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BEHCHOKO/RAE-EDZO - The NWT lost one if its most respected and knowledgeable elders last week. George Blondin, 87, died on Oct. 12 after suffering a stroke at his home in Behchoko.

Blondin was born and raised on the land near Great Bear Lake. His son Ted said that even at an early age, elders knew that Blondin would be a storyteller.

George Blondin This column was George Blondin's last submission to News/North. He died after a stroke at his home in Behchoko Oct. 12: Long ago, possibly 70,000 years, the First Nations of the North met in an open place where anyone could tell a story and talk about the future of the people and how to make life better. This gathering place was established by a great man. We believe he was a sort of prophet. His name was Yamoria. At the time, aboriginal peoples had changed their lifestyles. They started to come together and for the first time they started to talk about a lot of important issues and they tried to live by it. That was what Yamoria wanted; he wanted aboriginal people to change right away. Up to that point, aboriginal peoples' lives were terrible. There was no law, there was nobody to lead them. Killing each other was nothing to them. Their medicine power got out of hand and they used that power the wrong way instead of caring for their people. Bad medicine power people took over, so the people lived in crime and fear. This kind of life was going on possibly from the beginning, when the world was new. In Christian thinking, the creator Jesus Christ is very kind. But most people think the Creator never helps people. It's possible that the Creator sent messages to the world to make life better. Yamoria came as a messenger to help the people to live better and it worked. Aboriginal people of the North believed that Yamoria was a holy man. His work and preaching proved it. He tried real hard to change the people's lives. But how Yamoria came to the Earth was a another story: One day, a girl visited a rabbit snare in the fall. She noticed a tree that moved back and forth a lot, The girl was advised by her father to speak to the tree. When she was done, the small tree fell over. It left a small hole in the earth. The girl heard a baby crying. She ran to the hole. She found two small babies - they were twins. It was possibly the work of God. People respected Yamoria because he was born that way. There were other powers Yamoria had. He was the strongest medicine power man in that time. He could almost do whatever he wanted. When he preached, he would control men's minds to get them to come listen to him and it worked good. Some people were scared of him but Yamoria wasn't afraid of anybody. He said what he wanted, to anyone. At that time, medicine power was very strong. Wild people quarreled with Yamoria to prove he was right. He would just clap his hands and the bad group would fall down. So Yamoria preached to convince the people of the North to change their way of life. That gathering place that Yamoria established worked so well that to this very day the public gathers to talk - to learn and to teach their children. Aboriginal people believed Yamoria was a holy man, possibly a messenger from the kind Creator to live better. Yamoria was the first man to talk about God the Creator.

"His grandparents and all the elders talked to him as if he was designated as the storyteller and he took that mission on all his life," said Ted.

As a young man Blondin and his father Edward Blondin helped guide surveyors along traditional hunting trails through the unmapped Mackenzie Mountains as they built the Canol Trail. He also worked providing lumber for Port Radium during the 1950s. After losing his oldest son Walter to pneumonia in 1958, Blondin moved his family to Yellowknife to be closer to hospitals and schools for his children.

Ted said moving to Yellowknife was a sacrifice for his father. He loved living off the land but he also wanted to provide a good education for his children.

Blondin was almost rejected for work at Giant Mine because its hiring policies discriminated against aboriginal workers. Blondin's contacts at Port Radium convinced employers to take him on.

Work in the mine was only a means to an end. After his children were finished school he moved back to Deline to resume hunting and trapping. While there he was elected chief of the Deline First Nation in 1984. Blondin also served as vice-president of the Dene Nation, and was heavily involved in land claim negotiations.

He eventually settled in Behchoko to be closer to his family.

Blondin was best known as a storyteller and author. He wrote three books and penned a weekly column for News/North. As a columnist he was best known for keeping traditional Dene stories alive. However, he was not afraid to weigh in with his political opinions of the effect of modernization on aboriginal lifestyle. In 1990, he received the Ross Charles award for native journalism and later in 2003 Blondin was inducted as a member of the Order of Canada.

As a child, Tlicho Grand Chief George Mackenzie often listened to Blondin speak with his father. Blondin was a friend of the Mackenzie family and frequently stayed at Mackenzie's childhood home in Behchoko when he was travelling between Deline and Yellowknife by dogsled.

"I had a lot of respect for him because he contributed to the society and the culture," said Mackenzie.

After moving to Behchoko, Blondin was eventually registered as a Dogrib beneficiary although he was born near Deline. He always took part in community meetings and often offered advice to Mackenzie throughout his political career.

Mackenzie praised Blondin's storytelling skills. He remembered driving home from Edmonton with Blondin on one occasion. Along the way Blondin told stories from his youth to help pass the time.

"He told me a good story that took two hours and in no time I was in Peace River," said Mackenzie.

Blondin's stories appeared regularly in News/North. Managing editor Bruce Valpy knew Blondin and remembered him as a wise spiritual writer.

"I think that unlike many writers he will be read for a long time, and people will be interpreting what he wrote," said Valpy.

He described Blondin as a prolific writer who submitted pages and pages of handwritten material. Much of that writing ended up in Blondin's weekly column. He also succeeded in publishing three books.

In 2006, it was thought Blondin had put his pen down for good when - midway through one of his submitted columns - he resigned.

At the time Blondin said failing eyesight and deteriorating health was forcing him to stop his weekly submissions. But he couldn't stay away for long. Earlier this year, his handwritten epics once again began to cross the News/North editorial desk, replacing weekly reruns selected from more than a decade worth of material.

His final submission appears in this edition of News/North.

Ted Blondin said there is still a lot of material waiting to be published. There is a fourth book in the works and enough material ready for a fifth.

"He always wanted to put things in print because in his earlier life, storytelling was easy in the evenings around the campfire. But nowadays he felt he had to write it down because young people are occupied with television and video games," said Ted.

Blondin was always at a loss to understand the awards he received for his writing according to his son.

"He was only doing something he really enjoyed and doing his duty as his grandparents told him to," said Ted.

Blondin was predeceased by his wife Julia, sons Walter and John, and daughter Georgina. He is survived by six children as well as numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

Blondin's funeral was held in Yellowknife on Oct. 15. He was laid to rest in the NWT capital next to his wife Julia.