The NWT has a lost a longtime advocate for Indigenous traditional knowledge and the welfare of children.
Barney Masuzumi died of a stroke on Aug. 21 at his home in Tuktoyaktuk. He was 74.
Masuzumi was born in Big Rock, NWT, a traditional hunting and fishing ground located between Tsiigehtchic and Fort Good Hope, said his wife Georgina Jacobson-Masuzumi.
SA国际影视传媒淔amilies used to go there and fish in the summer and then go back to Fort Good Hope or Tsiigehtchic. It was a gathering spot because fishing was plentiful,SA国际影视传媒� she said.
He moved frequently growing up, living between Aklavik, Fort Good Hope and Colville Lake, where his father owned a store.
Childhood friend Gene Oudzie remembers spending many summers in the bush hunting with Masuzumi, an activity the pair enjoyed for at least a decade.
SA国际影视传媒淚t was always one thing: moose,SA国际影视传媒� Oudzie said, adding that they had a lot of fun together. SA国际影视传媒淲e used to party lots together in our 20s and 30.SA国际影视传媒�
Masuzumi contracted tuberculosis and spent some time in Fort Smith, where he also attended Grandin College, a residential school.
In 1967, he joined the Centennial Voyageurs of the Northwest Territories in a 25-foot canoe for a 5,283-km journey across Canada, according to Sport North.
His team of 10 paddlers left Rocky Mountain House, Alta. on May 24, 1967 and arrived in Montreal on Sept. 4. The trip included 113 km of portaging.
In the early 1990s, Masuzumi studied environmental science, anthropology and political science at the University of Waterloo in Ontario. That sparked his longstanding advocacy of Indigenous environmental knowledge.
SA国际影视传媒淗e was a hunter, a teacher, a trapper and a renewable resource officer. He was a little brainiac. He wrote papers for a lot of people, including for (former premier) Stephen Kakfwi. He took policy legislation and broke it down for regular people to understand,SA国际影视传媒� said his wife.
His research focused on biodiversity and the connections between Indigenous knowledge and languages and renewable resources. His wrote papers for the Dene Cultural Institute and the GNWT, among others. He also served as a board member for the Mackenzie Valley Environmental Impact Review Board in the 1990s.
Jacobson-Masuzumi remembers her husbandSA国际影视传媒檚 international research trips that took him as far afield as Malaysia, Panama, Spain and Slovakia when he worked for the United Nations-affiliated Convention on Biological Diversity.
SA国际影视传媒淗e represented the Indigenous people of Canada. He brought traditional knowledge to as many people as he could and how important it is to retain that,SA国际影视传媒� she said. SA国际影视传媒淗e was all about the people. He always had his doors open to everybody.SA国际影视传媒�
When the couple moved to Tuktoyaktuk in 1999, Masuzumi began his work with local children.
SA国际影视传媒淗e kept his door open to kids whose parents were drinking, and he let them stay the night. And he fed them, and my son Seth played games with them. Everybody in Tuk was aware of that. Those kids will miss him a hell of a lot. He had time for youth and for Elders. We went through lots of hardship together and he made that easier because he made me aware that whereSA国际影视传媒檚 a will thereSA国际影视传媒檚 a way,SA国际影视传媒� said Jacobson-Masuzumi.
Wayne Kakfwi, a friend who lives in Norman Wells, said Masuzumi would buy groceries and food for the kids.
SA国际影视传媒淚 sent him some money and he spent most of it on food for children. He wasnSA国际影视传媒檛 worried about himself, he was worried about the children,SA国际影视传媒� Kakfwi said. SA国际影视传媒淗e had a heart like that.SA国际影视传媒�
Masuzumi is survived by his wife, children Seth Masuzumi, Ramal Seepish, Ira Timothy, Oneida Carr, stepson Nunakput MLA Jackie Jacobson and 17 grandchildren.
