Métis activist just wanted a fairer deal for his people

Achievement Page 8

Ten years past retirement, Métis 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 Métis 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 educations and to challenge the status quo.

It's fitting then, that for decades of tireless activism inside and outside of the academic institutions where he spent his working life, Adams should be honored for his contributions in the field of education. The accolades come now not only from Aboriginal people, but from government, educators and others with whom he has not always been on-side.

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

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

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

Where did Adams' political awareness and self-admitted radicalism come from? What drove the half-breed boy from the dirt-poor background to pursue his education to the PhD level?

Adams says his outlook was the exception in St. Louis, Sask. where he grew up. Few students there aspired to more than the subsistence farming and labour-for-hire existence of their parents. Most of his peers never completed even Grade 8 at Gerrond Elementary School.

His own willingness to tackle unpopular causes probably stemmed from his being "kind of an aggressive kid." The confidence to channel that aggression into positive action came from a few "lucky breaks" Adams says he experienced early in life.

Above all, he credits a happy family life with good parents.

"They didn't drink; they were good to the kids," Adams says. His mother also respected the local teacher and education in general.

Adams recalls that teacher, Mr. William Lovell, was a "very powerful influence." Adams was motivated to be a good student at least in part because Lovell favored him. The teacher promoted sports participation as well as academic subjects, and here too, Adams excelled.

At the same time, the seeds of discontent were planted as young Howard compared the luxury and extravagance of some non-Native people to his life in a humble log house where the family often knew hunger. He was angered at the inequities he saw, but wanted to do more about it than just blame the government.

Adams' next lucky break, he says, was being sent away for his last year of high school in a convent.

"Nobody would teach those half-breeds in St. Louis." He stresses the nuns were really good to him and gave him solid preparation for university.

His sense of Métis 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 Berkely in 1965, he claimed "radical, revolutionary ideas," which stemmed from this heritage. He identified fully with ancesters who had sacrificed everything for their home and people.

Despite Adams' academic abilities, he did not proceed to university right away. Instead, he joined the Royal Canadian Mounted Police during the 1940s.

Three years later, street patrol in Gravelbourg, Sask. seemed unfulfilling. So he tried farming, then work that he describes as "typical half-breed jobs." Eventually, this restless spirit went to Vancouver and graduated from the University of British Columbia with a BA in Sociology in 1950.

That's when I developed a political consciousness," he says.

Soon, however, the old spirit of restlessness took over. After four years of teaching unmotivated high school students from East Vancouver's working class, Adams knew he needed a fresh academic challenge and decided to pursue his doctorate. He emerged from the University of California, Berkely with his PhD in History in 1964.

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 Métis Society of Saskatchewan. Throughout the 70s and 80s he taught summer sessions, wrote, and was active in human rights issues.

In 1969, Adams turned down the post of deputy minister, Saskatchewan Department of Indian and Métis Affairs, which was offered while he taught in Saskatoon. He maintains he has never compromised his politics for a paycheque.

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, conducted workshops on justice issues, did a stint as a radio anouncer and founded the Vancouver Métis Association, where he's currently active on the education committee.

He's also a member of the adjunct faculty, University of Alberta graduate program in First Nations education. Other activities include revising his 1995 book, A Tortured People: The Politics of Colonization.

Adams wants only to be remembered as a person who worked uncompromisingly to get his people a fairer deal. This National Aboriginal Achievement Award for education shows him he made his mark.