Becoming a 'Young Warrior:' Lionel Daniels' story

At 15, Lionel Daniels found himself alone in the city. 

Born in Winnipeg, with roots in Peguis First Nation, Lionel was placed in the care of Manitoba Child and Family Services as a teenager. Struggling to adjust to life away from his family, he rejected the system and ran away. 

"From there, I started to get in to trouble," said Daniels. "Going out, not caring about curfews or anything like that. Just causing s--t and being reckless." 

Daniels found himself caught in a vicious cycle. Living on his own in Winnipeg, he started to sell drugs in order to make ends meet.

"The life was all about partying," said Daniels. "All over the place, all the time."

But there was one person that kept Daniels grounded: his brother, Kyle. During their difficult childhood, the two boys were inseparable. Six years older than Kyle, Daniels said that his younger brother was "the angel, the light of the family."

On a cold February night in 2011, that light was snuffed out. Daniels said that his brother was out partying when he and a friend approached a railway line. Kyle's friend sprinted across the tracks as a train approached. 

Kyle didn't make it across. 

After his brother's passing, Daniels fell more deeply in to a destructive lifestyle. Two months after Kyle was killed, he was arrested on outstanding warrants and was sent to prison. 

His partner and two young children were seldom able to visit. And there, in a maximum-security cell, Daniels was forced to confront the emotional trauma of his brother's death. 

Becoming a 'Young Warrior'

After his release, Daniels said he felt he "had a lot of debt to [his] family to make up for." 

Change didn't come quickly. But after seeing the mother of his children complete a diploma, Daniels was inspired to enroll in a program of his own.

That's when he first encountered Robert-Falcon Ouellette, who, at the time, was a program director at the University of Manitoba. 

When I talked to [Lionel] for the first time, I just said: 'I believe in you. I can see a power within you, and I can see that fire in your eyes. You can do it - I believe in you - and I'll be there beside you.- Robert-Falcon Ouellette

Daniels applied – and was immediately accepted – in to the Young Warriors program. A University of Manitoba initiative, it's designed to support and encourage Indigenous men seeking post-secondary education. 

Today, Daniels is in his second year of studies. He credits a big part of his success to the Young Warriors drum group – young men involved in the program who have taken up the drum as a source of healing and brotherhood. 

"It keeps us together," said Daniels. "One thing we're proud of is to show that there's a drum group that are all Indigenous post-secondary students."

"So dream big." 

Hear more from Robert-Falcon Ouellette and his constituents on this week's DNTO, Saturday Nov. 7 at 3:00pm on CBC Radio One.