Who is Chief Tom Dostou alias Patrick Côté
Somebody ask me yesterday if I know Chief Tom Dostou . Chief of where, chief of what and chief of who I responded to that person.
I have kept silence for long enough, hoping someone would speak up, because I was once intimidated by this gentlemen. Now at my age , I no longer feel that way and I think I must respond now to this person question as I beleive this gentlemen is not what he claims to be.
Who is this man what is his real name ? Were was he born ? Which country does he come from ? Which First Nation communities does he come from as I heard him claiming to come from quite a few First Nations from Canada and United Stated depending wich country he resided and which First Nations citizens he was surrounded with even even claiming coming from Mont Joli Québec the town were my father was from . I sure would like to see his birth certificate and to know and who are and meet with is family members and relatives .
One think is for sure I did not know him as Tom Dostou but Patrick Côté then residing in Odanak, an Abenaki community near Pierreville in the province of Québec. He was involve with an Abenaki woman of that community at that time and I will not mention her name .
When I was the Executive Director of the Native Alliance of Québec in the mid 1980s , Patrick Côté all of a sudden showed up from no where at one of our meetings and made is way to become involved with the administrative région 3 of Trois rivières of our organisation providing services to Métis ans non Status Indians. He eventually made is way to become one of the executive leaders of this Region and to become an official members of the board of the directors of the Native Alliance of Québec and having access to regional fundings .
We give payment check for travelling expenses and honorarium for meeting attendance at that time to a person named Patrick Côté not Tom Dostou .
Far from being spiritual at the time Patrick Côté was also involved with other activities which cause the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to investigate at the main provincial office of the Native Alliance and they were looking for him. At the same time and to my great surprise Patrick Côté had disappeared from the map for quite few years with a come back as a spiritual leaders with a new name Tom Dostou or Tom D'astou . I was told he had left for the United States.
When I became the Directors of the Cultural Centres Programs at Northern and Indian Affairs and when I was in presence and travelling across Canada with William Commanda , a well know spiritual leader from the Algonkin Nation here in Canada I heard this name Tom Dostou. I was told he was an Elder involved with the the St- Onge twins and that he was leaving in Maniotenam among the Innu. I did not inquired of what he was doing at that time but I am sure people could find out.
I have seen him again for the first time at a youth gathering on the plains of Abram in Québec City in the early 1990s and he was introduced to me by the St -Onge twins and at my big surprise, as Elder Tom D'astou. I could not believe my eyes of what he was refered to and witnessing him now leading a sweat lodges ceremony with the twins on a military battle field, the plain of Abrams . Later I have seen him as being called an Elders around the Circle of all Nations here in Ottawa Canada and claiming to be a follower of William Commanda. Then I was told he organized some kind of a big walk across United States and collecting big amount of money using a Canadian Algonkin Elder William Commanda as the spiritual leader of that walk as if there was not enough prominent Elders in United States to lead that walk.
I remember one time his name was Tom D'astous like it is spell in Québec Canada . Ho well. Tom Dostou alias Patrick Côté and I wonder how many other alias .
He does now call himself a Chief and I wonder how he got this title? But like many other native people in Canada I sure would like to know which First Nations communities is native roots comes from. No ones seem to know. he does not seem to stay long enough at one place for people to know or find out.
Like he use to say when he finished speaking ," that is all I have to say ".