Angeconeb honoured with Order of Canada

On Monday, 30th of November dignitaries and members of the Lac Seul and Sioux Lookout communities gathered on the 3rd floor of the town Centennial Centre to honour a well respected Lac Seul citizen Garnet Angeconeb as he received an Insignia for the Order of Canada from the hands of the Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, the Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell.

Angeconeb was born in Sioux Lookout and is a survivor of the Pelican Lake Indian Residential School. He went on to become a journalist after graduating from the University of Western Ontario and was one of the two founding members of Wawatay Native Communications Society where he worked for number of years. His other achievements include being a Councillor for the Municipality of Sioux Lookout, a founding member of the Multicultural Association of Northwestern Ontario and founder of the Sioux Lookout Anti Racism Committee.

Having devoted his life to the principals of Truth and Reconciliation, he has been awarded the Queen Elizabeth 11 Diamond Jubilee award twice in 2002 and again in 2012. He was awarded the Order of Canada Medal on December 30th 2012 however due to the fact that he suffers from diabetes and a degenerative muscle condition he had been unable to make the journey to receive it, consequently it came as a surprise when he received a phone call to say that a member of the Government was coming to present it to him.

The ceremony opened with a welcome song from four traditional drummers followed by a stirring rendition of “ Oh Canada ’’. Elder Tom Peetawayway then said a prayer.

First speaker was Nishnawbe Aski (NAN) Grand Chief Grand Chief Alvin Fiddler, “I am really happy to be here, I couldn’t think of a more deserving person than yourself along with your family. It’s an honour to your life, your work, your career, and your life of service. This award gives some recognition of your work not just here but right across the province, right across the country. We honour you, we love you and your family, and we wish you well. Meegwetch,” he said.

The next speaker, Lac Seul Chief Clifford Bull concurred, “This is indeed a special occasion for Lac Seul First Nation. We are honouring a very special man in our community, a man who is very well respected. He has done great work in the area of truth and reconciliation to bring about equality, change, and recognition respect. We are very proud of the work you have done on behalf of all citizens of Canada a truly remarkable achievement we also love you very much, Meegwetch,” he then presented him with an eagle feather which was accompanied by a traditional feather song.

Municipal Mayor Doug Lawrence went on to say that, “We are here today to honour Garnet as he receives his citation as a member of the Order of Canada. Garnet is an accomplished Anishinabe from the Lac Seul First Nation and now we can call him a member of the Sioux Lookout Municipality as well”.
He went on to speak about his receiving of the Golden Jubilee Awards for his accomplishments, his election to the Municipal Council in1985, spearheading the foundation of the Sioux Lookout Anti-Racism Committee and his leadership in reconciliation. He concluded, “Thank You, Meegwetch and congratulations Garnet.”

The Honourable Elizabeth Dowdeswell opened her presentation with, “ It’s a very real privilege to be here in Sioux Lookout. I have been in my position for just a year and I have this very long and fascinating journey to learn about the province. I have been to the high Arctic, the South, the East and the West and this is part of my journey over the next tour years, to discover who Ontarians really are, what matters to them and what they want to be in the future and every time, I have the opportunity to visit a place like Sioux Lookout, I come away with many lessons. This is a particularly interesting case for Northwestern Ontario as I was reading a little bit about the community and one of the things I learnt, was about the Friendship Accord that was signed with First Nations in 2012 emphasizing values of honesty, respect, collaboration and I thought that this is really something that all of us could well do to honour where we live. My predecessors were concerned with the needs of, wishes, aspirations of the various Aboriginal people of this province and certainly I am honoured to continue on that work.” She went on to talk about Reconciliation and then pinned the Order of Canada Medal on Angeconeb to a round of applause.

The recipient then took the floor, he opened with “I am truly honoured by this gesture of respect and special kindness with that I say to you Meegwetch and thank you from the bottom of my heart It was three years ago when I received that unforgettable phone call from the office of the Governor General of Canada and with this recognition I am bestowed with today, let me say to you it is also a reflection of you, all of you today in this country. He continued, “I am feeling the spirit of reconciliation, the spirit of real relations and the spirit is gripping on us ever so tightly and I am extremely hopeful as I look into the eyes of my grandchildren that hopefully we will all grab onto that spirit of big change that my friends is our collective challenge and in meeting this challenge, we must acknowledge our shared past understand and treat the present and engage in meaningful ways to shape our future together to the betterment of all. Reconciliation my friends is happening, so today this is about all of us Meegwetch.”

This concluded the event. Dowdeswell shared,
“One of the special things I get to do is to invest people into the Order of Ontario or on this occasion on behalf of the Governor General to do so to the Order of Canada. It’s a chance to say to people how important they are to their country and Garnet has been described as a community builder. He’s a person who has worked all his life towards reconciliation, so I can’t think of anything id rather do than to be here in Sioux Lookout honouring someone of that stature.”

Sioux Lookout Elder Peggy Sanders, herself a member of the Order of Canada summed up. “I am so happy he got this, there is nobody I know of who deserves it more than he does. He is a most outstanding man and he aluminates this town, this community and this area with the things he does and I am proud to be here for him.”