Growing up with the forest as his classroom, he became an educator with a unique perspective and a deep rooted connection to his language and culture. Larry Beardy is from Bearskin Lake First Nation in Northern Ontario but has lived in Thunder Bay, Ontario for the last few years given the lack of infrastructure and jobs in his home community. He is self-employed doing translation, cross-cultural training, language instruction, cultural teachings, art lessons and storytelling. For thirty five years, he was a teacher, principal, and vice-principal in elementary and high schools. Now, he loves working at his own pace, choosing what he works on, and making a difference on his own terms.

After spending time with elders, Beardy was entrusted with teachings to pass onto others. Strengthening the ties to language and culture impacted by colonization by the ancestors speaking through him, he’s contributing to journeys of hope, healing, and pride.  Creating an impact around culture, language and traditions, Beardy is able to help Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, too. “We feel great about who we are and how we see things and that we are Indigenous, but we also want to be accepted by society, to know who we are and to learn about us. And that's where the magic comes in for us to work together in this world, in this society,” he reflects.

Growing up in the bush as a hunter, fisher, and trapper, Beardy lived off the land, only speaking his language until he was sixteen. When he did go to elementary school, it was to a one-room school house where the quality of education was poor. His sister went to residential school and was significantly impacted, as was the rest of his family. She eventually passed away. For those first sixteen years, his education primarily came from the forest around him, his peoples’ traditional hunting practices and day to day life spent caring for elders and families without hunters.

Beardy ended up going to high school in Sioux Lookout and then Sioux St Marie and he was the only one of his 21 friends to graduate.  While he experienced culture shock venturing out into the world, he also felt curiosity. He enjoyed physical education, chess club, drama class and tried everything he was invited to. At the same time, he was not always treated well and he had many difficult experiences.

When it came to work, Beardy started building houses at 14 and has worked his whole life. He became a teacher and taught all grades from kindergarten through high school, post-secondary, and adult education. He worked with the Ministry of Education in Ontario, the Ontario College of Teachers, the Elementary Teachers Federation, and Ontario Secondary Teachers Federation. Over the course of his career, he also hosted TV shows, was a band constable, a band counselor, a vice principal and a principal.

His work on TV and radio and the presentations and motivational talks he gave built connections that opened doors for him to start training, translating, teaching art, consulting and doing projects. He found ways to succeed despite the many challenges he faced growing up: going to school with a language barrier, dealing with abuse, racism and the impacts of residential schools.

“It was really, really tough, but my message here is you have to keep going. You can never, ever give up when you're working on your education, your goals to do what you want to do. Sometimes you may try many different things before you find your forte. You find out who you are and where your strengths are,” he counsels.  “You have to respect those who support you and treasure them, and then put aside those people that want to hold you back… Don't be afraid to open the doors… open the doors because even though you don't know what is out there, you don't know what you're missing out on until you open the doors that your knowledge, your experiences, will expand,” he continues.

“Everyone needs to find answers from within themselves. People are so busy looking for answers out there…Your experiences, your journey, begins from within, who you are and how you fit in and connect with all these things, the world around you,” Beardy advises.

These days, Beardy walks around a lot, spends time in nature, works on his projects providing live cross cultural training, art and language classes, and works on his projects. Taking care of himself is now his priority; he’s working when he wants to instead of dragging himself to work every day like he used to. No longer dreading his work, he’s always happy and his clients seek him out. Well-rested and full of positive energy, he attracts more people because of the high quality of his work.

Once a student of the forest, he’s gone from exploring root systems to teaching on the world wide web. Larry Beardy overcame many barriers and worked hard all his life, providing education and opportunities for language and culture revitalization. Sharing wisdom, hope and energy, he creates impact and connection online across the screen and across cultures letting the ancestors speak through him.

Thanks to Alison Tedford Seaweed for authoring this article.