AIDS activist dies

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Cree AIDS victim and activist Leonard Johnston died of AIDS on May 18. Johnston was instrumental in setting up support groups and grieving circles for people with AIDS and their families in Vancouver, making personal visits to the hospital for those who were alone in the city.

Watching his close friend Bob Mike succumb to AIDS was the beginning of his activism, when he discovered there were no culturally relevant programs or services for Aboriginals with AIDS.

The circles created by Johnston helped families deal with such issues and questions as:

- How to meet the financial demands of travel and accommodations for family members visiting the AIDS-infected person;

- Dealing with the imminent death of a loved one;

- Coming to terms with the prospect that the AIDS-infected person may be homosexual;

- Facing the discrimination and homophobia against gays and lesbians.

His treatment plan made traditional spirituality a central feature. While hospital staff refused Aboriginal people the right to perform a smudging ceremony, he insisted that if the church could have a presence, then there was no reason why First Nations people could not practise their own spirituality.

Johnston was co-founder of the AIDS medicine wheel which is commonly used in AIDS workshops today.

He eventually established his own office and put on educational workshops. He travelled around B.C. and the rest of Canada to spread his message about the deadly nature of AIDS, challenging communities to look at such practices as promiscuity and child sexual abuse.

On Dec. 3, 1993, funding cuts and reorganizations resulted in Johnston losing his job. That same day, he discovered he had full-blown AIDS.

Johnston spent his last days with his sister, Audrey Brockie, in Alberta, learning more about spirituality in his attempt to deal with his illness. He is buried in the Swan Valley Cemetery in Kinuso, Alberta.

A memorial service will be held July 15 at the Vancouver Aboriginal Friendship Centre, 1607 East Hastings Street from 4:30 - 7:30 p.m. in the multi-purpose room.