This book is based on what Yvonne Johnson holds to be her own truths about the life she has lived. However, since there is never only one way to tell a story, other persons involved in this one may well have experienced and remember differently the events and actions here portrayed.(Preface)

Yvonne Johnson and Ruby Weibe published Stolen Life: the Journey of a Cree Woman in 1998 documenting her life and her crime against Chuck. The depiction of Chuck in the book is that of an accused pedophile and a monster. This is certainly not how we remember him, nor how we would prefer him to be remembered.

How well does the reader of Stolen Life know Chuck? When he is introduced, the story is being narrated by Rudy Wiebe. Yvonne Johnson's story is being told in third person. Many of the words put in Chuck's mouth in this book are filtered through 3 different people before reaching the reader:

Reader <-- Rudy Weibe <-- Yvonne Johnson <-- Shirley Salmon <-- Chuck Skwarok

There are certain passages in Stolen Life that stand out as particularly uncharacteristic of Chuck:

Erna Brown was at the door; with her was a big, heavy-set guy in his mid-thirties. It took a moment for Yvonne to recognize him: Charles "Chuck" Skwarok. (p.233)

Chuck was certainly not "big" and "heavy-set." An errornous statement like this only serves to convince the reader that Chuck was a monster - the sort of person that could easily overpower anyone.

"I told you," Chuck said suddenly, "I don't like kids. And women are bitches, good for nothing but a fuck - but you're different. I respect you. You have a mind, you're not just a cunt." (p.244)

"I don't like kids,"
Chuck said. "Why not?"
"I like them better if they're someone else's," he said. Which she found odd: her baby was "someone else's." "Me and kids just clash." (p.244)

This doesn't sound like something Chuck would say. As Rhonda, Chuck, and Amanda have shared on this site, Chuck was a father figure and role model to our family. Having known him for four years, we know he would never say something like this to anyone. It is simply not the way he treated others.

He did mention that his wife charged him, but he admitted that he didn't do anything, but I figured he must have done something because why would his wife charge him? (p.250)

The wife in question is, of course, Karen. Karen's version of the story is quite different: She never charged him with sexual abuse.

Throughout Stolen Life, Chuck is referred to as a "white man" In fact, Chuck was the son of Leonard Eugene Skwarok, a Ukranian man and Alice Bourgoeis, a Cree Woman. His family tree can be found here.

The Chaboyer Family has graciously asked that all Universities and Colleges who have this book as a recommend reading to also tell the other side of the story. We only want the truth to be known.

All quotes are copied from Stolen Life: the Journey of a Cree Woman by Rudy Weibe and Yvonne Johnson, First Vintage Canada Edition, 1999 under the "fair dealing" provision of the Canadian Copyright Act.