On Wednesday and Thursday we present an interview with Duke Redbird, First Nations Ojibwe Elder. It is my intention to bring to you a diversity of interviews so that we may all learn and grow. It's amazing how much we can learn from others if we are open. Interviewees who are different from us can direct our thinking in new directions. For example, when talking about disappointments in life, Duke says that if the glass is half-full he simply gets a smaller glass, so now that glass is full. I wouldn't have thought of that. We are socialized to choose between half-full and half-empty so it doesn't occur to us that we can add another choice and that is to get a smaller vessel. What are your thoughts?
Tell me a little bit about yourself. Tell me a little bit about your company and where the idea for your business came from?
Duke Redbird: I am a First Nations Ojibwe Elder from Saugeen, a small reserve located in Ontario. I was born in 1939 so I’m 70 years old and will be 71 in March. I lived my entire life between the sacred and the profane, and I see the sacred as anything that has been created by the creator and nature, and the profane as anything that has been created by human beings. So when I am in the sacred I try not to profane it, and when I am in the profane, like I am today, I try to bring something sacred to it, so that’s my rule and prime directive.
What’s a typical day like for you?
Duke Redbird: I mentor faculty and students at the Ontario College of Art and Design, I am also a mentor for students at the University of Toronto, I am doing a totem impact project at York University, and I work on my film and television projects.
How do you motivate yourself and stay motivated?
Duke Redbird: Motivation is just waking up in the morning and realizing that you are alive and have things to do. We are here for a purpose and we have to fulfill that function whatever we find it to be. It is sort of like Joseph Campbell says about following your bliss.
If you had to start over from scratch, knowing what you know now, what would you do differently?
Duke Redbird: I would never have touched alcohol or cigarettes in my youth. In my youth, holding your liquor and smoking appeared to be social badges of maturity. Though I quit drinking 25 years ago, and I no longer smoke, those were very poor choices. I wish I had had a mentor to steer me in another direction.
What's the most important business (or other) discovery you've made in the past year?
Duke Redbird: The most important discovery that I made was to recognize the shift of consciousness that’s taking place around the planet, and it’s taking place with all the discourse that's going on about developing more spiritual context to engage the world that we live in. It’s like a quantum leap has taken place in a new kind of reality. It’s no longer about money and power, it’s about self preservation, and romance is becoming integrated into those ideas.
What’s one of the biggest advances in your industry over the past five years?
Duke Redbird: Technologies are constantly improving. We are on the cusp of a whole new technological society, and it has to do with things like making a movie on your cell phone and being able to project in on a screen, 3-D on your laptop. Now we have floating keyboards and you don’t even need a keyboard in front of you, just a little projector projecting one on your table, or some empty space, and it works on your computer. Whenever we come up with a new technology we have no idea how it will affect us as human beings.
What are the three threats to your business, your success, and how are you handling them?
Duke Redbird: Can’t think of any.
What’s unique about the service that you provide?
Duke Redbird: There is nothing particularly unique about the service that I provide, except that I am engaged in broadcasting as an Arts and Entertainment reporter, and I act as a mentor elder and advisor to students.
What do you observe most people in your field doing badly that you think you do well?
Duke Redbird: I think the fact that television is becoming planned and not as creative as it once was. I look at old programs, what we called the Golden Age of television and classical TV and things have gone downhill in terms of what we call infotainment, it’s information and entertainment combined, but it’s not real news.
Describe a major business (or other) challenge you had and how you resolved it.
Duke Redbird: Every decision that one makes is a challenge to get it right, and I saw most of the challenges that I faced on the basis of discovering whether they were wise decisions. I realize that the past is over, it’s gone and so one shouldn't dwell on the past. You face a challenge based on the information you have at the moment, and then you try to solve it on the basis of wisdom, and how they might affect your condition, your health, your attitude and personality, all those things.
What lessons did you learn in the process?
Duke Redbird: Most of what we consider to be civilized activities are nonsense, and so we have to make our way through a maze of bad decisions that people are making on our behalf.
Tell me about your big break and who gave you.
Duke Redbird: Moses Znaimer gave me the opportunity to work in television, and York University gave me a lot of help when I went to university. I have had so many it’s from a series of people.
Describe one of your biggest failures. What lessons did you learn, and how did it contribute to a greater success?
Duke Redbird: To tell you the truth I cannot think of a big failure, nothing comes to mind.
What has been your biggest disappointment in your life – and what are you doing to prevent its reoccurrence?
Duke Redbird: I cannot think of a disappointment. I would view something as a disappointment if I wanted to do something and was stopped. That hasn't happened to me. I was having a discussion with Ron LeBlanc and he asked me if the glass was half full or half empty. When a glass is half full, I simply reduce the size of the glass, and it becomes full so you do not become disappointed if you have that approach to life.
What’s one of the toughest decisions you’ve had to make and how did it impact your life?
Duke Redbird: A few years ago I decided to go and live in the North, and I actually bought a business in the Algonquin Park area. For all intents and purposes I made up my mind to live up there permanently, and one of the hardest decisions I had to make was when I realized that it was impossible, and that I would have to come back to the city [Toronto] to fulfill the obligations that I had, my art and my career, and so that was difficult.
What are three events that helped to shape your life?
Duke Redbird: Being born, being orphaned at nine months, and going through non-Native American foster homes as a child. These people were taking in orphaned children as a business and not for compassionate reasons. Going through that experience as a child, I realized that I was a commodity and not a person, and that I represented an income. These things defined my personality, character and how I approach life. Another event is when I chose to celebrate my culture and also get involved on social and political levels to establish a more equitable life for First Nations people.
What nuggets of wisdom have you gleaned from Duke's interview? How might you apply his responses to your situation.