November 15, 1944 to July 5, 2022

Ruby Ignace

My mother has played a significant role in my life. She not only brought me into this world she provided me with all the tools to be the person I am today. My upbringing was not a fairy tale by any means. As Anishinaabe people we remain caught between two different worlds layered with the elements of poverty, racism, colonialism, physical differences, misunderstanding and hate. I do remember not wanting to be an Indian growing up as a kid in Northwestern Ontario because of the societal pressures and thinking. This was no fault of my mother's or my Anishinaabe families', I did not understand the circumstances I was struggling within as a kid. My mother made the best decisions within her means to provide what she could for my brother and I.

Culture and the Land

My mother was and continues to be one of the smartest people I have ever met. Her mentor was my Gookom (grandmother in our dialect). She was an extremely strong woman. She refused to speak english because she understood what it meant to our culture and language. I still remember she would only speak Anishinaabemowin to us. Yet she still could understand what we were saying in English. Our Gookom would only take a 22. caliber rifle and box of bullets plus one dog to live off the land for months at a time on her own. My family often tells the story of how Gookom would shoot moose with one shot from a 22. For my mother, Gookom was her guide and confidant in life. For these reasons when the realities of the western world were too much for my mother she returned to the life of a trapper.

Survival

Ruby my mother made friends easily as she was at home in who she was and where she belonged. She would often teach my brother and I growing up about how to survive in the bush and how to read the signs of the land. These teachings guided her when she was either trapping, hunting, fishing or just making ends meet. My mother's spirit as Gookom perceived it was a red fox - waagosh. It reminds me of her every time I see a waagosh and I think about what is it my mother is trying to tell me. Nothing in life is not connected to where we have been, where we are now, where we are going in the future or the lives and spirits that are all around us.