Martoons

Book Review: Stoneface: Defiant Dene by Stephen Kakfwi (2023)

Stephen Kakfwi is now in his 70s and rose to recognition as a politician in the Northwest Territories in the 1970s thru to the early 2000s. There are two Stephen Kakfwis at work here: the political animal and the human, family man. Family is a huge theme for him. With some personal and political upsets along the way, Kakfwi emerged in one piece at the end.

I ended up reading this book in bits of pieces. As a reporter and resident of the north during the mid-period of Kakfwi’s tenure, there were some events that I always had questions about. So those topics were of interest to me right off the bat. But as I read those, Kakfwi hooked me into the rest of the story. There is no stone here that he leaves unturned – and Kakfwi often offers humorous details of usually horrifying topics – such as residential schools. Kakfwi tells about a mean, evil sister in his residential school who used chocolate as a weapon. If you were good, you would get the chocolate. But Kakfwi was never good enough. Until once when he got the chocolate – and was ever surprised when he found out what it really was.

The “defiant” aspect of the book is Kakfwi’s approach to politics, which kept on working for him throughout his career. His key principle was to serve interests of his constituents – the Dene of the north. He left the teaching profession because he was disgusted by the discrimination of a white system against him. In his early foray into politics, he was assigned by Dene leadership to the ominous task of organizing the Dene’s response to the Berger pipeline inquiry. It was an uphill battle as the Dene people had such a defeatist attitude after decades of being ignored. In the end, the inquiry was a shocking success and the fate of the pipeline was altered forever.

Kakfwi was never afraid to take on the establishment. And he was persistent. Losing never defeated him. He became leader of the Dene Nation on his second try, primarily by knocking on every single door in the region and talking to each individual. Even naysayers may not have agreed with his ideas but respected his dedication. Again, election was his.

Part of the established thinking of Dene people in the 1980s was that the Northwest Territories government was temporary and illegitimate. Kakfwi also believed that. But a water cooler conversation with a colleague convinced him that the levers of power had to be seized regardless of the government’s impurities. Again, election. Kakfwi became a minister of many departments and in 2000 government leader. He warded off scandals and using his trademark method of doing what was right and not politically expedient, saw many achievements for the people of the north. The creation of Nunavut never would have happened had Kakfwi not defiantly voted against the wishes of Dene people who demographically constituted a succinct region within what would become Nunavut. Kakfwi viewed Nunavut as a greater good, gave it the nod, and the rest was history.

Now what about the “Stoneface” part of the title? About half of this book is Kakfwi’s personal stories about himself, family and friends. He had always been bothered by the fact that he encountered many trying episodes in life but never seemed to have any emotion about them. One of his boldest personal steps was to seek counselling for the emotional scars that his residential school had left seared into him. This was later in life. The effects were chilling.

Many of the short chapters in this book are undoubtedly serious however also informative. The heaviness is balanced out by the numerous humorous chapters. One five or six day hunting trip to the deep woods included a cook who boiled everything. When the bacon was tossed into his bubbling pot, Kakfwi’s daughter asks, “Dad, is he going to boil everything?” A minute later when the cook tossed all the eggs into the water with the bacon, it was decided that everyone should cook for themselves. After that, Kakfwi says, it got a little better.

Rating: A+

Marty West, editor, clickmartoons.com