Caribou Legs talks controversy
Long-distance runner admits he got ride for part of trip across lake; vows to appeal ruling in defamation lawsuit
John McFadden
Northern News Services
Friday, March 17, 2017
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
Inuvik long-distance runner and indigenous rights crusader Brad Firth, better known as Caribou Legs, concedes he is far from perfect.
Brad Firth, a.k.a. Caribou Legs, right, takes questions from the audience at Northern United Place Tuesday evening. The Q and A session followed the premiere of a new documentary about the ultra-marathoner and indigenous rights crusader. With Firth on stage is his aunt, former Olympic cross-country skier Sharon Firth. - John McFadden/NNSL photo |
Firth, who describes himself as a recovering drug addict and alcoholic, is now admitting he did not run the entire distance across Great Slave Lake last week - 200 kilometres from Hay River to Dettah - a fact that was not made clear during an interview with Yellowknifer last week.
Firth made the admission Tuesday night to Yellowknifer following the premiere of a documentary on his ultra-marathons and his efforts to bring attention to the issue of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls.
Firth said he ran most of the way across the frozen lake but said blizzard-like conditions forced him to hitch a snowmobile ride with one of the Canadian Rangers who accompanied him for one of the four days he was travelling across the lake.
"I would not have reached (Dettah) the day we did if we had stayed an extra day," said Firth.
"The Rangers were only able to give me four days support. There were 50 kilometres of snowmobile support on a day that it was simply too snowy to run."
Firth said he is not trying to deceive the public and did not accomplish the crossing under false pretenses.
Unlike a walk-a-thon where people pledge money for each kilometre run, he said his long-distance feats are about raising awareness - in this case missing and murdered indigenous women.
He added he does not run to raise money but if people want to help him financially he might use their donations to buy a better meal than he would have otherwise not been able to afford.
Controversy also followed Firth to social media this week after a confrontation with two students at Sir John Franklin High School last Friday. His speaking engagement, scheduled for Tuesday at the school, was cancelled, he said, after he confronted the two male students who were mocking him and his face paint. On a now-deleted Facebook post, Firth claimed the two students laughed at him because of his face paint while he waited for a meeting with school administrators.
"I kind of regret going after the children who were laughing at me," Firth said.
"I spoke my mind right away. There are all kinds of remarks on Facebook that I could have avoided that, but no - I'm going to meet this head-on. They maybe had never been to a pow wow and seen the respect given to people in face paint. I seem to be drawn into controversy wherever I go," Firth said.
"I'm always baited when I put the makeup on."
The school's principal Dean MacInnis said Firth could have handled the situation better.
"We can't have people take matters into their own hands," said MacInnis.
"If he felt disrespected ... there is a process. He could have seen any of the administrators and explained what happened. To go into a foyer and confront two kids in a busy crowded area and accuse them in a very confrontational way - that can make things worse very quickly."
MacInnis said the issue has been addressed with the two students in question, although he chose not to reveal what exactly was said to them. He said at this point there are no plans to reschedule Firth's address to students.
Earlier this month a Yukon judge ruled Firth had defamed his brother-in-law by accusing him of playing a role in his sister's death in 2015. The brother-in-law was awarded unspecified damages. The coroner in the case determined the woman died after repeated falls.
Firth said he plans to appeal.
"I need to appeal that decision," said Firth. "The judge awarded him by default because I didn't show up because I was running on the highway, for God's sake."
Firth has also had run-ins with police in Alberta, Ontario and Quebec during his cross-country runs. He said this is an indication of just how authorities treat indigenous people in Canada.
Those incidents were not Firth's only encounters with police over the years. Firth said he left Inuvik when he was 22 years old, ending up on Vancouver's gritty Downtown Eastside.
He said that's when he actually learned how to run - fleeing from police while stealing property and running drugs for dealers in order to support his drug habit.
Almost 100 people turned out at Northern United Place for the premiere of Firth's short yet powerful documentary on his cross-country endevours. He said the 12-minute long film was made not only to raise awareness about the issue of missing and murdered indigenous women in Canada but the silence among many people, including indigenous men, about the problem of domestic violence.
Firth talked about the film and his life following the screening. He was accompanied on stage by his aunt, four-time Olympic cross-country skier Sharon Firth.
The event was also a fundraiser for the Yellowknife Women's Society which runs the Centre for Northern Families. Bree Denning, the society's executive director, said she had no reservations about having the sometimes controversial runner appear at their fundraiser.
"He's going to speak his mind and I am not going to put boundaries around that," Denning said. "We're happy that he wanted to help run a fundraiser and he has a lot to say. We were happy to air this documentary and have a chat. He had a strong message tonight."
