Never Give Up Your Goals: Larry Loyie’s story as an adult learner (published by Canadian Commission for UNESCO)

Celebrating International Adult Learners’ Week 2009

Never Give Up Your Goals: Larry Loyie’s story as an adult learner, published in The Power of Learning, a Canadian Commission for UNESCO publication celebrating International Adult Learners’ Week 2009, March 2-8. www.unesco.ca/en/activity/education/adultlearners.aspx

First Nations writer Larry Loyie (Cree name: Oskiniko/Young Man) was 55 years old when he went to Vancouver’s Carnegie Learning Centre to fulfill his dream of becoming a writer. He is now the award-winning author of four children’s books, with two more in the works. His website is: www.firstnationswrwiter.com

Never Give Up Your Goals

I clearly remember my first day at the Carnegie Learning Centre in Vancouver. It was early spring of 1988. I was uncertain, nervous and scared, having committed myself to upgrading my literacy skills. I knew there was no turning back.

Since I was 12 years old, my dream was to be a writer. I was one of many First Nations children who went to residential school. The level of learning was very low. Working as a labourer to support my family, I didn’t know the skills needed to be a writer. In my mid-fifties, I found myself disabled. I thought, ‘This is my chance.’ All my efforts went into learning English and grammar. I taught myself to type and upgraded my reading, math, science and health skills. The free writing classes at Carnegie made it possible to replace the drudgery of daily life with the excitement of change and personal growth.

At Carnegie, I could trust and be comfortable with the instructors. They were encouraging and honest. I was treated as an equal. They erased the fear and shame of me being an older person going back to school. Without realizing it, I learned leadership skills, to be more assertive and speak up at meetings. I went from being invisible to being very visible.

In 1994, I wrote a play, Ora Pro Nobis, Pray for Us, about my residential school years. To complete one scene, where the nun berates us and belittles our families, I went to a medicine wheel to find the strength to write the ugly things she said. I cried many times but I got it down. With my partner Constance Brissenden as director, the play was staged in three provinces.

In 2001, I received the Canada Post [Community] Literacy Award for Individual Achievement (B.C.). My first children’s book, As Long as the Rivers Flow, an award-winner, is about the traditional life I loved before residential school. Two more books about my childhood followed: When the Spirits Dance (set during the Second World War) and Goodbye Buffalo Bay about my last year in residential school and moving on as a child worker. I also wrote The Gathering Tree, a children’s book that introduces HIV awareness and prevention.

My goal is to continue building on the knowledge of traditional First Nations lifestyle through my writing and to encourage pride in our cultures. To other learners, I say: “Never give up your goals. They are attainable.”

Background: You can find out more about Larry Loyie and his writing at www.firstnationswriter.com

Larry Loyie served on the committee that established the National Indigenous Literacy Association (NILA). NILA works to increase awareness about Aboriginal literacy issues in Canada and the benefits to learners, the community and the economy of increased literacy levels. For more information, got to www.nila.ca

The Carnegie Learning Centre is located in the Carnegie Community Centre in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Learning programs are provided in cooperation with Capilano University, and tutoring services are also provided by volunteers. The centre if funded by the City of Vancouver. For more information, go to http://vancouver.ca/commsvcs/carnegiecentre/

For more information about Capilano University, go to www.capilanou.ca/home.html