Date: 2023
Location: Edmonton
Profile: Dwayne Nemlander is a member of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation in Northern Alberta who was adopted at birth by a non-Indigenous couple who raised and schooled him in Edmonton. He has held numerous jobs as a truck and bus driver, and currently drives a bus in the Edmonton Transit System, where he is an active member of the Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 569. For a number of years, he has taught a course in an Indigenous awareness program directed at City employees that promote the aims of truth and reconciliation by raising awareness about residential schools and their impact on generations of Indigenous children. His interview discusses his experiences as an ETS driver, including his challenges as an Indigenous worker dealing with the public. Nemlander also notes the important and often ignored role that public transit fulfills in our society, particularly for the unemployed and the homeless during the COVID pandemic years, when they had few places in which to seek refuge. He notes some of the traditional ways in which Indigenous people relate to each other in their communities, as well as their relationship to the larger eco-system.
Keywords: Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation; Bus driver; Edmonton Transit System; Indigenous awareness program; Local 569, ATU; Residential schools; Transit service.
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See also: Amalgamated Transit Union; Indigenous Labour in Alberta; Systemic Racism in Alberta