"What a person can do, another person can imitate. If you put your mind into something, you will succeed. Excuses won't get you there."

That's the advice of Dr. Edward Kantonkote Cree, this year's recipient of the National Aboriginal Achievement Award in the category of Medicine. He's also the current head of the oral and maxillofacial surgery department at Centre Hospitalier de l'Universite de Montreal.

The words of this Mohawk from Kanehsatake are good advice for anyone, but Dr. Cree had in mind Aboriginal young people who may be attracted to a career in medicine. There still are not nearly enough of them taking up the challenge, so far as Dr. Cree is concerned.

A high degree of personal initiative, parents with an ardent belief in the value of education, and physical and mental stamina that sprung from an avid interest in sports were probably the main ingredients in his own success, he says.

"I think that had I not been involved with sports [in school], I would not have done anything good," he adds. He played hockey until two years ago, has played lacrosse, and maintains a keen interest in golf, skiiing and swimming. These activities, he says, kept him away from substance abuse and other negative influences when he was young.

His friend, Mr. Justice Rejean Paul, who nominated Dr. Cree for the Aboriginal Achievement Award, says that even today Dr. Cree "is quite an athlete - he's still quite an outstanding hockey player."

Mr. Justice Paul notes that Dr. Cree is considered "an outstanding person, surgeon and teacher" who has numerous friends and admirers among French and English Quebecers, as well as among his own people.

"I think he is the best candidate you can think of - he is fluent in English, French, Mohawk - you can't ask for better than that in the Province of Quebec. Maybe he should get the Order of Canada next," the judge asserts. As he lists Dr. Cree's many talents - surgery, teaching, prowess in sports - what impresses him most is Dr. Cree's dedication to the service of remote Native communities without regard for being paid.

In addition, he learned responsibility towards others early in life. His parents made sure he did his fair share of chores such as cutting wood. Although he was happy that boarding at Montreal College relieved him of these duties, learning to balance work and play helped Dr. Cree and his four sisters and one brother all to establish themselves successfully.

Dr. Cree, born in 1938, graduated in dentistry first, after obtaining his BA at the University of Montreal. It was in his second year of university that he had become interested in the idea of becoming an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, after reading in an American medical journal about large numbers of war-related facial and oral injuries.

He got his MD in 1964, followed by his specialist's certification four years later after studying in New York City and Pittsburg in the United States. He started to practise in 1969, and continued further post-graduate training in Germany and Switzerland.
Dr. Cree enjoys working at a university hospital where he combines surgery and teaching duties. He is pleased to be in a position to help and influence students. But he wishes there were more Aboriginal mentors in his field.

"Kids have to be directed and counselled when they have academic problems," he states emphatically.

Attracting Aboriginal students is one thing, keeping them motivated to complete the rigorous demands of medical school is another problem, Dr. Cree continues. He acknowledges that family problems and the lack of study facilities create barriers to academic success for many students. Meeting the entrance requirements of universities in Quebec presents another obstacle, he says, because of the stiff competition for admission from foreign medical graduates seeking to obtain Canadian credentials.

Racism is less of a factor than it once was, Dr. Cree maintains. Students had no recourse when he was young, yet he did not feel that being an Indian held him back even then. Getting good marks were what mattered most, he says, so far as getting ahead in his career. While it is true that Native students will encounter situations that others don't encounter, he says non-Native people have difficulties too. The important thing, Dr. Cree concludes, is to stay focused on the goal.

He suggests Native people need to seize the opportunity today to be examples to all that they can become both respected members of their own communities and of Canadian society at large.

Dr. Cree is involved in a study club that is examining ways to encourage Aboriginal youth to pursue medical careers. Various solutions are being looked at by physicians' groups and by medical school deans, he says. More girls are going into medicine, dentistry and pharmacology, which they view positively.

Ultimately, though, it is Aboriginal communities that must take leadership in promoting their young peoples' futures, seeking outside help where necessary. Dr. Cree would like to see chiefs encouraging potential students by developing liaison with medical professionals.

"Young people need to see a hospital intensive care unit, attend lectures in a hospital auditorium, view televised surgery," he says.

He hopes to add his own slice of encouragement by presenting a conference about the main Aboriginal diseases on his own reserve in the near future, using lots of slides to illustrate his talk. Dr. Cree returns home to Kanehsatake nearly every weekend when he is not on call.

Students may have to go through the "dark fog and bad weather," as they used to say on the reserve, Dr. Cree concludes. He quickly adds, though, that "whatever the dream - if they put the effort in, they will succeed."

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