Local Indigenous elder honoured at Calgary’s Top 7 Over 70 awards for long-time community work

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At 73 years old, Miiksika’am believes he has a responsibility to share the stories of his life, which include attending a residential school in Alberta as a child, joining the military, becoming a councillor and running the police force on Siksika Nation, near Calgary.

“There’s four seasons to your life. [My age] puts me in the winter part of my years,” Miiksika’am, a Siksika elder whose anglicized name is Clarence Wolfleg, said in an interview.

“I believe when you reach that age and you have lived quite a full life, that’s the time to give back.”

Miiksika’am, whose name means “Red Crane,” is among the recipients of the Top 7 Over 70 awards, which launched in Calgary four years ago as a way to recognize achievements of older individuals. The 2021 winners were announced on Wednesday and the awards will be formally handed out at an event in May.

Born on Siksika Nation, Miiksika’am was sent to the Old Sun Residential School near Gleichen, Alta., when he was six years old.

He later enlisted in the military, following in the footsteps of his father, a Second World War veteran, and served on United Nations peacekeeping missions. He was a member of Siksika Nation’s council for nearly two decades and served on the band’s police force, eventually becoming police chief.

He has become an outspoken storyteller and spiritual adviser who, earlier this year, gave a commencement speech when he was awarded an honorary law degree by Mount Royal University in Calgary.

He has participated in a field school run by a professor at the university and has spoken to students about residential schools and restorative justice.

Miiksika’am said recognizing the achievements of people his age is an important reminder that older people have wisdom to offer younger generations. “The over-70s is a group that’s still moving, that’s still doing great things in spite of [their] age,” he noted.

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The other award recipients announced Wednesday are:

• Margaret Southern, 90, who co-founded the Spruce Meadows show-jumping venue in Calgary and, more recently, the Cavalry FC soccer team that also plays there.
• Sherali Saju, an 83-year-old entrepreneur who has helped new Canadians secure loans
• Don Taylor, an 86-year-old philanthropist
• Louis B. Hobson, a 77-year-old playwright and theatre/movie critic
• Bonnie Kaplan, a 74-year-old research psychologist, whose work is focused on the relationship between mental health and nutrition
• Murray McCann, an 82-year-old businessman who started an annual display of crosses along the city’s Memorial Drive to honour veterans on Remembrance Day.

The Top 7 Over 70 awards were founded by Jim Gray, a Calgary oil and gas pioneer. Mr. Gray said he wants to expand the program to other Canadian cities and eventually make it a nationwide affair, with 70 recipients.

“We have to honour them because people are living longer; they’re more active,” Mr. Gray, who is 88, said in an interview, adding that older business leaders in particular have a lot to offer younger entrepreneurs who are just starting their careers.

Ms. Southern said she’s often asked why she hasn’t retired at the age of 90, but said slowing down has never been in her family’s vocabulary. She said she wants to continue being involved in the community, which for her means encouraging youth to become involved in sports – part of the reason why she helped launch Cavalry FC.

“We are all able to be mentors,” she said. “We don’t have to be teachers – we just have to be concerned.”

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