Derek Neary
Northern News Services

Fort Providence (Mar 10/00) - The Status of Women Council of the NWT have named Margaret Thom a "Wise Woman" in the Deh Cho.

Reacting to the news, Thom said she has acquired enough wisdom over the years to know that the Creator has instilled wisdom in each of us.

"Everybody on the face of this Earth has wisdom," she said. "You embrace wisdom and you are thankful for wisdom."

Thom, a school and community counsellor in Fort Providence, said she tries to be a role model. A mother and grandmother, she is a prominent volunteer, serving as vice-chair with the Deh Cho Health and Social Services Board, is a member of the Deh Cho Education Council and a board member with the Nats'Ejee K'eh Alcohol and Drug Treatment Centre. She has also initiated an anti-smoking campaign for youth called the Non-Puffers program, and was recently appointed as a representative at the Canadian Centre on Substance Abuse.

She also works on self-esteem development with a group who have dropped out of school. In the past she has been a band councillor, co-ordinator of the Brighter Futures program, has worked with the Friendship Centre and the Healing Lodge.

She said she has had many opportunities to travel and participate in gatherings, assemblies and workshops because of her activism.

"I guess just being in the midst of everything helps you see things," she said, adding that her goal is to eliminate today's problems so the next generation won't be dealing with the same issues. "I don't have any degrees or anything of that sort. Everything is sort of self-taught."

The downside is that all the travel keeps her away from home longer than she prefers. She said her husband, Jim, is one of her biggest supporters. Together they are on a journey of recovery from alcohol abuse -- Margaret has been sober for nine years -- and she said she often apologizes to Jim for her absence at home.

"He says, 'Somebody's got to do it,'" she recounts, smiling.

Not a believer in western medicines, Thom said she strongly believes that individuals are 99 per cent responsible for their own well- being.

She also speaks the Dene language and used it to translate portions of last week's official opening ceremony at the Fort Simpson Health Centre.

The Wise Woman Award, announced last Thursday, came as a surprise, she revealed.

"All I knew was that I was nominated. I didn't pay much attention," she said adding that she had been nominated a few times in the past, and joked that the judges from the Status of Women Council of the NWT must be tired of seeing her nomination papers.