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While
Chief, Mr. Pooyak served on the Board of Director's
responsible for the development and initiation of the
Battleford's Indian Health Center which was designed to
provide better services to the First Nation communities,
acted as chairman for Sweetgrass band meetings, and was
an active member of the Liberal Party (his most
significant memory was having lunch with Prime Minister
Trudeau). Later in his career, Mr. Pooyak also served as
Executive Director for the Battleford's Friendship Center.
It was at this time that Mr. Pooyak was diagnosed with
Rheumatoid Arthritis; a debilitating disease causing him
to be incapacitated and unable to work. Through this
experience he realized the limited resources and
information available to disabled persons, particularly
First Nation people. After talking to others and
countless phone inquiries he discovered there was a
federal task force in place discussing issues pertinent
to disabled people. Eventually this task force resulted
in fifteen recommendations regarding disabled people.
Only one of these recommendations directly affected First
Nation people as it identified a need for an Aboriginal
Reference Group on Disability issues. This Reference
group put forward a proposal for an Aboriginal Clearing
House which would inform An illustration of his ideas on self-government can be found in this story he told us of how when he was a Chief that they needed a permit to sell their grain off-reserve and how he did not acknowledge these permits, selling grain anyway. It turned out that the permits could not be enforced by Indian Affairs. As far back as we can remenmber our dad talked extensively about Self-Government, sharing his ideas and later actively engaging in debates with both of us; our discussions centered around the importance of advocating for First Nations people. Politics was one of our dad's greatest passions and he passed on this passion to both of his daughters. Considering he never graduated from High School (although he completed his G.E.D. in his forties), he was one of the smartest men we knew and learned more about the world and First Nation politics than any text book could have ever taught us, because he lived it. On a personal note, there is a side to my dad that we, his daughters, miss each day. Perhaps what we miss most is his unconditional love that he seemingly perfected in his later years. Both of us were extremely proud of his ability to initiate change within himself, striving to become a better human being. I have heard it said that it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks, not in his case. It did not matter what we did, he was always there to listen, offer words of encouragement, laugh (lots) and enjoy life to the fullest. Some of his lines to live by include: "where there's a will, there's a way"; "don't live in the past, start from today"; "the Creator is a loving and forgiving Creator." He stressed the importance of family, sticking together and working things out. He thoroughly enjoyed having young people in his life and helped out when there was a need, which was often in the form of opening his door to provide a safe home, a place to rest, or regroup. We, his daughters, often referred to his home as a hostel because he always provided some young person a home whenever they needed it. As for us, his daughters, our confidence and successes that have helped us to reach our goals is greatly attributed to the unconditional love we received from our dad. He was a wonderful human being who continuously worked to become his best, with a courageous "go get 'em'" attitude. In August of 1999, Steve journeyed back home to be with his Creator. He is sadly missed. Links: (click on X in top right corner of outside link to return to photo gallery) Indian-Controlled Health Centre Opens 1980 Fall Chiefs' Conference...Strong Executive at the Helm National Aboriginal Clearing/Connecting House on Disability Issues - Clearinghouse Staff NACCHDI - Staff Profiles - Steve Pooyak National Aboriginal Clearing/Connecting House on Disabilities - Memorial |
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the
Federal Government of issues regarding disabilities and
on services involving disabilities. Mr. Pooyak became
involved with the Reference group and acted as one of the
two contact persons for Saskatchewan between the
reference group and the task force. He later became the
coordinator for the Aboriginal Clearing House which is
where he worked until he was physically unable to.