The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Tom Jackson, the. famous Canadian actor and entertainer came through the Creighton and Flin Flon region yesterday along his "journey through life". Yesterday morning he gave a remarkable speech to educators from throughout northern Saskatchewan who had gathered in the Creighton Community Hall as part of the Northlands College inservice training. Later in the day he talked with the Northlands College students and then last night he shared his music with an audience in the Flin Flon Community Hall. After listening to Tom Jackson, it's easy to see why he gathers a crowd everywhere he travels. Besides his obvious talent as a musician and an actor, Jackson is a man who knows how to share his heart Ð and what he has to say seems to be exactly what people want to hear. Yesterday morning at the Creighton Community Hall he shared his thoughts for just over an hour. He took his audience on a fascinating journey looking back on key times in his life, and the lessons he learned along the way. One got the impression he could have talked all day Ð and that the packed hall of people would have stayed to listen. "I have to tell you something," said Jackson as he began his speech, gripping the attention of everyone. "I am so blessed and honoured to be here, I've been on a wonderful journey." Just then, a young baby's voice cried out, and Jackson beamed. "That's our future," he said, referring to his Native roots. "We have fought, we have shed blood for a thousand years to have a voice, to have a future, and that's our future you hear." Leaving the podium and drawing closer to the audience of educators, Jackson made a point that struck deep into their hearts: "People like you protect our voice, and you protect our future. We won't have a voice or a future without you." For those in the audience who have devoted their professional lives to helping others who live in the north Ð mostly aboriginal, these were words they needed to hear. It was very inspirational and thought-provoking. As the hour flew past, Jackson recounted moments of his life, giving people a fascinating insight into the world of a young Native activist. His journey in life began on a small Reservation in Saskatchewan. Along the way he spent many of his years in Winnipeg, hitch-hiked to Vancouver with his best friend Bernie to check out the Native protest movement, and had a brush with life and death near the infamous Wounded Knee incident in South Dakota. It was after his trip to South Dakota, where violence had occurred, that Jackson told himself "there's got to be a better way." "That's when I decided my guitar would make a good gun, and I would use a song instead of a bomb." As he shared his life, he painted a picture of a young person who was desperate to learn more about the world around him, and then "do something to make a difference." His job at an FM radio station in Winnipeg was especially appealing as Tom discovered, "there is no colour in radio." He talked about the good times, the adventures, learning life's lesson, and also about the darkness that has been a part of his world. "People need to support each other," he said. "And we need faith in the dark." It was surprising to hear this man, who seemed to have total control of his life, talk about his addiction to drugs, that he only escaped in 1988. "I have a new addiction now," he said, "to help save lives." He encouraged his audience to also set their sights on helping other people, and to use whatever talent they have to affect those around them. "Stick with what you know, you can use it to change the world." At the end of his speech people rose to give Tom Jackson a warm, standing ovation. He had inspired them, touched their hearts, and helped them realize that they really could make a difference.
