Gordon was born on his grandfather’s land in the Mount Currie region as a member of the Lil’wat Nation in 1952 and raised in a music loving family. As a youth, Dick was sent to the Sechelt Indian Residential School, 194 km/121 miles southwest from Mount Currie, where a classmate taught him a few basic guitar chords, as well as how to tune the instrument. From there he attended Carson Graham Secondary School in North Vancouver. Because of the distance from Mount Currie, the teenager was billeted with a local family. At 17, Dick began playing cabarets gigs at the Pemberton, B.C., Legion with a group called the Road Runners, which featured Indigenous players from the nearby Squamish Nation. From there, he formed Siwash Rock, which included family members, and later, Sound Tribe, Eagle Claw, and Baby Fats Blues Band.
During summers in the early 1970s, Gordon worked at Mt. Currie Summer Camp, where he would take groups of children camping in the mountainous woods—with a gun for protection from cougars and bears—they would also go horseback riding and sing campfire songs. It was also when National Film Board director, writer, and singer Alanis Obomsawin (OC) visited the Mount Currie region for the first time, shooting both film and still photographs for an upcoming project on community life. Needing a soundtrack for her pictures of children playing at the camp, she asked band office staff to recommend a local player who could record some appropriate music at a Vancouver studio. Dick was handpicked for the job and ventured to the city’s Yaletown area to lay down two original compositions: “Going Home” (which speaks to his residential school experience) and “Siwash Rock.” An LP was pressed featuring the songs as part of an educational kit for classrooms. “Siwash Rock,” can be heard on 2014’s Native North America (Vol. 1).
Gordon will always remain an important family and community member: Son, brother, cousin, father, uncle, grandfather, and a friend to many. His presence at the Mission Friendship Centre created joy, humour, laughter, and music, often alongside Uncle Herman. Gordon continued to perform at a wide range of venues up until his passing. His participation at Native North America Gatherings (Vancouver Folk Festival, Spirit Child reissue album launch, 2 Rivers Remix Festival) filled audiences with love, laughter, and inspiration. It’s a gift that we will never forget. Thank you Gordon Dick Sr., as you were known to say: “ROCK ON!”
– Kevin Howes (Voluntary In Nature)
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