School Name History

Chief Dan George was born on the Burrard Inlet reserve in North Vancouver in 1899. He was named Geswanouth Slahoot, but his English-style name was Dan Slaholt. At age five, he was given the English surname, George, when he entered the school his brother already attended St. Paul’s residential school for First Nations children. Life at the residential school was difficult. The children were away from their homes, often not allowed to see their brothers or sisters at the school, and not permitted to speak their own language. Like most of the students, George left school at age sixteen. Two years later, he had an arranged marriage to a sixteen-year-old girl. The marriage lasted fifty-two years and they had eight children, six of whom lived to be adults. 

As a young man, Dan held many jobs such as driving a bus and working in construction. However, for the next twenty-seven years after his marriage, he worked mainly as a longshoreman, loading and unloading cargo ships. When the longshoremen were on strike, he earned extra money logging and supplemented his family’s food supply by hunting. In 1947, he hurt his leg in an accident and could not work on the docks anymore. He, a cousin, and some of his children became performers. They called themselves Dan George and His Indian Entertainers. They wore traditional Plains’ clothing because, in the 1940s, it was still illegal to present anything connected with the Coast Salish culture. They travelled and slept in a covered truck, playing country and western music at dances all over B.C. and picking hops in the summer for additional income. He remembered those years as some of his happiest times. In 1951, he was elected chief of his Tselieil-Waututh band and held that position until 1963. During these years, he would perform with Indigenous dancers at various shows, and won the Search for Talent show in Vancouver three years in a row. Unlike Dan George and His Indian Entertainers, the Takaya Dancers, with whom he performed. could wear their Coast Salish clothing and do traditional dances because in 1951, the government lifted the ban on presenting First Nations culture. Dan also competed in canoe races.

In the early 1960s, when he was in his sixties, Dan tried out for a role in a CBC television show called Caribou Country. He won the part of Ol’ Antoine and became known as an actor. He used that fame to advocate for the First Nations people. In 1967, he was invited to speak in Vancouver at a Centennial celebration. He gave a speech called Lament for Confederation, in which he criticized how the government had treated the First Nations people, expressed sadness at the loss of a way of life, and spoke of hope that they would build a better future. This speech made him more famous. He went on to act in a stage play, The Ecstasy of Rita Joe, all over Canada, as well as to act in movies and the CBC show The Beachcombers. When Disney made a movie of Caribou Country, Dan again played the character of Ol’ Antoine. His most famous role in movies was in the film Little Big Man in 1970, for which he won many acting awards, including a nomination for Best Supporting Actor. This movie was one of the first to not use stereotypes in portraying First Nations people.

In 1974, Chief Dan George published a book of poetry, My Heart Soars. His second book of poetry, My Spirit Soars, was published in 1984, three years after his death.

For the last ten years of his life, Chief Dan George served as a champion and spokesperson for First Nations people. He worked to promote better understanding of First Nations people by non-aboriginals. For his efforts on behalf of his people, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada in 1971. He died in Vancouver in 1981.