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This has been a difficult article to write, not because of my personal circumstances, but because I have a hard time writing a joyful article when the residential school story is stirring the heartache of so many again. My mom's cousin, Wilma, who was like my aunt, had been sent from Nebraska to the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania, but she never talked about it around me. It may have even been a good experience for her; I don't know. She was a bright light in my life....
I'm the type of person who really must concentrate when it comes to listening to others. Even though I do the work of a pastor, it's still a challenge to me. Even when I'm sitting in church listening to another pastor preach or when I'm at a special function, like a graduation ceremony, or wedding, it's hard for me to sit and just listen. As I'm completing my doctoral studies, part of my research is to interview 30 Cree Christians. This too is a challenge for me-to stop...
During these COVID-19 times, I have greatly enjoyed walking in the country. My dog, Blessing, and I find old fields that are acres wide to walk through. He loves sniffing and chasing the deer, and I enjoy quiet time with the Lord. This past week, I looked up from my deep thoughts and realized I didn't recognize my position that I found myself in, nor did I realize how much time had passed and how much walking we had done! I didn't know where I was as I looked at the winding bu...
Dear Friends, I have been writing for Indian Life for around 16 years, so I often feel like I am writing to friends, even though I have not met many of you. For the March/April issue, as I could not pull enough creative thoughts together to write anything. My father died of COVID-19 in January, my last living aunt died a week later, and that same week a friend here collapsed unexpectedly and died. She had recently been to my house sharing some Christmas baking. She had looked...
When you go to West Edmonton Mall in Edmonton, there are many attractions. When I was a teenager, I went on the roller coaster that goes upside down and twists, while rushing forward at high speeds. When I reflect on this teenage experience, I remember it as fun but a little tense. Then about six years ago I went on the roller coaster again because my daughters, who were teenagers at the time, went on some rides and somehow, I went on the roller coaster with my wife. When I...
Silver Horns was a strong and mighty Elk. There was not another Elk in the high mountains that was even half his size. His antlers were huge. They were four feet high and had twelve points and were as thick as a young sapling. He was proud of his antlers and polished them on the trunks of trees until they shined like silver in the sunlight. Silver Horns had over a hundred cows in his herd, and with luck, they would all have calves just before summer and his herd would double i...
Depression, anxiety and the Bible don't really seem to go together do they? I mean, the Bible is supposed to be a book of hope and depression/anxiety are very dark places, which we often don't like to admit we suffer. God's Word is full of stories of people who actually underwent much anxiety and depression. Since these struggles are part of the human experience, shouldn't they be documented in God's Word, the ultimate history book of human experience? What makes the Bible so...
I asked my 4-year-old grandson for the highlight of his day. He said, "Growing tobacco." Where he heard this, I'll never know. Here are other unfiltered thoughts from children: Jeanie said, "People are composed of girls and boys, also men and women. Boys are an awful bother. They want everything they see except soap." Reminds me of the thief who stole 30 bars of soap. Forgive me, but he made a clean getaway. A five-year-old was peeking into a baby carriage and saw twins. He...
I don't like doing it, but I have to. In the end, the mess is more trouble than I like. But the fact remains that if I don't pretend to be a bird, I'll be way too stinky. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays Ad Seg (the Hole) gives us the opportunity to shower. The high-pressure cold water really does help, along with the soap and shampoo that lather under the steady stream of H2O. But it's what we do the other four days that is more important. We call them "birdbaths." I...
My wife Sheila and I were a mismatched couple when we first started going out together. She was shy, quiet and hardly spoke, while I was just the opposite. She did not drink or smoke, and she didn't like anyone to get drunk. She didn't want to see me if I was drinking so I quit, which surprised my friends. Her lifestyle was opposite to the kind of life I lived. She was like a lamb in her sweet innocence-and I was the big bad wolf. She was brought up in the church and was...
Over the last few months, we have been working hard on creating apparel for ILM. Because we are coming into the summer months, where warm weather abounds, we're excited to announce that T-shirts sporting the Creator's Path logo will be available! The Creator's Path logo was designed by Don Monkman and tells the powerful story of the Creator-how He created the world, and everything in it. It tells of how the Creator sent His Son to the earth to take on the form of a baby. This...
One of the things that we work with here in NEFC (Native Evangelical Fellowship of Canada) is Radio Broadcasting. We operate Native gospel radio stations across Canada. It's exciting to see God at work through our FM broadcast! The radio towers we use are an interesting concept. The freestanding (no wires) 96-foot tower stands tall and has no problem handling storms and gale-force winds! Sure, it's built pretty solid, but the key reason for its staying power is the tower...
Q: What does Creator God say about the way I should treat my spouse? A: The wording of the question could tell us a lot. If a person refers to God as Creator only, without realizing that it was the Son of God who was the Creator: "All things were made by him and without Him was not anything made that was made" (John 1:3). "He was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not" (v. 10). "Matthew 1:2 tells us, "You shall call his name Jesus [Savor]."...
It was kind of an awkward situation. Yeah, it was... Milly and I are gospel musicians who have been in slow motion since the start of the pandemic. I guess most musicians are in that mode-no dates, no gigs, no tours, no music sales-just slow! So we decided to do the online thing and put together a one-hour live Facebook® concert once a month, starting back in November 2020. The first two concerts went not too bad until the January event. That was sort of like a borderline...
When I'm having a bad day, I'm glad I'm not alone. At the Fitzwilliam Museum in Cambridge England, a loose shoelace, a lack of handrails and a marble wall conspired to give one ill-fated patron an Inspector Clousseau moment while bringing a shattering conclusion to the earthly pilgrimage of three Qing dynasty vases. Mr. Flynn's misadventure began when he ascended the wrong staircase, pivoted, and tripped on an untied shoelace. "I couldn't stop myself," he said. Hurtling...
There's a dog in my neighborhood that has been tied to a chain for many years. He is a gorgeous shepherd with long black hair. He wasn't approachable; his neck was one big scar, and he had no hair there from the pressure of his collar. The last few months the dog has been running free, his ribs are showing, and he was a pretty pathetic sight. I tried to coax him into my vehicle with food so I could take him somewhere to get care, but he wouldn't let me touch him. I decided I...
Many of my fellow Indigenous People, Native North American People, and other people groups that have been victims of oppression and injustice have struggles with the issue of trust. Our journey of life is filled with many aspects that cause mistrust or broken trust or no trust. How do we recover from such a dilemma that truly does affect every aspect of our lives and weighs down our hearts? In fact, breaks our hearts. With my upbringing, which included being a Sixties Scoop...
After the political animosity, the protests, riots, killings, fires, floods, and COVID19, I need a break. Even though I did not lose my home or a loved one in the past few months, I feel the weight and stress around me. I get frustrated with the lawlessness and saddened and stressed by other people's losses across North America. (I don't keep up with the rest of the world.) Jesus warned His disciples about difficulties coming when He told them, "At that time many will turn awa...
5 is finally here. Most of us would agree that it couldn't come fast enough. 2020 felt like our mothers gave us a gigantic Time Out. Each morning I woke up to find my wife waiting with a thermometer. She wouldn't let me out of bed until she took my temperature. I was raised on Fahrenheit, so it was confusing. "37 degrees? Shouldn't I be dead?" "No, she said, "it's Celsius. You're fine. Give me a kiss." Next, I adjusted my mask and we trundled off to the kitchen for breakfas...
When children are small, it is easy to make them happy. They are thrilled with every gift. A teddy bear, toy cars, a doll, candy and small toys in a stocking, they love everything. They are excited, happy and grateful. As we get older we expect more. Sometimes we expect too much, and instead of being happy with our gifts, sometimes we are disappointed. We preferred more, or better, or something different, and the gift we received wasn't what we wanted. Years ago an old woman...
One of the constants and givens of living life is change. Most of us don't like dealing with change, but there are always a few who will absolutely thrive on it! I guess I'm somewhere in the middle. Indian Life Ministries has come through a lot of changes over the years to survive and continue as the newspaper entity that it is. We have had to do some fairly significant morphing to keep going. Many of our readers wouldn't see those changes. You just continue to appreciate a...
When I was young, I spent many years volunteering at a Navajo Indian Mission in New Mexico. It was one of the happiest and most rewarding times of my life. At times it was also frustrating and heart breaking. The missionaries were good people but after 20 years they still struggled with the Navajo language and culture. They were becoming tired and burned out. Everyone is familiar with the "mission barrels." Well-meaning people all over the world send used clothing and...
Have you ever had a close call with disaster? I mean, so close that you could have died? Maybe the situation happened so fast that you didn't even have time to blink, but you knew as you walked away that you really shouldn't have been breathing. Maybe you've had such close encounters so many times you can't even remember them all. Maybe you're so used to living on the edge that death doesn't scare you. Scripture states that we are living in the valley of the shadow of death...
"Two For the Price of One" is always an attention-grabbing offer. It's hard to ignore getting seconds free, just because you wanted firsts. "Two-for-One" works well for retail, but not for reflections in a mirror. Here in prison, I get an opportunity to look in a mirror only when I receive a shower. The shower has four slim windows so the officers can look in, for security reasons, and on the outside of one of those windows is a 6"x6" acrylic mirror. The convenient mirror is t...
The windshield was cracked. Not just a hairline fracture but a spiderweb that had the potential to make Spider-Man sit up and take notice! So I got it changed. Such a difference-from the gravel-battered glass of yesterday to the clear, shiny drivability that I could now experience. It reminded me of how God's Word talks about His forgiveness in Isaiah 1:18 (NIV). "Come now, let us settle the matter," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as...
