principle Gordie Walker and teacher Marily McMillan reviewed Dumont’s life achievements and assigned credits to them, which enabled Dumont to receive his diploma.

“I’m going to be in the yearbook, and I had a hat and a gown. It really is a major highlight of my life, my children were there, my siblings and my grandchildren, they are all so proud of me,” boasted Dumont.

Though he was born at Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg First Nation near Maniwaki, Dumont was raised in Pontiac, where his father worked at the iron ore site of Bristol Mines.

“My dad was a sober, honest, hard-working man who was poor, but respected authority. He taught his family to be honest and instilled a hard work ethic in us,” said Dumont.

Dumont’s school experience began on a positive note when he attended a one-room schoolhouse in Bristol, as did his first few years attending St. Mary’s school in Quyon. But that all changed when a teacher there failed him repeatedly and encouraged the hatred and racism that followed Dumont through the rest of his school years until he was expelled in grade eight.

At the age of 17 Dumont worked as a bricklayer and stayed in the trade for many years, “but I realized that being a stonemason was not my purpose in life, ‘’ said Dumont, who suffered a work accident that crushed several of his vertebrae.

Feeling ostracized as a victim of racism and being made to believe that he was an inferior being by society, Dumont fought severe addiction for several years of his life.

“There was a time where I didn’t know the difference between common sense and nonsense, but with sobriety I saw the difference and I was done with nonsense. I only want to focus on common sense,” Dumont said.

Now 34 years sober, Dumont picked himself up and went on to do public speaking, historical teaching about residential schools, worked as a spiritual advisor as well as working with inmate rehabilitation. The Algonquin traditional teacher was named the Anglophone Poet Laureate of Ottawa in April 2021.

“I do a lot of work in the city for organizations. Everything from being an advisor to Bishop Shane Parker, and I am an advisor for the dean at Christchurch Cathedral as well. And [I do] a lot of things from human rights activism, to helping out with healthcare organizations, I work with the justice system, I do a lot of restorative practice stuff,” Dumont told The Equity.

“Human rights do not stop at the jailhouse door, I believe in the defence of Indigenous inmates and all inmates’ rights, and I believe in setting rehabilitation goals with a spiritual base. This should be one of the biggest factors of the justice system” said Dumont.

When asked about future endeavours, Dumont said he wants to do a lot of writing to re-invigorate his spiritual beliefs.

“I have become so busy in the last five years that I haven’t been tending to my own spiritual health, and that is very important, I need to take more time to look after myself spiritually and emotionally,” Dumont concluded.

Dumont has published five collections of poetry and short stories, and two children’s books and has been a prolific blog writer, which can be found on his website at albertdumont.com

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