Elder Gilman Cardinal grew up in his home community of Calling Lake, Alberta.
He was raised by his Métis mother and Bigstone Cree father and his grandparents. He was brought up in the era of residential schools. He recalls at nine years old when a plane landed to pick up First Nations children. Most kids in the community were taken from Calling Lake and sent to residential school.
Gilman asked his grandfather why this was happening, and his grandfather told him it was the law. Families were ordered to bring children to the dock to go on the plane or they could be jailed.
Fortunately, Gilman’s mother chose not to register as a First Nations member when she married his dad. All First Nations mothers had to register their child/ren at birth in the hospital and the names were sent to the Indian registry in Ottawa. The list was also used to identify children for residential schools. Gilman’s mother was able to protect her children so that they could stay at home.
Elder Gilman Cardinal said, “Women were fire keepers and kept family together, they kept culture and language together and protected our teachings.”
Gilman worked for twenty years in Slave Lake before continuing his government career in Edmonton for another twenty years. When he moved, he was gifted the key to the Town of Slave Lake for all his excellent work and he also won a Premier’s Award of Excellence for his successful Job Core program.
Gilman has fifteen grandchildren, ten biological and five from extended family members. He loved to pass his knowledge to them.
Recently, Cardinal received one of the first ever Okimaw Awards that recognized his contributions as a Courageous Warrior and Okimaw (leader).
Cardinal said he was encouraged to become an Elder by many of the Elders he learned from. And he has learned that being an Elder is about respect and humility.
“It’s a humbling place to be, Eldership. A good Elder will not say, ‘I’m an Elder. These are the things I can do for you.’ It’s not like that. Elders are very respectful and they will seldom say, ‘I can do this, I can’t do this,’” he said.
As an Elder, Cardinal had become more responsive to the needs of the community – whether it’s serving the people in his home community of Saddle Lake or serving the Indigenous population in Edmonton, where he lived.
“My volunteering usually involves creating quality of life for Indigenous people,” he said, noting he continues to spend his energy on improving housing conditions – he served as a board member for Homeward Trust Edmonton for six years.
“It’s a very honourable journey. Eldership is very respectful”
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