Thomas (Tommy) Monias
PIMICIKAMAK CREE NATION (CROSS LAKE)
(1953-2025)
Thomas Monias was raised by his great-grandmother Matilda, also known as Paypaysahpun, a medicine woman and midwife. The woman wasn’t content with sedentary living in Cross Lake, according to Thomas, since in her words, “there is Nitaski everywhere,” meaning that their land extended far beyond the borders of the community. Matilda vowed to live according to Kisamanto’s (the Almighty God’s) laws, and “she told many stories—of legends and our people’s ceremonies,” he added. These teachings would prove to have a huge influence on the boy.
Thomas married Rita Ross in 1975. She had grown up in Pimicikamak and witnessed firsthand how corporate policies and the government had devastated Northern Manitoba. She pursued university studies, hoping formal education would help her better grasp the inner workings of these developments, and better oppose them. Rita has always been an unwavering pillar of support to Thomas, and together, they have long proved to be a formidable force.
Thomas, a former teacher, became Chief of Pimicikamak in September 2018, and was determined to provide a leadership that would improve the welfare of his people. “We are fighting against racism and cultural genocide which is against the principles of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples that Canada agreed upon,” he explained. “The problem is the band councils—created under the Indian Act of 1876—have limited power and are totally controlled by the federal government. Pimicikamak is not a corporate entity but a Nation with inherent and inalienable rights to the land, water, its sovereignty, and its territory. The band staff can do little to effect change. They either follow the rules or lose funding. It’s how Canada uses the Chiefs and councils to control, manage, administer, and implement poverty, racism and genocide.”
On another front, hydropower development projects continue to wreak havoc on those who live in the North. “For many decades Hydro has bullied Indigenous people,” Thomas asserted. “It’s time we speak internationally and tell the truth—that hydropower development is not a clean renewable resource. It destroys our waters, our lands, our people, and all species that live on our lands. They have made millions of dollars while we live in poverty with inadequate housing and water unfit to drink. We cannot remain silent. Our people have paid and paid and paid. This must stop.”
For years now, Thomas and Rita have publicly advocated for environmental justice and human rights. More recently, they raised these issues at a United Nations forum held in Toronto. “Before the [COVID-19] pandemic hit, we were to visit Sweden, return to New York, and then head to New Zealand,” Thomas said. “I speak for my people about racism, the environmental genocide we experience from the hydro dams, and the cultural genocide of the Indian Act.”
Thomas and Rita have made it their mission to fight for Indigenous communities struggling with the fallout of colonialism around the world. According to Thomas, “leadership is about fighting for your people, your land, your waters, and the health of our grandchildren. We must endure that sacrifice always and never surrender. Great Spirit put us here to defend and honour the gifts on our homeland. We live among our people, struggle with them as servants of Almighty God, and as warriors, stand and speak for the Nation.”
“I speak for Pimicikamak’s children’s children,” asserted Chief Monias emphatically. “I follow the directions of Elders who stood up and fought for our inherent and inalienable rights to exist as a sovereign nation.”
Thank you to Gerald Kuehl for allowing us to share his artwork and writing to honour Thomas Monias.
