Perhaps I should have listened to my father. When I decided to run for election, I turned to him for support and advice. My father said I should go hunting caribou instead. I should have realized by now that my father never bought all the changes happening around us. His beliefs and principles as an Innu gatherer and hunter were all he knew.

When the thrill went out of politics for me, it seemed we weren’t achieving much of value. We were not doing enough for people who needed new homes. Alcoholism had rapidly increased. The band councils couldn’t do a thing with their budgets; the governments of the day turned deaf ears to us. They ignored our pleas for the funding and resources we needed. We tried so hard to answer the needs of the people, but what could we do if nobody was listening?