Rae-Edzo (Jun 26/06) - Father Jean Pochat-Cotilloux of Behchoko became a member of the Order of Canada last Thursday.

The ceremony took place in Yellowknife as part of the Governor General's trip to the NWT.

Father Pochat-Cotilloux of Bechoko is awarded the Order of Canada by Governor General Michaelle Jean for his selfless service to the North and to its people. He served as a priest in Rae-Edzo and has very close ties to the Dogrib people of the Dene Nation. - Emily Watkins/NNSL photo

Pochat-Cotilloux, 78, is a member of the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, a Roman Catholic order from France that sent priests to Canada to work in NWT aboriginal communities in the 1950s.

He sees the honour as belonging not to him, but to all the students and parishioners who went on to make lasting contributions to their communities.

"They are the ones who have succeeded," he said.

Pochat-Cotilloux arrived at Fort McMurray, Alta., in 1956, but by the end of the year he found himself in Behchoko, which was then called Fort Rae.

Since Pochat-Cotilloux spoke only French he immediately began learning English and Dogrib. Dogrib was a tough language to learn, he said, because there were no textbooks or tapes to guide him. Instead he relied on help from patient, bilingual people to teach him vocabulary and verb conjugations.

"I had very good teachers," he said. He practised his Dogrib in the community whenever he could, and children often stepped up as impromptu tutors.

"Kids are great," he said. "They'll laugh at your mistakes, but they're patient."

In 1960 he became principal of Grandin College in Fort Smith, the territory's first high school for Inuit, Metis and Dene students.

The Moore Report in 1946 had claimed that aboriginal children weren't capable of learning beyond Grade 9, so the school had to prove the study wrong.

"That was my first challenge," said Pochat-Cotilloux. Attendees of Grandin College included former MP Ethel Blondin-Andrew, former premier Stephen Kakfwi, and MLAs Kevin Menicoche and Michael Miltenberger.

Pochat-Cotilloux later served on the board of the Western Arctic Leadership Program, which used Grandin College as its model. In 1970 Pochat-Cotilloux returned to Rae, where he has been the parish priest ever since.

As for his language skills, he said only the people in Behchoko could judge whether he has improved in the last 35 years. But when he speaks Dogrib, "they're still laughing," he said.