“I overcame a lot, and I still do still smile and keep on going,” says Camellia Gray. She was born in Tuktoyaktuk and moved to Inuvik where she was raised when she was two.  In 2021, she stopped working in an office after taking part in drone training, wilderness first aid, transportation of dangerous goods, and a range of other courses. She needed to get out from the four walls of the office and find a more fulfilling career. Now in her new role, Gray is learning so much and getting to work with a range of organizations, from the Education Council, the human resource depart with the government of Northwest Territories, and with the regional hospital

These days, she helps researchers and scientists on a site leased by Wilfred Laurier University and the University of Montreal in Trail Valley. She loves her new work. “I keep saying, ‘I should have been doing this since I was 17 and now and now… 43 years later, I'm doing this anyway. I love it!” she exclaims. Gray helps the professors through the year with her local and language knowledge and she gets to do things like soil samples. When she goes out for up to two weeks at a time, she brings her beadwork and crafting supplies to work on her own projects in the evenings.

Gray became interested in this career path because she loves taking photos and meeting people. Flying drones has opened up a lot of doors for her. “I'll be 60 in a few weeks, and I did not let the age bother me,” she beams. There’s a lot of hiking involved and her role is technical. She learned the hand controls which are like video gaming controls.

“Now when some people ask me, ‘Well, what do you do for fun?’ I get stuck. I'm thinking, ‘Life is fun, period. No matter where you are, you can always create as much fun as you want.’ Outside of work, Gray loves to create, crafting, sewing, beading, working with seal skin and crocheting.

Before she worked in the office, Gray took a marketing program and she already had a management diploma. When she finished her schooling and worked more with tourism, she loved meeting people and introducing them to the area. She had the opportunity to travel the world and fly, something that she has struggled with but has learned to manage. With all the education she’s received, she’s gained time management and prioritization skills.  

When it comes to obstacles, Gray grew up with the nuns and the Fathers in the hostel and then in Grollier Hall until she was seven. She noticed she was different from people in town and that there was name calling that she had to defend herself from. She found her own way to navigate family conflict and she had to learn how to deal with panic attacks. At 29, she had an aneurysm rupture in her brain. While that could have been a big problem, she didn’t lose her memory, speech or mobility.

To balance her mental health, Gray likes to walk and sort through things in her head, release stress and enjoy her environment while getting her exercise. She also likes to read books on personal development and behavioural sciences. She loves journaling, especially when she travels and enjoys documenting her adventures. When she’s reading, she takes notes about the ideas that resonate and to enhance her understanding of what she is learning. She also cleans to keep herself busy when she doesn’t feel like she can speak her truth in the moment.

When it comes to inspiration, Gray is inspired by communicating with her children. She loves her kids and her family. She always wanted to be a teacher, loving watching them grow and sharing different things with them, but she knows how much work it can be professionally. Something she particularly loves is the way kids she worked with when she taught preschool more than thirty years ago still remember her. “Children give me inspiration. It's like my medicine,” she smiles. She’s also inspired by her elders and she often quotes them when she shares their teachings.

She’s overcome a lot, and Camellia Gray still still smiles and keeps on going, doing the work she loves and spending time with her kids and her grandkids. She hasn’t let age stop her from pursuing a new career and she’s loving every minute of piloting drones, helping scientists and spending time out on the land. She had to get out of the four walls of the office and find something new and that’s what she did; now her heart is soaring like her drone.

Thank you to Alison Tedford Seaweed for writing this article!