In fact, he looks like a typical traditional ndn man who's seen days in a residential school. He's got the long braided hair, the cowboy boots, the levi jeans, and the swagger to match. He wears it well on his face that he's seen harsh situations but when he speaks you wouldn't think so.
At least within the boundaries of his community anyway.
I understand I am a reporter. And sure, he may be able to play with my head a little. But these kind of feelings I've seen him express, you can't fake.
I've seen him speak to others in his community with respect and dignity. The sound of his voice in some circumstances couldn't even scare a sleeping baby awake.
I've also seen him tell more than a fair share of his members to quit whining or to put their money where their mouth is, so to speak. Like when his community members were causing a ruckus in Winnipeg hotels while the community was threatened to go under water this spring. If they want to piss around I welcome others to piss on them right back, he told me when I asked him how he felt about some getting sent home (I didn't put quotes because I can't remember if that was word for word).
But whatever it is that's come out of his mouth, he's backed it up time and time again.
If you haven't guessed it yet, I'm talking about Roseau River Chief Terry Nelson who just happens to be one of this year's candidates for the Grand Chief of the Assembly of First Nations.
He's one of four candidates this year. There is no guaranteed winner this time around as National Chief Phil Fontaine or Dr. Phil (hahaha...get it?) as I like to call him (he got an honorary degree from the U of W last year) has announced he isn't going to run again.
While in office Fontaine managed to get an apology from the Prime Minister, and got the ball rolling on the treaty commission. He's also spoke about making poverty history, and managed to stay in office for more than one term.
Nelson is definately the opposite of Dr. Phil.
Fontaine was sometimes seen as a people pleaser (more so people in gov't). Nelson doesn't care whether someone loves to hate him or hates to love him.
Today I speak mainly of Nelson because I've interviewed the guy over a couple dozen times. I've had the chance to see how he's reacted in many different situations.
And believe me, I've seen him say worse things than quit whining. I witnessed him say,
"There's only one way to deal with a white man. You either pick up a gun or you stand between him and his money," years ago.
He may have over-reacted but when it came down to it, he did get the federal government to transfer 30 hectares of Crown land back to his community, what he initially wanted before the whole National Day of Action came to be.
Nelson was also the man to find a loophole in the provincial ban on smoking in casinos. So he's got to have a brain to think and read in between the lines.
While interviewing him one on one once, he was talking about ways to handle certain things, such as the 2007 threat to block major railways that run through reserve land.
Any person in their right mind would know his approach he's used time and time again is with a whole lot of aggression. So I call him on it and you know what he says to me? He told me being aggressive was the best option.
I also asked him if he noticed (these are times he's done interviews with me, I can't compare other times I wasn't around) that he always managed to blame the white man. He laughed at me.
Personally, I think he's a cocky mofo. I have facts to support this.
Take the example above (flood 09), while water levels rose to 1997 levels across the province, putting many communities in danger (including Roseau), Chief Nelson was out of the country (even when he technically wasn't the chief because of a dispute and a re-vote). When called on it by a cbc reporter he asked, "what am i supposed to do, sandbag?"
You can't sit there and tell me that's not cocky. I had the chance to interview him after he spoke these words. He laughed at me again. But what he said to me after he had a good laugh stuck in my head.
He said something about all us media folks, not everyone likes us or what we report on. But at the end of the day, it's our job and whatever strategy we choose to use, not everyone is going to like but it doesn't meant we are going to throw that strategy completely out the window either. Meaning, not all situations are the same.
I understood he was avoiding the question but it made so much sense. But of course I didn't like the quote because it didn't answer my question simply so I asked him again because by that point what did I have to lose?
He laughed at me again, but I think it's because I had balls to ask him 3 different ways the same question. And after years of interviewing the guy and not twisting his words (because some of the questions he flips back on reporters time and time again, could be taken way out of context) I believe I also earned his respect.
He went on to talk about after the flood threat was gone, his community would still be 2 million plus in a hole. He and his staff on the reserve had already delegated people to take on the role.
That's when it hit me even more. It was similar to words of my mother. It's about picking and choosing which battles are more important. It was about knowing when one person wasn't strong enough to do everything at once and allowing others to try (the two heads are better than one, and three or four and so on are better..you get the idea).
I don't always agree with the way Nelson does things. In fact, more than half the time I'm left standing there shaking my head.
But at the same time, I have a whole lot of respect for the guy and it has nothing to do with sucking up to get the next best story. It's about his passion for his people, our people. It shines through. Something we both have in common. And I honestly believe this (passion) is one of the greatest strengths a person can have.
It's also about not backing down from his words he's spoken. And I can't forget to mention, it's also about returning phone calls and not putting people on the sluff (As a reporter I was never once sluffed by Nelson, he's even answered his cell, when my number showed up, while he was in a few business meetings.
I think it's also about really taking that step to become a sovern nation, as in not depending on the feds for the rest of our lives. And this is what Nelson says he's going to do.
I think a good leader needs these qualities.
Though in my opinion it wouldn't hurt for the guy to take anger management (it helps, i've taken it. lol.) and to stop blaming the white man for everything. That's just a cop out. (But in time, I think he will outgrow the blame game).
Right now though the odds are against him. There are 4 guys running for the position (Shawn Atleo of BC, John Beaucage of northern Ontario, Perry Bellegarde of Sk, and Nelson of MB), and Manitoba has the least number of votes and early predictions are putting Atleo in the driver seat.
But I'll tell you one thing, Nelson is definitely ruffling some feathers on some headdresses across the country.
At the end of it all, whoever wins, those are definitely some big shoes to fill.
ps- I still think Nelson is one cocky mofo and win or lose, I'm sure he's going to help change the perception of many other chiefs during the AFN gathering in Calgary at the end of July.
EDIT= (July 22, 2009) I've been neglecting this site for a while but I just had to add that since the last post nearly a month ago someone else decided to throw his hat into the race. His name is Bill Wilson (no relation by the way, lol) and he comes from British Columbia.
Bill Wilson, BC regionps- The voting starts today with all 633 Chiefs across the country.
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