Birthday for LLRIB’s Oldest Member
Friday, April 15, 2011 at 16:11
The community of Stanley Mission celebrated the 103rd birthday of the oldest living member of the Lac La Ronge Indian Band yesterday.
Dignitaries and local residents heard about the early challenges in Jane Roberts’ life, as well as her remarkable health over the years.
Family members say she never saw the inside of a hospital until she was 95 years old, partly because she has never smoked tobacco or drank alcohol in her life, and partly because she grew up on a trap line and lived off the land.
FSIN Chief Guy Lonechild says today’s youth could learn something from her traditional Woodland Cree lifestyle.
Roberts only speaks Woodland Cree, having never attended school. She was also never married.
Some elders in the community believe she is possibly five years older, because no official records were kept around the time of her birth.
Lonechild says Roberts will be profiled in a book the FSIN is putting together related to its 65th anniversary this year.
He is also asking family members of other First Nations people who are at least 100 years old to contact the federation.