Paul Boskofsy was born in Eggigk but raised in Kanatak, a now abandoned village. Paul grew up in Kanatak after the oil boom of 1920’s, which lasted for about 30-35 years, and transformed the small village into a small town with stores, a post office, a bakery, hotels and a school. This phase quickly passed by the time Paul was of schooling age and oil companies failed to produce recoverable oil. Without a ‘school’ in Kanatak, Paul then grew up learning from his grandfathers, uncles and community how to live off of the land. He entered his first grade at the age of 19 and from there he has never stopped learning, earning a pilots licence, barbers license, and his own commercial fishing operation.

As Paul shares his story to our youth, he embeds 5 distinct words into his narrative that he believes are important in his success.

Desire: to learn and want something better.
Knowledge: what you need to obtain in order to get what you want or need.
Common Sense: without common sense it doesn’t matter how much knowledge you have, you need common sense to survive.
Wisdom: using knowledge and common sense to make good decisions.
Gratitude: being thankful for what you have brings a sense of contentment and unity to life.