Arnold Michael Frederick Cachagee, known to most as Mike, was many things: a husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather, leader, survivor and advocate.
Above all, he was a voice for those who could not be heard and a man who turned his own painful experience into decades of tireless advocacy for residential school survivors across Canada.
Cachagee, who passed away in 2023 at the age of 83, is being posthumously recognized with this year’s Legacy Award for the SooToday Community Builders Awards, presented by Heritage Home Hardware. This honour reflects his lifelong dedication to justice, truth and reconciliation.
A member of Chapleau Cree First Nation, Cachagee was taken from his family at just three and a half years old.
He spent more than a dozen years inside Canada’s residential school system, attending St. John’s Indian Residential School, Bishop Horden Indian Residential School and Shingwauk Indian Residential School.
Like thousands of other children, he endured a system designed to strip away his language, culture and identity.
Yet from that painful beginning, Cachagee built a life of purpose and leadership.
He became the first residential school survivor to graduate from Algoma University, later earning an honours degree in political science in 1994.
He went on to work for Algoma University, Confederation College and Nishnawbe Aski Nation, where he played a key role in governance and education.
He also served as chief of Chapleau Cree First Nation.
But his most enduring work came through advocacy.
He was a founding member of the Children of Shingwauk Alumni Association, the National Residential School Survivor Society and Ontario Indian Residential School Support Services.
He fought to ensure that survivors’ voices were not erased, that records were preserved and that the truth of residential schools would never be forgotten.
He was considered instrumental in helping to secure the federal government’s formal apology.
His son Larry Cachagee says the recognition is deeply meaningful to their family. “We’re extremely proud of our father’s accomplishments and legacy. He was well known across this country from coast to coast to coast,” he shared. “He had a lot of respect for the survivors, and they had a lot of respect for him for the amount of work he did on their behalf. It’s quite an honour that my father is still recognized and thought of today.”
Cachagee’s commitment was personal as much as it was political.
“Part of his drive was being an advocate for the children that never made it home,” Cachagee’s son Larry reflected. “With him being a survivor, he was on his own path of healing as well. He wanted to make sure the truth was told. As much as it hurt people, it probably helped more people than it hurt. That’s how you heal as people. That’s how you heal as an individual, through the truth.”
For his family, his tireless dedication was something they lived alongside.
“He spent a lot of hours away from his family to do the residential school work and when he came home he always talked about the people he met,” Larry said. “He just wanted the right things done for his people, for the Aboriginal people, Indigenous people.”
Michael Cachagee’s life was defined by resilience, leadership and compassion.
His legacy lives on not only through his family, but also through the generations of survivors and communities who continue to heal and find strength because of his advocacy.
The Legacy Award is awarded posthumously to an individual who has created lasting change and measurable difference in our community through commitment and perseverance. This award pays tribute to an individual’s professional, social or cultural leadership, vision and his or her ongoing legacy.
The Legacy Award is proudly sponsored by Lajambe Financial.