grandmother’s side is Saulteaux from Duck Bay.)  He is a singer-songwriter-producer who got his start in the music industry when he was five years old as part of the group the 5th Generation with his four siblings.

When asked what role his heritage played in his upbringing, Lafontaine said, “Growing up, I was taught about my Aboriginal heritage through my father. We spent a lot of time travelling to First Nations across Canada. I learned from watching. My father explained the principles when I asked, but through experience I think I’ve caught the essence of what my culture teaches. It’s a powerful belief system when applied. I think it’s worth noting that any belief system is only as powerful to the extent that you live it in your personal life. So no matter what you believe in your culture, live it!”

Lafontaine graduated from the University of Regina with a BSc and followed up with a completed Doctorate of Dental Medicine. When asked why he chose dentistry as his path, he responds with, “My mother. She came from a small island in the South Pacific, grew up sleeping in a hut with a dirt floor, no shoes, couldn’t speak English, and came to America at 12 years old with her father. She was the first of 13 children to leave the islands.
When she finally moved to Canada and had her five children, she knew that she could change our lives through education. She said “I want a doctor, a lawyer, a dentist, and a son to build my house.” Sure enough, she got what she wanted.  She wanted everything “in house” so she didn’t have to depend on anyone but her family. She’s the reason.” 

As to future ambitions, Lafontaine speaks of a desire to develop a system to deliver first-class mainstream health and dental care as well as education to every First Nation and Polynesian Tribe in the world. He is unsure how this will come to fruition but believes it’s a goal worth pursuing.