Speaking Notes for Sally Bunting
Former Chief of North Spirit Lake First Nation

Konnichiwa, BooShoo (Oji-Cree), HelloMy name is Sally Kakekagamick-Bunting – I am an Elder from North
Spirit Lake, ON. Canada. I was born in a small village in Northern
Ontario which at the time had no name. I was delivered in small teepee
to my mother, Nasen Rae and father, Boyce Rae on April 24, 1951 – atthe time there were no clinics, hospitals or buildings in the Northernvillage I came from. There were no nurses or doctors to help with thedelivery; we relied solely on the support of Elder’s and medicine menwithin the community. The small northern village is known today asNorth Spirit Lake.
During that time, we were living off the land, moving from place toplace, looking for food – we would move to different places about every
2-3 weeks. My grandparents were there to teach me all the things that I
needed to know to survive – such lessons included: hunting, trapping,fishing, cooking, smoking fish and moose meat or any wild meat wecould get.
In the summer time, we would live off berries and other local edible
plants. Some plants we would use as medicine to heal things such as
cuts, constipation, pain relief, fever and other cold/flu symptoms. I lived
with my grandparents because my mother passed away when I was twoyears old and my father was living in Thunder Bay with an illness called
TB; my father passed away when I was five years old. I was five years
old when I first went to Residential School; it was very traumatic and aculture shock for me because I never left my community, my reserve,
my home, to go to a place that I do not know. That foreign place hadforeign language and foreign food. I had to stay in residential school for
8 years (1957-1965). I stayed but I never forgot my language which isOji-Cree. When I was five years old, I promised myself I would notforget my language because I knew I needed to be able to communicate
with my grandparents. When we came back from residential school,
which was two months in the summer, most of the children forgot theirlanguage. So, when I was home, because I remembered my language, I
had to interpret for other children, my friends, and cousins, to speak with
their families and grandparents. In 1887 the first residential school wasopened and the last one closed in 1996. The churches began to
acknowledge their education scheme which was specifically designed to“kill the Indian in the child”.
After I returned home, in 1971-1979, I learned the traditional ways of
my grandmothers – one of them was the practice known today as a
midwife – bringing new life into the world. At the age of sixteen, I washired to be the first Community Health Representative of North Spirit
Lake because I knew how to read, write and speak English. This was atime before North Spirit Lake had community nurses and doctors. I was
the first line of medical defence and relearning the traditional teachingsof my grandparents to survive in my community. One of theresponsibilities of the Community Health Representative was to deliverbabies. Through my first delivery I had my two grandmothers by myside, coaching me every step of the way. The first baby I delivered namewas Homer Meekis – when he was born, he was very ill weighing only 4lbs 5 ounces. The night he was born, he struggled to make it through thenight. He was very dehydrated and had shortness of breath. The nextday, an Elder came to talk with the parents and shared that she had adream about the baby boy delivered the day before. The Elder sharedthat within her dream she was told the baby boy needed to be given tosomeone who was has gone through much loss in their lifetime. To give
him to someone who has suffered loss and despair. The parents decidedto gift the baby boy to me – he is my eldest son and currently serving asa Band Councillor for North Spirit Lake First Nation. I would be happy
to answer questions about how the Elders were so important to mypeople in the past.

In 1982, I went looking for outside help because of the physical abuse I
endured at the hands of my husband at that time. In 1983, I got a job at –the hospital in Sioux Lookout as a mental health worker, flying in andout of communities, listening to victims. I worked with many doctors,psychiatrists and learned a lot from the professionals. My world wasvery hard – I did not know where I belonged. I would go home to mycommunity and then back to the outside world. For many years, I moved
my family around and my children were with me through my journey.
In 1994, I became the first female Chief of North Spirit Lake. I faced a
lot of hardships as the leader of the community as many men still did not
approve of a woman in a position of leadership. North Spirit Lake is a
dry community, meaning no drugs or alcohol are allowed. At that time,addiction rate was at an all time high and I made it a mission to address
the drugs and alcohol crisis in the community. Because of the abuse I
endured at residential school, I often felt insecure with who I was butknew I needed to remain strong to lead my community. My lived
experiences helped shape me to have a better understanding ofcommunity needs – knowing that I was not the only person from mycommunity that survived Residential School. So, I made it my mission
to help people with problems like mine – suffering from emotional,
mental, spiritual, sexual, and physical abuse from the residential school.
If I was going to help them, I had to help myself first which was very
difficult. We are always told to forgive; but I can never forget what I
went through. And that is my goal still to this day; to never forget thepainful past and to help the people who are still hurting today.
Now at 72 years of age, I am currently working as an Elder in Dryden
High School working to support students from the six Keewaytinook
Okimakanak communities achieve their high school diploma. The six
northern communities that make up Keewaytinook Okimakanak are:Poplar Hill, Deer Lake, North Spirit Lake, Keewaywin, Fort Severn, andMacDowell Lake. The students I support are young men and womenages 13-21. My role is to incorporate cultural teachings and language
into the daily lives of our students. Also, to share knowledge and help

educate other Dryden High School Students on our Keewaytinook
Okimakanak ways and bring awareness to what our people went throughwhen they were taken from their communities and forced to attend
residential school as young children. I have been doing this job for 8years now. Within the last two years, I have really seen growth within
my team, helping me bring my vision to life. My vision is to help rebuild
the relationship between our First Nations People and Non-First Nations
People - to live in harmony together for our future generations. Not tosee the colour of one’s skin but to acknowledge and appreciate ourdifferent cultures. I hope to help our students, coming from northern,
isolated communities, feel safe and comfortable during their time inDryden. We, as a team, try to achieve this by remembering where theycome from, acknowledging, and appreciating that different, more land
based, lifestyle - not to change them but, to educate them while they are
here. Darryl Norman and Rachel Loughery are my co-workers andfriends, helping me through this journey.
There are many things that I could say about my life. I hope that thoselistening will feel comfortable asking me how I have been able to use
my life experiences in helping others.

Arigatou, Meegwitch (Oji Cree), Thank you