Clarence Louie, one of Canada’s most respected First Nations chiefs, told a Penticton audience made up of almost all seniors that growing old is admired and worshiped in his culture.

Louie was the special guest earlier this week of the South Okanagan Similkameen Community Connections Volunteer Centre as part of the Penticton’s Brown Bag Lecture Series, held at the Penticton Library and Museum auditorium.

A packed house of about 100 people gathered to listen to Louie, who has been the chief of the Osoyoos Indian Band since first being elected more than 40 years ago in 1984.

Over the past four decades, Louie has gained national and international recognition and attention for turning a struggling First Nation band with high unemployment into an economic juggernaut that owns dozens of businesses, including a successful winery in Osoyoos, a beautiful golf course in Oliver and vineyards spread across the South Okanagan valley.

During an hour-long presentation, Louie talked about many subjects but focused much of his time sharing his perspective to help build understanding and connection between Elders and seniors.

The always-outspoken Louie joked he will turn 65 in June, but will never consider himself an Elder in his First Nation community because Elders “can’t be mean” in his culture and he’s too opinionated and politically incorrect to ever gain that status.

After being a successful businessman for more than four decades, Louie told the audience he can confirm that workers who are now over age 65 and officially recognized as seniors were much more reliable with a much better work ethic than the past couple of generations of workers.

Louie said he has enjoyed a long and productive relationship with the Penticton Indian Band as his mother, Lucy Kruger, grew up on that reserve.

“I can say stuff about PIB because my mom is from PIB,” he said. “Nobody argues with my Mom. Don’t mess with Lucy.”

Respect your elders

The respect and admiration the vast majority of Canadians reserve for seniors off-reserve is equally shared by First Nations people and Elders on reserves, including OIB, said Louie.

“On my rez, there are people well into their 70s and a few into their 80s, and they still say don’t call me an Elder. I’m not an Elder yet,” said Louie. “I like what my grandma, who passed away many years ago, said ‘Don’t ever call me an Elder because the traditional way, Elders have to be nice all the time.

“She told me I was too mean to be an Elder. I actually like that. I’m too politically incorrect to ever be considered an Elder.”

As an example of being politically incorrect, Louie said he much prefers to be called “Indian” rather than First Nation or Indigenous.

‘It’s how I was raised,” he said. “Some of you might not like it, but that’s the way I talk. It’s the way I was brought up.”

We live in a society where too many people “are too overly sensitive and they say dumb shit,” said Louie, speaking about how upset he remains his favourite football team, the NFL’s Washington Commanders, had their name changed from the Redskins in 2022.

Throughout his travels across Canada speaking and completing business deals, Louie said almost all of the Elder leaders are heavy readers, just like himself.

“The seniors, and the smart people I’ve met in my life, read books,” he said. “I’m an avid reader. I do believe in today’s world, leaders and readers. Someone told me a long time ago, you’re not living if you’re not learning.

“I don’t care what you do, but you can keep on learning at any age.”

A wise Elder he deeply respects from Vancouver Island, told him once that “some of our people age and become Elders and others just become old,” said Louie. “That’s true and the same way I look at it. Just because you might be 80 years old, doesn’t mean you’re an Elder. You’re just old.”

Louie said he’s “going to officially become a senior” in June when he turns 65,

“I won’t become an Elder, but I will be a senior,” he said. “But I’m not afraid of getting old, so it’s alright.”

The oldest living Elder on the OIB is Jane Stelkia, age 94, and she’s admired by every member of the band and for good reason and she remains immensely proud of her culture, said Louie.

“She still rides horses,” he said. “She rode past our band office again this year on her birthday and all the kids from our school went outside and were cheering her on during her birthday ride.

“She has told me many times, I was born an Indian and I will die an Indian. Don’t call me aboriginal. Don’t call me Indigenous. I, like her, don’t believe in [being] politically correct. You should say what you want to say without worrying about who you’re going to offend. I don’t know you, you don’t know me and we’ll probably never see each other ever again.”

Virtues fading

Young people today “simply don’t work as hard as the old people once did,” said Louie. “When I was a kid, we had to get our asses out of bed and get to work. There was no social safety net.”

Before colonization, First Nations people built trade routes across what is now Canada and the United States, said Louie.

“We come from a working culture,” he said. “Nobody built our houses for us, nobody gave us food. We couldn’t go down to Walmart and go shopping. It was hard work back in those days. We had to get our own essentials. We had to go to bed early and get up early and get to work. So I have great respect for oldtimers, I don’t care what race you are.

“I would hire any oldtimer over these young guys any day of the week. Old people will always outwork the younger ones. That’s what I’ve found out a long time ago.”

People who work hard for 40 of 50 years deserve and should be proud to enjoy a retirement where they are financially stable, he said.

“I believe every job is important,” he said. “I have a great degree of respect for any job. Every job is important. There’s great dignity in having a job and working.”

Being a grandparent is one of his proudest achievements, said Louie.

“When I hear children playing in a playground, that is one of the most beautiful sounds in the whole, wide world,” he said. “I sure didn’t care about that when I was in my 20s or 30s.”

This article originally appeared in the Penticton Herald and is shared via the Local Journalism Initiative