. E-mail This Article

Words to live by

Norwegian humbled by award

Derek Neary
Northern News Services

Fort Simpson (Mar 09/01) - What is wisdom?

To Mary Louise Norwegian, the word "wisdom" conjures up images of the three wise men of Biblical scripture -- spiritual men with long beards who are very intelligent.

"I'm not any of those things," she laughed.

Being named the Deh Cho's Wise Woman award winner came as a complete surprise to Norwegian.

"I don't know what to think. I just want to thank people for putting my name in there," she said.

The award came at a very emotional time. As a community health representative (CHR), she has been helping many families cope with the deaths of several Deh Cho residents over the past few months. She's trying to deal with her own grieving and mourning too.

"It made me cry even more," she said of her reaction to the award.

Having grown up at Rabbitskin, nearly 45 kilometres east of Fort Simpson, Norwegian still likes to get out on the land. She has a cabin in the Horn Plateau area and admits she's long overdue for few cathartic weeks in the bush.

"I go out on the land and I deal with all the problems from my job," she said.

Losing a family member is never an easy ordeal, but Norwegian encourages survivors to remember the good times. When a mother passes away, for instance, there are many cherished moments and special words on which to reflect.

"I tell them, 'She was preparing you for when she's gone so you could live by those words,'" Norwegian explained.

She can recall pearls of wisdom from her father, Joseph Norwegian.

"I was very close to my dad," she said. "He taught me to respect others, to be honest and not to give up easily."

Refusing to give up is what helped Norwegian land her job as a CHR. Growing up, she spoke Slavey fluently with her father, mother (Elizabeth) and 10 brothers and sisters. Her formal education never advanced past Grade 3 at residential school in Fort Providence, so she spoke very little English for most of her life. Then she met Adeline Hardisty, Fort Simpson's previous CHR.

"She told me that I'll be the right person to take that job and she was wishing that I'd apply for it," Norwegian said.

Despite her lack of English, she submitted her name in 1990 and has been the CHR ever since. Her work has helped her gain a command of English. Although she has been successful, she doesn't advise today's youth to follow the same path.

"I really think they should stick with school. Keep on learning, never quit," she said. "There's no end to learning."