Red Deer Elder remembered fondly as gentle, but ferocious

“She was always a gentle reminder of what my and others’ leadership should bring to the community, what my responsibilities are, and to use my leadership in a wise way that lifts people up. I really appreciated that about Maggie. She communicated purposefully, yet very gently,” says Johnston, who’s tried to lead the City, alongside the likes of Maggie, in re-engaging, reconciliation, and rebuilding a relationship between the Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities.

“She was pretty special, and when you lose a leader, you may hope someone new steps up quickly, but it’s clear from the celebration of life that she was held in incredible esteem.”

(Supplied)

Maggie’s son Jason Loney spoke to rdnewsNOW about what it meant to see the turnout, and hear from so many about what she meant to them.

“We’d grown apart a bit, but I’d talk to her and she’d always tell me what she had going on in Red Deer. Seeing how many people were there, I thought this is what she really would’ve wanted to be a part of. She’d be the first to go to something like that for someone else who’d passed,” Loney said.

“She embraced her traditions and people, and so it meant a lot seeing all those people. It showed me that as much as she cared about others, they all cared that much back.”

With Maggie’s graciousness in mind, Loney and other celebration organizers delivered a large amount of excess food to local shelters.

Other friends also shared their thoughts about Maggie with rdnewsNOW following the celebration of life.

That includes Navjot Kaur, who met Maggie at the ‘Walking with Our Sisters’ event in Red Deer eight years ago. Kaur described Maggie as gentle, but ferocious.

“Maggie was a lifelong learner and didn’t believe in gate-keeping knowledge. She was a really traditional person, and she would not try to preach, but waited patiently for people to ask questions of her, and she had a deep respect for meeting people and organizations where they were,” says Kaur.

“She loved her people, the nêhiyawak — and modeled immense compassion for the trauma inflicted on her people from displacement and residential schools. She often helped me — a first generation settler also from a colonized people — to understand a lot of the underlying assumptions that influence relationships in our work and the broader community.”

Deirdre Ashenhurst, Diversity and Inclusion Facilitator at the City of Red Deer, and more importantly a friend, crossed paths with Maggie for eight years at ceremonies, celebrations and meetings.

“Maggie’s community engagement was an inspiration; she taught in schools introducing kids of all ages to Indigenous practices, skills, and knowledge,” Ashenhurst says. “Maggie provided learning opportunities for newcomers, community groups, corporations, individuals, and with the City of Red Deer. Her contributions to our community were vast and her impact will be felt for years to come.”

(rdnewsNOW/Josh Hall)

She adds that Maggie was always willing to have a conversation, as long as it was respectful.

“Maggie was the wisest person I have ever met. Her openness to learn and share her knowledge is a big reason for this,” says another friend who asked to remain anonymous, and whom Maggie knew through the Urban Aboriginal Voices Society (UAVS). “She was an excellent teacher, and seemed to have an intuition as to what you needed to hear. She encouraged me to learn from many sources and about many cultures. She was a true believer in lifelong learning.”

Maggie also had an ability to understand when someone needed extra care, says the friend.

“She loved the land; it was her happy place. I believe the land loved her back.”

In her final years, Maggie lived with the family of close friend Ryan Jason Allen Willert.

Willert, who sang at the celebration of life, says Maggie was a kind lady who listened unconditionally.

“She’d sit and listen, and not cut you off. She also carried a lot of old knowledge from her Cree community, and she was very adamant about holding onto that. She never pushed her ways on anybody. All of this is why she made such a huge impact,” says Willert.

“When she did ceremony, she was very sincere about it; she wasn’t putting on a show, let’s put it that way.”

Willert says her legacy is one of setting an example for others.

“I hope by looking back at her life, that others will follow in her footsteps. Now that she isn’t here, and there weren’t many already doing the work she was doing, who will continue the legacy she was living?” he wonders.

“It’d be nice for people to be a little bit more like Maggie.”

rdnewsNOW interviewed Maggie Loney in Aug. 2018 about the prospect of a new Indigenous holiday, which was prior to the Government of Canada implementing the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation (Sept. 30).

In the interview, Loney had this to say about education and reconciliation: “These people are the first peoples of this land, the original people, and it’s a bit of a marred part of Canadian history, but it’s the truth. If some people think they’re tired of hearing about these things, well we haven’t really spoken all of these truths that have happened for more than 100 years and education about that needs to happen.”

by Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

Red Deer Elder remembered fondly as gentle, but ferocious

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