Taking pride in my name

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/03/2015 (4253 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

With a name like Chief, you never forget you are aboriginal. For a long time I wished it was anything else — Ukrainian or Polish.  When someone asked if I was an Indian — I thought saying “yes” might mean I didn’t belong.

At school, I only wrote Kevin at the top of my assignments. Adding “Chief” reminded me I was wearing old clothes, that I had had a sleepless night, that I lived in a bachelor pad with an alcoholic father. Eventually, the embarrassment became a built-in sense of shame.

But there were also moments when that would go away. When I would put on an Isaac Newton School jersey and sink a basket for my team — it let me feel what it was like to give back, to have the ability to contribute — and I held my head up high.

Last fall a Winnipeg Free Press/CTV poll showed an overwhelming majority of Winnipeggers agree that the division between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal citizens is a serious issue. More recently a Maclean’s article on racism has caused us to discuss our challenges. Many of us struggle to know what it means for us as a city. I felt I should share what I see.

Aboriginal Winnipeggers are the fastest-growing segment of the middle class.  All the evidence shows a big part of that success is education. This is an incredible emerging story, and Winnipeggers are recognizing it and responding. Every day I meet people from businesses and unions, from the media and universities, from community groups and churches, who are trying to bridge that division — looking for what will bring us together.

There are two things I have become certain about. We are more connected by our vulnerabilities than by our strengths, and each one of us can make a difference.

My father had many obstacles in life, but he loved his son as much as any father could. He wanted to carry a set of burdens for me so that I would be free of them. He died when I was 18. One of the last things I remember him saying was: I want you to be proud of who you are.

I wish he could see me today, that I am proud. Proud of my name and proud to share it with my children. I want them to always know that whoever we are and wherever we come from, Winnipeg is a city where working together we will build a future that is bright.