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George Blondin, our Dene story-teller
Antoine Mountain Guest columnist Monday, October 27, 2008 Previous columns 
When the history of the Dene Nation is written, I do know that the name of George Blondin of Deline will appear in at least one of the main chapters of the times we were fortunate enough to share with this great man and his kind. Of course it is sad to see the ones of Mr. Blondin's generation leave us one by one but just think, friends and relatives, how sadder our North would have been without these people to help guide us through, right from his birth out on the land and into our modern cyber age! When I think back on the early years of the Indian Brotherhood I recall as how we of the younger generation, fresh out of our various schools were so determined to stop the dreaded pipeline plans at the time. After the scourge of the residential schools few of us remembered how to speak our own language and we had been gone from our own roots long enough not to be of any use to the men and women in George Blondin's generation on the land. But I do know that they took the time to educate us about what we were really fighting for, and gave renewed reason and muscle to our struggle. George himself was the Chief of Deline and went on to serve as vice president of the Indian Brotherhood, which later became the Dene Nation. He also become a master story-teller, writing a total of three books about medicine power and even had his own column in News/North. I should know how much of an achievement this all is, as I have been doing my own column here for only a third of his time, and it is not easy, believe me. But George Blondin's son Ted assures us that there is enough material for two more books from this man who also won the Order of Canada. And more than all of this, I believe, are the countless number of lives this Dene statesman has touched with his loving ways. So mahsi cho, George, may your heavenly pen now take wing in legend!.
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