Remembering Josias Fiddler

I was so sorry to read of the passing of Elder Josias Fiddler in Wawatay News.
The article about his accomplishments was impressive; I would like to add to this a number of things that Josias worked on that were not covered.
I first met Josias when he became the Executive Director of the Friendship Centre in Red Lake, in the early 1970s. There he worked with a number of others to try and improve the lives of people who had moved from the northern communities to service centres like Red Lake, and also to help those who were passing through and needing assistance. He worked on a number of issues during those years involving housing, justice, education and opportunities for young people to learn about their culture in meaningful ways.
When a Fellowship and Communications Centre was proposed for Sioux Lookout, by some insightful leaders in the north who wanted to make Sioux Lookout a less hostile place for northerners to live in and to do business, it was logical for Josias to be asked take on that role. This was an important time in the evolution of the Grand Council Treaty No. 9 as NAN’s predecessor was called.
The Fellowship Centre, under Josias’ leadership played an important part as a venue for those meetings. Wawatay itself began its life in that building, with Single Side Band radio as its principal tool of communication. A newsletter was born there, which evolved into Wawatay News and itself became an influential separate organization.
Josias was an important part of that group of young aboriginal people from the remote communities with the language, intellectual and educational capabilities to deal both with the world outside the north and the understanding of their own communities and their people. Together, they were the enablers, combining their skills to support the Chiefs of the day and to help them find ways to translate the Chiefs’ vision of a more organized and effective presence in the Canadian political landscape into something very tangible and durable.
I remember being with Josias, Teri and family and a whole group of young people who were attending high school in Sioux Lookout on a picnic activity in the bush north of Sioux Lookout one cold and wintry Saturday. Josias was concerned that children from the north were not getting out and enjoying the bush enough, so we packed hot dogs and buns and went out to have a winter cookout. The fire was roaring away, and people were chomping down on hot dogs when I was suddenly grabbed from behind by Josias and thrown down in the snow. This was a bit disconcerting until I realized that the back of my parka had caught fire from a spark, a fire that was rapidly spreading. We had a good laugh about that on more than one occasion.
Josias will be missed not only as an Elder; but as one of a group of individuals whose work helped lay the foundations for the evolution of First Nations’ leadership for the remote northern communities in Ontario.
John Vincett