She's a force to be reckoned with
Cece Hodgson-McCauley wins Indspire Award
Kassina Ryder
Northern News Services
Monday, October 31, 2016
LLI GOLINE/NORMAN WELLS
Cece Hodgson-McCauley says if construction doesn't soon begin on the Mackenzie Valley highway extension from Wrigley to Tuktoyaktuk, she'll roll up her sleeves and do it herself.
Cece Hodgson-McCauley is this year's Indspire Award winner for politics. From Norman Wells, she has been writing a weekly News/North column since the 1970s. - photo courtesy of Joanne Arruda |
"I'm going to keep fighting for the road even if I have to start building it myself," the 94-year-old said.
Hodgson-McCauley has a long history of getting things done.
Her passion and commitment were recognized during a special ceremony in Toronto on Oct. 26 where it was announced that she had won this year's Indspire Award for politics.
She said she was surprised to find out she had been selected.
"I had no idea," she said.
Surprising Hodgson-McCauley is no easy task. Born on Dease Arm of Great Bear Lake on June 5, 1922, she survived the 1928 flu epidemic that killed an estimated 10 to 15 per cent of the NWT's aboriginal people.
She spent 10 years attending the Fort Providence Indian Residential School and still speaks highly about the education she received there.
In 1958, Hodgson-McCauley moved to Aklavik where she ran a recreation facility that housed a bakery and a pool hall, as well as a dance hall.
It was there when she began training local girls to work at the facility.
"I think almost every girl there worked for me at one time. I have lots of daughters up there," Hodgson-McCauley said. "They were so wonderful workers, wonderful people up there. Those were my best years, in the Delta."
Now grown women, many of her former employees still call Hodgson-McCauley's home in Norman Wells for a chat.
"My girls are so close to me that they phone me once in a while to see how I am," she said. "To me, the greatest thrill was training the young girls and seeing them blossom."
After moving to Inuvik, Hodgson-McCauley became the first chief of the Inuvik Dene band. She is now honorary chief for life.
"There is so much a chief can do, they have the power," she said. "Most chiefs don't use their power and they don't communicate. We're supposed to represent the people."
Hodgson-McCauley continued to be a voice for the people long after her time as chief was complete.
She avidly promotes development, especially when it comes to creating jobs in Northwest Territoty communities.
"We've got to build up the North, my gosh," she said. "We've got to get our people involved in politics."
She believes residents and the government need to work harder to create an indigenous workforce, especially when it comes to professions such as nurses and doctors.
Hodgson-McCauley's opinions make for great reading, which is why she has been a News/North columnist since the 1970s.
"Every week when I write, they don't know what I'm going to say," she said. "I don't beat around the bushes."
Though a respected voice in the territory for decades, Hodgson-McCauley downplays her influence.
"People would come to me with their problems and I would go to the government, simple as that," she said.
"Anybody can do that."
Hodgson-McCauley will be officially presented with her Indspire Award at a special gala at the National Arts Centre on March 24, 2017.
In the meantime, she said she has more than enough to keep her busy.
"I haven't stopped fighting," she said.
