I went to Moose Factory and Moosonee recently. One of my aunts, Minnie Jolly, had passed away. I would like to thank all the people who sent their prayers and condolences with me for the family. I would like to especially thank Grand Chief Matthew Coon Come and Vice-Grand Chief Kenny Blacksmith for their support and Chief Walter Hughboy for arranging the plane to take me there.
It had been 20 years since I had been back to these two communities. I lived there for 10 years and was surprised at the changes. The communities have grown a lot and seem to be healthier. I had a lot of good memories come back and with them personal recollections that held lessons that helped shape my life. I would like to share one of them with you.
I was in the Boy Scouts as a Patrol Leader at the time. There were two patrols in our troop. My best friend, Mike Kilby, was the other Patrol Leader and we assigned all the work. This time our troop was going camping on Charles Island. Being young, we were a bit selfish in assigning all the chores and supplies.
Since Mike and I had used a chainsaw before, we used that to many an envious glance. We gloried in our power and status as the others carried the wood back to camp. Even handling the axe was considered a privilege. We generously allowed them to chop some but not all of the wood.
When it came time for supper we started the fires and cooked the meals. The rest of the patrols washed dishes. We gave ourselves and the assistant Patrol Leaders the best tents. The first night, it rained and one of the tents went down, soaking the boys in it. They were wet and miserable, earning only scorn from Mike and myself since they hadn’t thought to use plastic bags to store stuff. They were the first ones to join the revolution. In short, and in retrospect, we were abusing the position we had.
One abuse worked to our advantage in the upcoming revolt The Patrol Leaders and Assistants got the walkie-talkies, to “coordinate” things. During a late-night gabfest on the walkie-talkies, to our horror we heard the Assistant Patrol Leaders being overwhelmed by the other Boy Scouts. Mike and I barely made it out of our tent as the revolutionaries arrived. We ran into the woods pursued by about 20 or so of our former comrades. We cursed the fact we were on an island, and the mosquitoes and black flies were murder. When you are on the run a small thing like repellent isn’t high on your list of things to grab.
I must admit they had well-coordinated search patterns keeping us on the run all night and into the next morning. To this day I suspect that the Troop Leader had no small part in helping with the revolution.
But it did teach us a few valuable lessons. When you’re a leader or have a position of power, you have to be careful in dealing with those people affected by your actions or those under you. Many of the things Mike and me did back then is now just plain work, but in the past it seemed like a privilege. I try to be careful to allow other people the same “privileges” I have. In other words, I try to be as fair as I can be and not take advantage of the situations I am in. This is hard to do at times. The most important lesson I learned is that most power is an illusion and it can disappear unexpectedly in ways we don’t foresee.
