THEBACHA/FORT SMITH
Jane Dragon has so many medals you might think she has had a distinguished career in the military.
Jane Dragon of Fort Smith has framed all four of her medals, along with a photo of her receiving the latest medal from Governor General David Johnston. - Paul Bickford/NNSL photo
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Instead, she has been decorated four times for her volunteer work and promotion of traditional culture in Fort Smith and the NWT, and even nationally.
Dragon has a long list of organizations she has helped in the past, including Northern Life Museum, the Catholic Women's League, the Canadian Museum of Nature, Aurora College and the NWT Native Women's Association.
Dragon worked for 10 years as a counsellor at Paul William Kaeser High School, and also helped with traditional culture instruction at the school. She was born in Fond du Lac, Sask., and grew up speaking only Chipewyan until she was nine years old. She still speaks and writes her language.
Aside from working at the high school and her volunteer activities, she was a homemaker and raised six children, and she and her late husband also trapped together for over 20 years.
"I never worked towards a medal," she said. "I was just my life."
Most recently, she received the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal – celebrating the Queen's 60 years since her ascension to the throne.
Over the years, she has also received the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal in 1977 and the Queen Elizabeth II Golden Jubilee Medal in 2002. Plus, she was awarded the 125th Anniversary of the Confederation of Canada Medal in 1992. In addition to her medals, she was named one of the recipients of the Wise Women Award in 2002 by the NWT Status of Women Council.
Dragon, 72, said there is no one medals that is more special than the others, although she noted, "I think the 60th probably is special because that's probably the Queen's last and probably mine, too."
The presentation of the 60th Diamond Jubilee Medal was also unique because Dragon was among 58 Canadians invited to Ottawa on Feb. 6 to receive it from Governor General David Johnston.
"It was very nice," she said.
This wasn't the first time Dragon met Johnston. When the governor general came to Fort Smith with his wife in December 2011, Dragon was one of his tour guides.
"I went to the college with him, to the high school and to the museum," she said.
The 58 medal recipients invited to Rideau Hall – the official residence of the Governor General –were randomly chosen from the 60,000 Canadians to receive the award. Along with Dragon, two other people were invited from the NWT – James Ross of Fort McPherson and Yellowknife's Aaron Hernandez, better known as the rapper Godson.
After a very busy life of volunteering, about five years ago, Dragon channeled her support to devote more time to caring for her husband, David, who passed away a year ago.
"When David was sick, he came first," she said. "For the last five years or so, slowly I was getting out of my volunteering"
She noted the only volunteer role she has maintained is as a board member with the Literacy Strategy Advisory Committee of the Department of Education, Culture and Employment, explaining education is very important to her.
While in Ottawa recently, Dragon had her four medals framed under a photo of her receiving her latest medal from the governor general, which was a more formal presentation than her first medal in 1977.
"The first medal I got was in the mail," she said of the Silver Jubilee Medal.
"I had them in a drawer forever in my kitchen cupboard," she noted of her three previous medals, adding they were still in their original packaging.
Now the medals settled into their new home behind a pane of glass, Dragon said she needs to decide where to display it. She's toying with the idea of removing a bear head on her wall and placing the framed medals there.
"I want my grandchildren to notice it. It's very important for them to see it. It's special."
