RON WALKER
Ron Walker was born and raised in Northern Alberta and is of Cree, Sioux, and Scottish descent. As a master’s athlete, he won 10 provincial shot put and discus championships. He was the 2008 Canadian Masters Shot Put and Discus Champion: one of the only First Nations people to achieve this in Canada. He has been an arena director of powwows for the last 15 years, a Chicken dancer for 20 years, and is a Level 2 national soccer coach. As well as being an extraordinary athlete, Ron is an accomplished flute player
Who was your inspiration growing up?
I attended an inner city high school. Phil Booth was the track coach, and he was my inspiration. He invited me to go fora run with him. I trained with him for about a month and then I was in entered in a track meet. I took second in the Cities Track Competition, and I was one of the only visible Aboriginal athletes in track in the Edmonton area.
Were there any issues that you dealt with as a young person that you see young people dealing with today?
There was a lot of violence. I was fighting about two times a week. Plus drinking and getting stoned, and I had some gang involvement. After being involved with track I wasn’t using drugs or alcohol, but I was still fighting.
What is the role of a leader in the community?
A leader has to be a role model. As a role model, I keep on living my life in a way I feel proud of. I talk about how I live my life without being a hypocrite. Life is what we make out of it. Keep an open mind and heart. When I do things, I need to envelop what I do into my whole being. In 2008, I went to the Canadian Masters Athletics Championship in Saskatchewan. I won a silver in javelin and gold in shot put and discus. Two Canadian Championships! I was totally motivated. I went to Kamloops for the World Masters Championships. I placed seventh in shot put, eighth in discus, and fourth in javelin. I was the only Aboriginal athlete in Canada to do this!
What are the values and qualities of a great leader?
In the world of athletic competition, the qualites would be perseverance, dedication, inner strength, focus, and definitely planning. You have to plan diet, workouts, and fundraising. Support from your spouse and family is also important.
What advice would you give to young athletes and potential leaders in the communities?
Reach out and ask for support, because you never know where it will take you. When I was young, I talked to different coaches. I was open to learning everything the coaches taught me. Also, I was learning other techniques to coach with, so it was reciprocal. What I was learning, I was able to use as a coach.
Two of the kids I was coaching won. As a coach, it felt good to be part of their lives. Through coaching, we can find unity among different cultures. Rather than being looked at formy skin colour, I was looked at as a coach. It was a path to understanding within the sport that went beyond skin colour.
why is education important for our young people and their communities?
Education combats ignorance, and ignorance causes a lot of damage. Thinking and thought really matter. Thinking gives us the time to learn about things, such as “Why do I think this way?”
Somewhere along the way, in the residential schools, thinking was beaten out of us. Before, we were in tune with each other, ourselves, and with the land. In order for us to get along, we had to understand these things. There’s been a multigenerational effect . . . a long-term impression that maybe we aren’t good enough.
Not just formal education is important, but informal too. Talking to elders . . . understanding how the ecosystemswork . . . how does it trickle down to us. Ecosystems can be transferred down to us. I like to say I believe in certain things but I prefer the word “thought.” I believe in thinking. Thought can be energy put into action.
How does a leader effectively listen to the voice of the people?
Humility is important to have as a leader. If I think I know everything, then there’s a great possibility I wouldn’t take into consideration what the people say. As a leader I need to listen to the people. Otherwise I would be self-serving, and this is not the traditional way or the community way.
As a musician, if I am setting up a concert, I have to think about the messages the artists are sending out. I wouldn’t want to promote a negative kind of message in any way.
Compassion is also another characteristic of a leader. Being able to understand what another person is going through.
What is your vision for the community?
My vision for community is health, balance, and pulling together. I grew up in Slave Lake, in the Métis culture. It took me a while to learn about how to live, and I made a lot of mistakes. I had many kind elders who helped me realize that my behaviour patterns were causing a lot of problems. One fear I have now is that so many of our elders are dying and their knowledge is going with them. Our youth need to hear the elders.
Our youth are reaching out for something and the street culture is presented to them. Trying to get knowledge of Aboriginal culture out to the youth is important, not just through sport but through music as well. We need to use a lot of spoken word and poetry to send a message to youth.
What role should our traditions and cultures have in the lives of our first nations youth?
Our traditions and culture are best used as a source of inner teaching. Our culture teaches patience and understanding. Our traditions include the understanding of a relationship with our environment . . . of being stewards of the land and ourselves. Our traditions and culture can guide how we act and react. What motivates us and what leads us. One way to learn is by talking to our leaders who are leading good lives. But we need to be seeking new dreams as well.
Did you have to overcome specific challenges to be where you are today?
I had to overcome my anger. I wasn’t following a good way. I had an addictive behaviour with smoking, and culture helped me to overcome that. I started to powwow dance when I was 18 or 19.
I grew up in the Métis culture. I didn’t have too many positive experiences or positive people. When I was 20, Dad brought home a Poundmaker’s Lodge Treatment Centre pamphlet. I was interested in knowing more about the sweat lodge. This was around the time that the movie Dances with Wolves was out. So I was interested in culture. I started to read the pamphlet and asked dad and he took me to Poundmaker’s Lodge. I remember seeing a sign “Have a good 24 hours.” That was weird to me—I was not used to positive messages. Then I saw the Serenity Prayer. I didn’t realize Poundmaker’s Lodge was a treatment centre! Still, I stayed for 90 days and I learned so much about life skills and behaviours.
I encourage youth to get help. I remember an Elder saying “Quitting drinking is easy. But there is something that makes us drink.” The journey for me was “why.” The trick is to understand why I was angry as a young man. I had to learn how to be social in a sober setting. I learned how to be more in touch with myself. The sweat lodge: spirituality made me understand who I was. Spirituality helped me learn about being gentle and living in a society without having to fight.
I started attending the powwow because my younger sisters had danced for a couple of years. I started having dreams and visions. The real culture is supposed to work this way. It helps you on your path.
