CLYDE RIVER NEWSLETTER # 11                

"YOUNG WARRIORS"

NOVEMBER 14 2007

Warning: this newsletter contains words and phrases that may offend some...please read at your own discretion. This is an eye-opener to real life in the north.

Imagine this:

On your shoulders there sits a good wolf and a bad wolf...

"Which one is the strongest?" a young boy once asked his grandfather.

"The one you feed," the wise old man answered...."the one you feed."

I also heard that "temptation is the opportunity to do good"...

When is it in our young lives that we begin to feed the bad wolf, when we choose to do bad over good, when we give in to temptation?

I ask myself that question many times while living here in Clyde River.

Young warriors...choosing bad or choosing good...feeding the bad wolf or feeding the good.

It's a spiritual warfare out there.

Take for example the young RCMP constable who was recently shot in the little hamlet of Kimmirut on Baffin Island, not far from Clyde River. Responding to a call about a drunk driver, he went out alone to do his duty and "paid the ultimate price in service of self-sacrifice, selflessness and an act of duty to Nunavut, our communities and our country", said the mayor of Iqaluit.

Constable Douglas Scott chose the good side.

The drunk driver chose the bad.

It's as simple as that.

When I walked into my classroom the day after the incident and opened up a chance for my students to discuss the shooting, asking them for their opinion, one of the boys blurted out, "good"...

then opps...he quickly corrected himself and said, "he was in the wrong job"...

Was this the bad wolf being fed, then the good wolf? Or just a very messed up young warrior?

The fact is, the police are not well liked here by several of our young warriors. I'm not saying all our young people here dislike the police...there's only a handful.

But it only takes one to use a gun.

When I arrived back in Clyde in August, the latest news was that a group of these young warriors had gone down to the RCMP detachment the week before and had thrown rocks at the windows. After breaking glass, they then proceeded to surround the police residence and stood outside waiting for some action. Christopher, one of the two constables on duty here in Clyde, described the scene as bizarre and scary. He could only guess why they were there...they were angry and out for revenge, he told us at our Thanksgiving supper.

The day before he had received an anonymous phone call from someone informing him that a small shipment of marijuana was being brought into the community via a passenger on the plane. Going to the airport, Constable Christopher accosted the woman and confiscated the stash.

The young warriors who were supposed to be the recipients of the drugs, ranging in age from 12 to 22, were mad.

So, choosing to feed the bad wolf, they went together down to the RCMP headquarters and residence looking for revenge.

The two officers drew their guns, although, thankfully, they never had to use them. They tried to call in back up...but we're too isolated up here to have extra help right away.

By the next day, things had calmed down...although, the premier of Nunavut was notified and showed up in Clyde within days...

I actually got to shake the premier's hand...he came to our school and talked to the kids about having positive goals and going after your dreams. It was a speech all about feeding the good wolf.

An interesting slice of humanity about our premier...he was recently censured in Nunavut's government assembly for his own warrior mentality, a side of himself he publicaly admitted he is not proud of.. As was stated in the Globe and Mail:

"Nunavut's legislative assembly officially reprimanded Premier Paul Okalik yesterday for publicly insulting an Iqaluit woman in June. A special sitting of the legislature was convened to deal with the censure motion, which passed unanimously. A censure is a formal rebuke of an elected member, but it does not require the member to resign.

"I apologize without reservation and I am humbled by this house," Mr. Okalik told the house... The controversy erupted last June... when the Premier was heard referring to Lynda Gunn... as a "fucking bitch."

This incident caused quite a stir in Nunavut and was on the news for weeks. In one of the news casts, he spoke quite candidly and shamedly about his childhood and how he grew up having very little respect for women. Hence, the bad wolf comment.

As he stood in front of my students, I couldn't help but think of the writing on the outside wall of our school that appeared the week of the attack on the RCMP headquarters.

(Warning: This graffit is not for sensitive eyes and ears.)

The kids wrote: "fuck the police" in big bold letters.

I also wondered about our premier's public confession using those very same words to a woman...

I SO wanted to ask him about it as he talked to my students...but I held my tongue! 

As Jesus teaches us in the Bible, "Let him who is without sin cast the first stone."

Aren't we all sinners? Haven't we all been there? Haven't we all been tempted? Don't all of us, daily, deal with the good and the bad wolf?

The premier's confession made me see him as a human being, with strengths and weaknesses. In his parliament address, he admitted that the problem of abuse extends well beyond his office, and even mentioned his own mother as he spoke about domestic abuse and violence against women.

In the Globe and Mail article, he then explained that the remark was the result of a tiring and frustrating week in which he "lost his patience and better judgement".

A female member of parliament spoke up and said: "It starts with verbal abuse," and then asked, "How do we break this cycle? And how do we convince people we mean what we say in this house when it comes to verbal abuse, violence, and violence against women?"

Her question wasn't answered.

The Globe and Mail article concluded with the fact that "Aglukkaq was one of only three members who spoke against the premier’s 

actions and of the need to send a strong message to Nunavut residents that no abuse of women should be tolerated. 

Aglukkaq has also been personally touched by domestic violence. 

“I’ve lost my own staff to violence,” she said, referring to the death of 

Sylvia Lyall-Ritchie in June 2004. Lyall-Ritchie was working as a 

secretary at the legislature when she was found dead in her home. Her 

former common-law spouse is now on trial for second-degree murder."

It begins with verbal abuse...and escalates into physical violence.

Remember Take Back the Night, which began over a hundred years ago in Britain? A walk to end violence? Igah, an Inuit teacher, and I did our Take Back the Night "Circle of Hope" walk a few weeks ago, like we did last year. About 60 people showed up, of all ages, and after saying a prayer in honour of the people who have died from violent acts, we walked with candles down to the docks, around the RCMP headquarters and back up to the church again.

It's a spiritual warfare out there...

Last week, a drunk young warrior woke up his neighbors in the wee hours of the morning here in Clyde River when he picked up a shovel and smashed it against the bedroom window of one of the houses. A baby happened to be sleeping in a crib right under the window and it is a miracle that the shards of glass did not kill her.

Our principal, Jukeepa Hainnu, told me that Clyde River is the only community in the north that has no curfew. It would be a good thing if it did.

Night after night I hear these young warriors out on their ski-doos racing back and forth playing chicken...sometimes until 3 in the morning. I finally called the police about it. Constable Christopher was out on leave so I spoke with Constable Blake who told me there is absolutely nothing they can do about it. There is not only no curfew, there is no working bylaw officer, no bylaw on noise, no bylaw on ski-doo licences. These kids have the run of the place! And I'm supposed to teach them English!!!!!!!!!

They come to school tired, hungry, angry and lost. (In Al-anon it's called HALT) Talk about feeding the bad wolf...

Well, you know, I too have a choice. I can ignore it, which I do often. I can complain about it, which I do often. Or I can try to find solutions.

So I started a Bible study...yes, a Bible study...because, believe it or not, a group of girls asked me if I would. 

The first week I had only 2 present...and this week I had 7...

What I heard I cannot share. But I can say that these young warriors are dealing with more than their share of demons. They confess they like doing bad things; but don't want to. They continually feed the bad wolf, while wanting to feed the good.

It reminded me of one of the prayers in the Common Book of Prayers that says:

"We have left undone those things which we ought to have done; and we have done those things which we ought not to have done. And there is no health in us. Oh Lord, have mercy upon us, miserable offenders."

Of course, not all the kids feed the bad wolves. There are some good news stories. I have many who want to do the right thing and DO do it. Like the Quliiq brothers. Trevor, age 12, and his brother, Kevin, age 15, are two brave polar bear hunters who last month each shot their own polar bears. They are two very brave and very proud hunters. This is their culture, this is what their Dad taught them. Each day their mother goes outside and counts the claws on each of her sons' polar bear skins drying on frames in the sun and wind. She wants to make sure they haven't been stolen. They are symbols of her sons' hunting skills.

And then there are the young warriors who graduated this year from grade 12. These are the ones who set a new path for the ones following them. They fed their good wolves profusely the night of graduation; fed them pride and honour, hope and dreams.

Their celebration theme was "new beginnings". New chapters in their lives; the authors of their own books; heroes and heroines. And celebrating with them was their new principal, Jukeepa Hainnu, born and raised in Clyde River, educated with an MA in Ed. at the University of PEI, and ready to return to her community to help the young warriors fulfill their own dreams and goals. She is an example to young Inuit of what happens when a person feeds the good wolf.

And another "good wolf" event in Clyde River...the Prom after the Grad. The kids asked me if I would chaperone their dance, and I said yes. It was a fabulous night of watching "wanna-be kings and queens" dancing and parading around the c-hall as hormones flew through the air and cameras clicked and the music blarred. It was a night of fun and feeding the good wolves...thank goodness!

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One day has elapsed since I wrote the above entry...

I was writing of good wolves at the end of my newsletter, wasn't I?

I am again sitting at my computer writing...

And I feel like an eon of emotions has swept through me since yesterday.

Outside my window I see the students of Clyde River walking in a parade heading down to the RCMP headquarters. The administration has asked them to form a human chain around the residence and headquarters, to symbolically say they are sorry for what happened to Constable Douglas Scott.

And why am I not out there joining the students and staff in this act of support? Oh my, the ironies of life...

I am at home now on a work day afternoon because of verbal abuse. Some of my grade 8 boys verbally and emotionally abused me so violently this morning, that, after class, I went to the principal and told her their behaviour was unacceptable and that I was so stressed, I was taking the afternoon off...so here I am, therapeutically getting rid of some stress as I continue to write this newsletter.

Time out...as I watch the whole school parade past my home.

Jukeepa was wonderful when I went to her with my complaint this morning.. She understood and actually gave me a big hug.

She actually confessed something to me: when she was a teacher, she wouldn't teach the older kids, grade 8 and up, because she felt "intimidated" by them.

Ahhhh, now I see why she became a principal!!!

Truthfully, they were awful...I honestly felt like I was being kicked in the gut. And this...after the graduation, after the prom, after the chaperoning... I can't take it personally...

It made me wonder where these young warriors hear these words, where they learn such negative behaviour, who teaches them to insult and attack and be cruel. I had already sent two students to the office, and was ready to send another one when anarchy reared its ugly head and the whole class jumped in and began verbally attacking me, ignoring my instructions and just plain went wild.

That's when I lost it...and feeding the bad wolf, I screamed "shut up"...I have never done that in a classroom in my life...

You know, I put on my whiteboard every day: GDSL...to remind me to always, always, put God first, then me, then the students, then the lesson. I used to always put the almighty lesson first, and would get myself into trouble with wrong priorities. It's been pretty good so far, as I try to remember I need to put the gas mask on myself first, and then on others...

But today...today was different somehow...spiritual warfare...there was anger, hate, cruelty and just plain meanness in the air.

There seems to be a pattern: when the kids have had more than 2 days at home, they come to school with bad wolf attitudes that are scary. Well, this weekend was a 4 day stay-at-home...

I should have been more prepared...hindsight is 20/20.

I phoned the grade 8 teacher when I got home and he told me he and his brother (another teacher) are talking of quitting. They too had sent three students to the office this morning. Maybe that's one of the reasons why they are now parading down to the RCMP headquarters. Enough with abuse and violence....of any kind.

Well, I am glad to see so many good wolves being fed right now, as they parade past my house on the way to the RCMP headquarters, this time to offer support not stones.

It gives me hope for these young warriors.

Love and peace to all....Dawn

If you would like to see some photos click on... www.flickr.com/photos/dawned

Then you can either click on "slideshow" and a girl behind bars will show up...click on her nose that shows a ? ...this gives you text with the photo...or

you can click on "details" and you can brouse the photos with text...