When Oscar was still a young boy, his father
died, and he had to take over as head of the family.
His mother hid him from government and church officials
who came to round up children to take them away to
residential schools.
Oscar received his education at The Pas Indian
Day School, Frontier Collegiate at Cranberry Portage
where he graduated from high school and then went on to
Brandon University.
Oscar worked for OCN as the Band Manager and
for SCTC as the Executive Director, the provincial
(Manitoba Newstart, Autopac Adjuster) and federal
governments (Canada Man-power, Department of Indian
Affairs as Associate Regional Director-General), which
took him to northern Canada (Yellowknife) and to
Winnipeg. Oscar also worked at many other positions
throughout western Canada and OCN/The Pas during his
life time.
Oscar chose politics later in his life, and in
1985 he was elected Chief of Opaskwayak Cree Nation
following in the steps of his cousin, the late Chief
Gordon Lathlin. For the next five years as Chief, he
served the Swampy Cree Tribal Council working on
regional, provincial and national issues.
Oscar worked on many important issues locally,
regionally, provincially and nationally. During his time
as OCN Chief, he provided leadership in signing one of
the first gaming agreement with the Province, started
the Land Management Protocol for First Nations, and
expanded the infrastructure on OCN.
Oscar was instrumental in the devolution of
Child and Family Services for Manitoba First Nations,
and was foremost among First Nations in taking
responsibility for programs and services for its people.
Oscar had confidence in First Nations people
administering their own programs.
Oscar was elected MLA for The Pas in 1990 and
served first as Minister of Conservation and later as
Aboriginal and Northern Affairs Minister. Oscar was
known as a champion of the North and of First Nations.
“Oscar was a very humble, but a very
important, Manitoban,” Attorney General David Chomiak
said after Lathlin’s death on November 2, 2008. “In
Cabinet, Oscar didn’t talk that often, but when he did,
everyone listened.”
At Oscar’s funeral, former Manitoba Premier
Gary Doer continued with a hunting story that revealed
Oscar’s great sense of humour. Doer praised Oscar’s
ability to work within the political system to get
things done, without fanfare. “Oscar was more interested
in his Healthy Baby Program, or his cadets in Cross
Lake, or his establishment and expansion of the
University College of the North… of making sure that
Aboriginal children had a fair and equal opportunity at
education.”
Oscar suffered with asthma since childhood,
and kept this and other related illnesses from the
public. He made the six-hour trip between The Pas and
the legislature in Winnipeg most weekends, so he could
spend time with his family and to keep in touch with his
constituents.
“Oscar worked tirelessly for the north,” said
Steve Ashton, “as Chief and as an MLA, he built bridges.
Not just literally, like at Cross Lake, but between
people and communities. Just the night before he died,
we had a four-hour session, discussing his northern
development strategy.”
One of Oscar’s proudest moments was when in
the last provincial election, he led every poll in The
Pas Constituency, both aboriginal and non-aboriginal.
Scanning dozens of photos, most are small
photos of Oscar with groups of people at openings or
celebrations, or group shots of the caucus on the steps
of the legislature, but none show Oscar in grandiose
display of personal glory or victory….the pictures show
how Oscar lived his life, as one of the people, as one
for his people.
Oscar was extremely proud of his daughter,
Amanda, who graduated from the University of Manitoba
with her Bachelor of Arts Degree. He spoke frequently
and proudly of her continuing career development. Oscar
also continuously provided support and encouragement to
his sons Oscar Jr., Curtis and Douglas.
Oscar contributed to his stepsons’ pursuit and
subsequent completion of their education endeavours.
Again he did this by continuously providing support and
encouragement. Vince Sinclair, Bachelor of Arts &
Bachelor of Law, Rick Sinclair, RCMP - Regina,
Saskatchewan and Bradley Sinclair, Bachelor of Commerce
(Honours). His wife Leona often states it was Oscar’s
support and encouragement that assisted in her achieving
and completing her Bachelor of Nursing.
Oscar lathlin collegiate
The Eagle represents love, hope, strength,
knowledge and wisdom. It also represents great power and
balance, dignity with grace, a connection with higher
truths, intuition and a creative spirit grace achieved
through knowledge and hard work. The braid represents a
bonding between the Students, Teachers and
Administration. The Cree flower represents our Culture,
our Art and is a reminder of home and loved ones.
(Logo Created by Karalee Constant, Grace
12 Student of Oscar Lathlin Collegiate.)
The
Wolverines Logo represents the tenacity and
determination that Oscar Lathlin displayed.
(The logo to be used for Athletics was created by
students Kaelei Knutson, Jonathon Asmus-Personius &
teacher Danielle Daniels.)
The
fir tree was designed to create a line between inside
and outside, helping to make the building blend with its
surroundings. The tree was found at Tatla Lake Mill,
British Columbia and it measures a little over 22 feet
tall with a diameter of 2 feet at its base. The tree was
shipped from Winnipeg to Opaskwayak Cree Nation by flat
bed truck. It supports the roof of the library and is
the most visible object when entering the Oscar Lathlin
Collegiate. It is surrounded by lights at its base, and
it was kept as natural as possible. Please respect the
tree, so everyone can enjoy the beauty of it for years
to come.
The
Oscar Lathlin Collegiate was designed functionally to
address the diverse age groups between the grade 7 and
grade 12 ages. We see three distinct “houses” of
classrooms and they are self contained and maintain a
separation during regular educating hours of the day.
These houses or “pods” are accessed from a central main
street where the entire school populations do mix
briefly at daily intervals. The central main street acts
like a spine to the floor plan, where all classrooms and
public spaces branch off of. So we see the shared spaces
such as home economics, industrial arts, physical
education and administration cleanly separated from the
classroom pods on the opposite side of the spine. The
school has also been designed to include future
considerations for a vocational module plug in through a
corridor designed into the plan that would exit past the
Industrial Arts room creating a corridor continuation
through the CAD lab. Functionally, additional classrooms
or vocational labs can also be designed as modules
continuing along the curved spine.
The
design motivation to support the functional plan came
from a concept of a bear claw with the pad of the paw
being the central activity of shared spaces off the
spine. The classroom pods become the individual toes of
the claw.
Information and graphics compiled by Peggy
Lathlin