Grandparents Chris Christina married 60 years

Grandparents — Chris and Christina Adam

“A hero is someone who has given his or her life to something bigger than oneself.” – Joseph Campbell

In this chapter, I write about my grandparents, Chris and Christina Adam, from Fond du Lac, Saskatchewan. They were the roots of our family. They carried stories and prophecies. They bridged ancestral ways with the challenges of a new world pressing in on the Dene.

My grandparents lived close to the land. Their home was shaped by the rhythms of the seasons. It was like many of our people’s homes. Hunting, fishing, gathering, and storytelling by firelight defined their lives. Their words carried the wisdom of generations. They taught us that the land was alive. They taught us that dreams were messages. They also taught us that prophecies were not to be taken lightly.

From them I inherited more than memory. I inherited teachings that still guide me. They taught me that survival comes from resilience. Language holds our identity. Stories carry truth long after the storyteller has gone.

Our grandmother Christina, in particular, was a quiet strength. She kept the family bound together through faith. She enjoyed playing cards and was an expert poker player. Chris, our grandfather, carried stories of the old ways, speaking of spirits and prophecies, warning of changes to come. He loved to tease us young ones with his cane. And he gave us names in Dene. Together, they embodied the resilience of the Denesuline. They endured dislocation. They experienced loss. The weight of colonial systems pressed against our lives.

These grandparents were also part of a longer lineage. This lineage included my great-grandmother. Her story was remarkable enough to be noted in National Geographic in 1979. It showed how the lives of Indigenous women carried strength, survival, and cultural continuity into the modern world.¹

Their legacy is not measured in possessions but in memory. Through Chris and Christina Adam, I felt the unbroken chain of ancestry. Through them, I understood that my life was not just my own. It is part of something larger. This story began generations before me and will continue long after.