ALLAN ROSS
Allan Ross (Katipskawat), is a Cree member of Chekastepisn First Nation. He was raised by his grandparents in a small community called Timber Bay. Born and raised in an isolated log cabin, Allan experienced a rich traditional lifestyle of hunting, trapping and commercial fishing; he later encountered culture shock, alcohol and poverty when he moved to Prince Albert at 15. Basketball and his love of learning were saving graces, propelling him to university, where he played several years with a number of college teams. He has been a teacher since 1991 and has organized numerous sports teams and tournaments since 1980. Ross is the founder of the Edmonton Native Basketball Association (2006) He is currently the CEO of the Alberta Indigenous Games and Chairperson of the board of Trustees for the Mother Earth Children’s Charter School
Who was your inspiration when you were growing up?
Basically I came from quite a challenging childhood and upbringing—a life of poverty and dysfunction. But through the sport of basketball I was able to find a new family and fulfill a sense of belonging and have a place in the world and feel connected. And that’s why I continued to be involved as an organizer, as a coach, and occasionally as an athlete.
What issues did you deal with as a young person that you see youth dealing with today?
Lack of parental support, both with academic and extracurricular.
What is the role of a leader in the community?
To be a seen as accepting to all, and to be seen as someone generous and disciplined. Confident, but yet humble.
What advice would you give to young athletes and potential leaders in the community?
Gain as much spirit and knowledge as you can independently, but rely co-dependently on the resources that are available.
Why is education important for our young people?
It provides them a proven route to success because without structured educational opportunities people wouldn’t know what to value and what to aspire towards. There has to be clearly defined pathways to success, both in the academic world, but also in the cultural world, spiritual world.
How does a leader effectively listen to the voice of the people?
The information that is extracted must be done in a way that gives freedom of expression, but at the same time must be given opportunity to be critiqued, because you can get a thousand opinions. In this day and age we live in such a complex technological world that the people’s opinions might be as diverse as flowers in a field or in a meadow. So it’s important to see people reflect back to their ancestry. That’s why it’s important that I talk about the root and about respecting oneself and respecting each other and respecting women, and elders, children. That’s the source of our roots, and of course honouring one’s traditions.
What challenges did you have to overcome to be where you are today?
Well the dysfunction, overcoming the dysfunction and the lack of leadership in the home and in the school system, which was primarily colonial Eurocentric. The dysfunction originated from the residential schools, and resulted in severe mental illnesses in our family, that presented itself in the home and among relatives, and ultimately led to addictions and death and co-dependency. It led to issues of poverty, no respect for boundaries, etc. So as a teacher now it’s been my mission to bring the traditional aspects of education back into the curriculum, and in my role on the Alberta Teachers’ Association, I was able to help develop a curriculum called “Education is our Buffalo.”
What are the values and qualities of a strong leader?
A great leader values the role of women in their society, and speaks on behalf of the underprivileged and disadvantaged.
What is your vision for your community?
We all come from the same tree. We just have different journeys, but we all come back to the root.
What role should our traditional culture have in the lives of our Native American youth?
In the rural setting there has to be a nurturing and continuous connection to the earth, and to the animals, and the spirit that is in that territory. We need to embrace that concept.
Regarding urban life, the municipalities and the school boards must also sanction and embrace those ideas within their curriculum, within their pedagogy. This will enable urban Indigenous people to feel connected to the earth and the wildlife, and the spiritual life within that urban setting.
How did athletics help you avoid addictions?
Well, athletics was an addiction. It became an addiction, so it was a positive addiction. But I had developed an addictive personality because of the trauma I experienced as a child. So my addictive personality has led me into alcoholism, gambling, and workaholism. When I compare my addictive personality to others I don’t think I was as severe—obviously I’m still alive. Most of my relatives have died because of their addictive personality, and of course that addictive personality had to do a lot with the trauma in their lives. But for me I had a spirit of resiliency which I still have today, and I use that same fighting spirit to share with my children, my grandchildren, the kids I work with, and my sports program.
What is your story behind the story?
Individuals that embraced me at a critical point in my life. Like Mrs. Watson, she saw that I had a gift for math, and encouraged me to take algebra. And I ended up with the highest mark that year. I started basketball, I quit, and she encouraged me to keep on playing basketball. And ultimately I ended up playing college basketball, and to where I am today, where basketball saved me. She would give us hugs every morning as we entered. She gave us a strong sense of belonging—her generosity was incredible. We were a rag tag group of kids that no one believed in, but she believed in us. She encouraged us, and four us now have college degrees that were in that class. Just someone that steps up, just to be there.
And so in my role as a teacher and a parent, teacher for the last 20 years and a coach, that’s what I’ve tried to do. I’ve tried to really connect with kids that don’t have that connection at home, and to really support them and show that you care for them and encourage them. Obviously not everyone is a genius, but everybody has a gift. It’s important for mentorship to begin to nurture those gifts that everybody has. All children have a gift.
I truly believe that teachers are the first line of defense against the legacy of residential schools and I would think that most of our profiled athletes, musicians, actors, and leaders had a teacher that made a difference for them.
What does the Circle of Courage mean to you?
It validates what good, caring, loving human beings do naturally . . . just their mentorship of young people validates that and their human qualities. But it also reminds those that have struggled that there are ways for them to heal as individuals, and for them to carry on that legacy to the children that they work with or are parents of.