Gitz Crazyboy M.Ed (he/him/his) is a Siksikaitsitapi (Blackfoot) and Dene father and Indigenous Educator from Mohkínsstsisi (Calgary). Gitz’s passion and purpose is helping, guiding and most importantly, learning from the next generation, and he has held many positions within the youth education profession.

As an activist, Gitz is known for his leadership and participation in establishing the Bear Clan Patrol in Calgary, as well as organizing with the Idle No More movement. He has spent most of his life learning and living with different Indigenous Nations around the world. His travels have taken him to Germany, Ecuador, Guyana, Puerto Rico and sacred spaces all over North America.

Currently Gitz resides in Calgary and is actively reconnecting with his Siksikaits-itapi roots. He believes the truth of who we are can be found in the beautiful things our ancestors carried—riddles, mysteries, ceremonies, songs, medicine, love, life and laughter.
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Your graphic novel The Rez Doctor introduces us to Ryan Fox, a young Indigenous man who dreams of becoming a doctor. Why did you want to tell Ryan’s story?

I think it’s incredibly important to showcase our local heroes and those often unsung stories of our people. Ryan is loosely based on actual doctor within the Blackfoot Confederacy, a man who is incredibly humble and I had a really hard time convincing him of this story. It definitely adds more to his mystique and persona as a Siksikaitsiapi living out Traditional Siksikaitsitapi beliefs.  

He’s still young, in his mid-30s, but already has a fantastic reputation within the healthcare world amongst his peers and the people he serves. His family comes first, he doesn’t want to have the fame or anything associated with all of this and yet he understands the reasoning behind inspiring the youth, our future.  

Also, he and his partner are ridiculously attractive individuals and with some folks, that completely gets to their head, but it doesn’t for Dr. Fox. He has an amazing story because so many of us get lost or get discouraged when we venture through school or enter the world of post-secondary. This story is for all of us who have thought about it, tried, stopped or somehow passed our way through our degrees, certificates and beyond. This is your celebration. We can dream big and what’s fantastic is our ability to achieve those dreams … but it’s never easy and that shouldn’t discourage us.

In the book, Ryan is confronted with a number of obstacles—both external and internal—that make his dream feel difficult and precarious. Tell us more about how you came to know Ryan and bring him to life as a character.

I’ve known him for quite a few years and this story really scratches the surface of his journey. At times it was more precarious and at other times, not as difficult. The more people read this story and the more feedback I receive, I can honestly say that these tests and the support from our family is what a lot of our people identify with. We experience more traumas than the average Canadian, more funerals, serious incidents and we know how society often looks at us.  And, not to get to weighed down on the deficit narrative we are cast within, but when we succeed, we all succeed together.

I took parts of his, the parts I was able to tell and did my best to weave the truth of the moments into this narrative, otherwise this one graphic novel would have been like a of multi-volume narrative.

One of the turning points for Ryan comes when he enters into a serious romantic relationship, and then becomes responsible for a young child. At heart, it’s a novel about responsibility and accountability to one’s goals. Why is this such an important message for young people?

We have babies, we have romance and we do our best to love each other through our traumas and our intergenerational traumas caused by colonization and assimilation. Dr. Fox is inspiring because with all of the things going on in his life, he chose to stay. some people run when the going gets tough or they claim not to know how to be a parent. That was always such a surprising thing for me, how he was able to come face to face with everything that was building up and move forward. I do believe a lot of our strengths or reminders of our strengths comes from the partners we choose or ones that choose us… or ones that allow us to think we chose them. Those partners remind us of who we are, push us, inspire us, love us and ultimately when you’re with a mature partner, they can help to elevate you.  

Sometimes, they do this without trying, they just are and Charm, the person who is modelled after a very real person, does that so freely. Honestly, when you know them, you aspire to be like them, you look at yourself and think, this is the kind of relationship I want and need in my life. They have a great relationship and it takes work to get where they are but you can’t help but be in awe.

Imagine you could spend a day together with Ryan. What would you do, what would you talk about, and what would you learn from one another?

I know him, and we’ve talked a lot about life, movies, theoretical possibilities, the insanity of Covid-19 and its effect on the world. I learn a form of gentle-kindness from him, every time we hang out. I learn how to carry myself in a more respectful manner and also what comes from working hard and diligently every day.

What he learns from me? I couldn’t tell you, maybe not to take things so seriously.

Are there particular people in your own life who have influenced your personal and creative journey?

My mother read to me as a child, she always pushed me and encouraged me to write. The first person I’ve known to support me as a storyteller is my mother. The biggest influence I have are my children, Odeimin, Semiah, and Keelan, I want to be able to tell stories that they genuinely like or are captivated by. I want them to always know their dreams are important and that their dreams can be limitless and most importantly, to chase them. It’s always okay to not win, and that’s not the same as losing or being a failure. Sometimes these things work out and sometimes they don’t and it’s okay, as long as you learn and continue to push yourself. When you get knocked out, it can be the best thing to ever happen to you because you realise a few things. One, you’re still alive. Two, the world is still turning. Three, you have to get up.  

I’m also inspired by the authors and creative Indigenous peoples we have now, Tasha Spillet, Alicia Elliott, Shane Belcourt, Ryan Moccasin, Caroline Monnet, the late great Jeff Barnaby, and all those who are telling stories but haven’t broken the mould yet and even those who have stories and haven’t told them yet. We have some of the greatest untapped talent in the world and I fully recognize all those story tellers who are better than me and I hope you begin to tell your stories and I hope you are given those breaks and if you haven’t gotten those breaks, I hope you kick the door down.

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Excerpted from The Rez Doctor by Gitz Crazyboy and illustrated by Veronika Barinova, Azby Whitecalf, Toben Racicot. Copyright 2024. Reproduced with permission from HighWater Press.