Cardinal remembers when

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Raymond Cardinal, 66, is the 2002 Citizen of the Year at Kikino Metis Settlement, an annual honor awarded in conjunction with Kikino Celebration Days and Silver Birch Rodeo.

Cardinal moved to Kikino in 1940, when he was four years old, with his parents Alex and Stella (Jackson) Cardinal. He recalls travelling from Goodfish Lake to the new home at Kikino Metis Colony by horse and wagon.

"There was nothing but bush-no roads, no highways," he said. "We brought a few cows and a few horses."

The family settled on the south side of Lonepine Lake, and lived in a trappers cabin while Alex was building their new house from spruce logs. There were four or five families moving into the area at the same time, and the closest neighbor was about half-a-mile away.

Raymond grew up in the small log house with six brothers and four sisters.

"We lived off the land while we were growing up," he said. Wild meat and vegetables from the garden were the main food sources. Staples like salt, tea, sugar and flour were purchased at the government store at the Kikino townsite, about five miles away.

"There was no pop or sweets when we were growing up," he said.

Lac La Biche was the closest town, about 45 kilometres away. Raymond was 12 years old when he first traveled there.

"It was a whole day into town with a team of horses," he said. "You could sleep in the hayloft of the livery stable." Then the trip back home with a wagonload of supplies was another long day over a trail cut through the bush. It was a trip made only once or twice a year.

When a one-room school was opened in Kikino in the late 1940s, Raymond attended up to Grade 4. "There was one teacher for beginners to Grade 8," he said. "At 14 or 15 we had to quit to make room for the younger ones." The school was about five miles away from his home. In the spring and fall he would walk to school, or sometimes ride horses. In the winter the daily trip was made by a horse-pulled toboggan, and later a sleigh.

It was a life without many conveniences.

"There was a battery operated radio-no power," he said. "But it was better when we were growing up. There was hardly any alcohol, no drugs."

In 1957, Raymond married Adeline Boucher, and they raised a family of six daughters and two sons. They now have 19 grandchildren, and three great grandchildren.

While he was raising his family, Raymond had some jobs on the settlement, but mostly worked outside in places like Suncor in Fort McMurray and in logging camps in Slave Lake and British Columbia. He also raised cattle, an operation his son Greg took over last year.

Leisure activities for Cardinal as a young man mostly consisted of playing baseball with the Kikino team, against teams from Lac La Biche, Wandering River, Goodfish Lake, Owl River, Saddle Lake, and the legendary all-black team from Amber Valley.

"Our team was average," he said. "I remember my brother Wesley was a good pitcher."

Raymond is the sixth Citizen of the Year at Kikino Metis Settlement. Previous winners of the honor are: Philip White, Georgina Thompson, William Erasmus, Arthur Pruden, and Clifford Calliou.