Norma Proudfoot , EPS Teacher at Fulton Place Elementary School 1983 .
English or understand local customs , but whose families knew how to farm . Norma met a Ukrainian immigrant named Mary . Eli , a local bachelor , helped Mary learn to read the many books that lined his cabin walls in exchange for her mother ’ s freshly baked bread . Through shared kindness and collaboration , immigrants like Mary learned without losing their dignity , heritage , language , or souls .
Norma attended high school and university in Edmonton , where she earned her BEd degree in 1947 . She taught for the Edmonton Public Board during the late 1940s , and then at Nampa , in the Peace Region of northwestern Alberta , before marrying in 1953 . With husband Robert Proudfoot , she suspended her career and raised seven children , until 1979 when she returned to teaching at Fulton Place until 1985 . Mom was a patient and caring teacher who nurtured potential gifts and qualities of her students so they could take their place in society . She mentored many young adults in Sunday School and overseas in Zambia , Ecuador , and Tanzania where Dad was promoting technical education . He was an instructor and then administrator at NAIT ( 1962 to 1984 ), where he valued the aspirations and abilities of students from around the globe .
My grandmother and mother did not openly identify as Indigenous Canadians . Grandma was born in 1888 and raised in PEI , known by Mi ’ kmaq natives as Epekwitk ( Abegweit ), meaning “ cradle in the waves .” She was Canadian and came from generations of Islanders traced back to Captain John Webster . Captain Webster came in 1758 with the British army to capture Louisburg and Isle Saint- Jean from the French , served as Commissariat at Fort Amherst on St . John ’ s Island , helped repel American invaders during the Revolutionary War , and was elected to the PEI House of Assembly .
Shortly before Norma died in 2015 , she acknowledged that her great-grandmother Isabelle was an Indigenous woman who married Charles Webster . This frugal couple ran a wholesome Christian household and raised sheep — two of their sons became doctors , and Olive , a bright scholar and musician , graduated from the prestigious Prince
Norma ( right ) with parents Olive ( back left ) and children
of Wales College , Charlottetown , as a teacher in 1904 . Isabelle and her children lost their status as Indigenous Canadians and members of the Mi ’ kmaq community under the federal Indian Act .
Grandma seldom spoke about her heritage , but Mom wrote snippets in her essay The Price of Belonging . Grandma opened their home to Indigenous women like Mrs . Pickard , who sewed with her , and was a close church friend . Norma understood how pioneers got along and that marriage between white and Indigenous people happened . The MacDonalds ate bannock and made tea and jam with fruits from the boreal forest ; Norma read poetry and stories by the Mohawk / English writer Pauline Johnson and Tales of Abegweit . She relished her Scottish heritage and PEI roots but appreciated her “ dark ” Webster relatives from down east . I am pained by the harm done to students of “ Indian ” residential schools ; my mother believed that church-run schools cared , and provided Western education , by which students could succeed . We disagreed — and she was a teacher !
I wish that my ancestors were still alive to help me better understand how they lived and to encourage me to carry on .
Robert Proudfoot , an Edmonton-based freelance writer , editor , and English tutor , writes to reflect his intercultural experiences in Africa , Latin America , and Canada , encouraging readers to appreciate the environment and embrace humanity ’ s rich diversity , complex struggles , and fascinating history . news & views WINTER 2022 | 47