December 17, 2024
Story submitted by ABMHS and written by his children Lauren and Tommy Sylliboy.
Athanasius “Juniekid” Sylliboy (Elder)
Athanasius "Juniekid" Sylliboy, a proud member of the Muin clan, hails from a lineage steeped in tradition and service to the cultural heritage of the Mi’kmaq nation. His mother, Theresa Johnson, originally from Potletek, while his father, Athanasius "Tanas" was originally from Wekomaq. My great-grandfather was the esteemed Grand Chief Gabriel Sylliboy, a figure of great influence and respect in Mi’kma’ki.
From a young age, my father learned the value of hard work and dedication, qualities passed down from my grandfather, Tana’s. He spent his early years tending to the family farm alongside his sister, my Godmother Barbara. Uncle Leo also kept my father busy, they would drive up to Potlotek and get Mniku ready for St. Anne’s mission, there my father would help out maintaining the church grounds on the island, ranging from mowing the grass, to painting and carpentry repairs, he would accomplish these work tasks as a volunteer. My father would offer his assistance where he could, whether it be helping our Uncle Leo with his garden crops, painting houses, or working at the bingo hall to assist in the various tasks there. During the Ste Anne’s Mission in Potlotek, my father worked alongside my grandfather in their store. Summers were a time for adventure, including blueberry picking in Maine, which he easily picked over a hundred boxes each day at Frank Moss’s. Then they would travel to Ste Anne De Beaupre.
In the fall, when the cattle were fully matured, my father would help my grandfather, his cousins John Ji’j and Howard and Uncle Victor to butcher the livestock, providing meat supply for the family for the winter. He also hunted game such as rabbits, partridge, fished eels, trout, salmon, smelts, cod during season. When he arrived home each time, he would clean his daily catch, and even knew how to make pkwasow. My father also helped our Uncle Simon harvest oysters in Malagawatch. Each time, my father would take home enough catch to sustain him and his family and share with the elders of our community. He would also harvest wood for baskets, and my grandfather would distribute the kmu’jijapi to the basket makers, when the baskets were ready, my grandfather would buy them and then they would travel to PEI to sell them. At a young age, my father knew the concept of netukulimk, instilled in him by my grandfather and my great grandfather, Grand Chief Gabriel Syliboy.
A talented athlete, my father played baseball as a catcher for several teams and even started a house league in Eskasoni, forming teams and encouraging local youth to get involved—all through his commitment to volunteerism. In the winter, my father played hockey, playing as a goalie and winning multiple tournaments all over Mi’kma’ki. Looking back, he jokingly attributes his current hip problems to the years of athletic activity!
In 1992, my father married his best friend, my mom Rhenelda, and together they raised four children: Skyler, Lauren, Tana’s, and Tommy, who each possess their own distinctive personalities and defining strengths of character, listed in the following order, the fish whisperer, the expressive teacher, the trailblazing healer, and myself, the articulate jester.
In his early years, my father worked as a hospital taxi driver for my grandfather, a role he took over after my grandfather’s passing. He continued to serve the community for several years, working alongside his friend Peter Cabot, they looked after our people within Eskasoni, entertaining their passengers with lots of laughs, and nobody went hungry. Many times I would be a passenger, entertaining and yapping my interests to the passengers going to their appointments. One time I went with my mom, she had to drop off a passenger in Glace Bay. As we drove by, I noticed the houses looked the same, these houses were called company houses. I made a little jump with excitement in my car seat, “Mom, are we in the future”, a little story I had to share. Outside of his driving work, my father volunteered his time at Salites as an auctioneer, and helped with various community events such as making schedules and running horseshoe tournaments during the summer games or helping Uncle Kenny with his dart tournaments.
My father’s leadership and commitment to the Mi’kmaq people here in Unama’ki, was recognized in 2000 when he was chosen to serve as a Keptin of the Mi’kmaq Grand Council. A few years later, he served two terms as a Band Councilor for the Eskasoni Band Council. After deciding to step away from politics, my father started his job with the Eskasoni School Board, first in maintenance, then as a janitor, and eventually as a Crosswalk Attendant— a position he still holds today.
A significant chapter in my father’s life came about 10 years ago when he was diagnosed with colon cancer. After undergoing surgery to remove the cancer, he was lucky they caught the cancer in time, today he is cancer free. This experience ignited a strong passion in my father to advocate awareness on the urgent importance of early cancer detection as a preventive measure, this is a cause he shares with my sister Lauren, who is also a cancer survivor.
Post-cancer, my father discovered a new passion: photography. Inspired by my late Uncle Kenny’s love for cameras and photography, My father was gifted one of Uncle Kenny’s old cameras by my aunt Harriet. This marked the beginning of his journey as a hobby photographer. Today, my father is well known in the community for his photography, volunteering his skills at events such as summer games, Christmas Daddies, graduations, elder events, winter carnival and various other gatherings that were held over the years. My father raised funds for the Mi'kmaq Run for the Cure and raised funds for Santa Claus gifts for the daycare children, all through the medium that is his passion for photography. For large events, my father would easily shoot 500 to 1000 pictures a day, I would estimate that he easily amassed over a million photos, each telling a story of his dedication to our community.
In 2020, weeks before the pandemic, my father became a proud granddad to our smart blessing, Kalo’lin Jeddore, my brother Skyler and sister-in-law Jae’s daughter. She effortlessly brightens the lives of our entire family, each of whom absolutely adores her unconditionally.
Personal Reflections:
Though I never had the privilege of meeting my grandfather, the stories I’ve heard paint a vivid picture of him. From what I’ve gathered, my father is the spitting image of my grandfather, both in character and in appearance. There’s a picture that hangs in our home, showing my father with his siblings—my uncle and aunts—and it reminds me so much of our own family growing up. My father would read stories to us in Mi'kmaq, share stories, and teach us important life lessons. I have countless fond memories of our time together—fishing, camping, swimming, attending hockey games, ball games, concerts and even going to the movies.
In my own words, I would describe my father as someone who embodies the virtuous strength of kindness, to abide by the golden rule to treat everything in life with honest fairness and considerate benevolence. His heart and actions are utterly unclouded towards doing the right thing in the moments that call for him to act, he will always choose to sacrifice his own health and convenience for the sake of others, regardless if it goes unnoticed.
In my eyes, there is a vast difference between nice and kind, as the nice person will choose to do nice acts only when it is within the convenience of it being perceived, so that their public image receives praise for it, if you orchestrate the guarantee that your ego has an audience, it is no longer noble, as telling everybody about your good deed no longer makes it a good deed, but a means to serve yourself.
The kind person is more concerned with doing the right thing, especially to do right by others, even when it is inconvenient, even when there is no reward, even when there is no one to observe your act, to alleviate the hardship of others is a reward in itself for the kind hearted, to fight for a cause greater than yourself is the most noble thing I’ve seen, and I learned it from my father.
Through his everyday actions that I have actively observed in my youth, I was curious as to why he’d choose everyday to be honest, generous, nurturing, protective, thoughtful, benevolent, humble, empathetic, patient, and encouraging. I’ve grown and matured to recognize these as virtues, this is his way of expressing his unconditional love that he has for me, my family and our community, he has contributed to the man I have become today, and I aspire to choose everyday to be kind like my father, for he is my first role model and by the example he leads, he has mentored me in the most important life skill, which is to be kind to others.
I want to share a quote from the movie everything everywhere all at once from the character Waymond, I credit my brother Tana’s who had made the realization that the character is similar to our dad, I see my dad and think Jackie Chan, but the quote:
‘When I choose to see the good side of things, I'm not being naive. It is strategic and necessary.It's how I've learned to survive through everything’
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