The Sum Of Influences

Cultural Borrowing

Jocelyn Paul
March 26, 2011
Wendake

"Identity is not cemented in stone."

Jocelyn Paul, Wendat

The culture of a people, like a language, is a blend of cultures. It grows thanks to borrowing, without ever giving up its foundations. There are as many nations as there are identities. They’re the result of history, a territory and encounters. All efforts made towards creating ties are rewarded and are a precious addition to the contribution of ancestors, the very foundation on which nations are built.

Transcript

Telephone interview with Jocelyn Paul. A picture of him graces the sound of his voice.

Jocelyn Paul

Look, uh... And that's where it gets a little tricky, such that there was a manner, or there was a spirituality in our ancestors that was X. An extremely important phenomenon of Christianization took place, and in the last 25-30 years, some people have been trying to reconnect with their original spirituality. What I can tell you, is that today, more particularly in Quebec, there are those who will undermine spiritual discourse, but when you dig deeper, you’ll realize that their grandmother was in church every day.

Interviewer
Yes. Well, that's it. It’s a common spiritual re-appropriation.

Jocelyn Paul

It’s the re-appropriation of a certain form of cultural identity with all the distortions that this may imply. Well, uh, if I’d talk like that, some people would like to throw rocks at me eh, but that's the reality.

Interviewer

With influences from other nations as well.

Jocelyn Paul

There you go! As for those of us in Quebec, we often have many Indigenous spiritual leaders who, uh, when you outline or study their path a little, I know a few which I won't name out of courtesy, you realize that at some point, they spent time in western American, eastern Canada, they adopted cultural traits from the West, they were brought to Quebec, with the intention of insertion within the cultural or identity framework of the Quebec tribes, where sometimes, it has nothing to do with our ancestors.

Interviewer
At least it allows for the construction of identity or the re-appropriation of identity, but it doesn’t necessarily mean that there’s a link to the past.

Jocelyn Paul

There you go! You know, just like in the 50s, 60s and 70s, you saw all the Indigenous leaders of Quebec who were somewhat prominent, wearing feathered hats, typical of the Dakotas and the Sioux of Western Canada. I’m sorry, but our ancestors, the Huron, never wore any of that.

Interviewer

No, that's the Hollywood image that's extremely widespread.

Jocelyn Paul

It's a Hollywood image that many politicians, uh, Indigenous people in Quebec, and even elsewhere in Canada, have reclaimed because it suited them, and it seemed good.

... at some point, regarding your identity, well, some things are sometimes used, uh, indiscriminately. That being said, uh, I’d say that I personally find that over the past 10-15 years, we’ve become much more serious in our community efforts or within the communities. Uh... There was some kind of Hollywood-style identity there, that was maintained. And listen, I was born in 1966. I'm not 90 years old, but y’know as far, as far back in my childhood, when we had powwows at home, in the Huron village, or even when my father was a council member for several years, well, we conveyed somewhat of a West Indian identity, etc. But, let me tell you that for probably the last 15 years, uh, an effort has been made in Lorette, really, to re-appropriate a little of our own culture, okay? The hat with curled feathers purely Huron-Iroquois, very traditional among the Iroquoians. Uh, you know, nowadays, people in Lorette know what a wampum belt is, you get it? You would have asked the same question 35-40 years ago and not many people could have given you an answer.

Interviewer
Oh! Yes! That’s how it was? I wasn't aware of that.

Jocelyn Paul

Ah! Yes, yes! Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely! A significant erosion happened here, here at home, in Lorette, over the last few generations. Do not be fooled! The flower was, or rather the flame was tended to by a few families in particular, yet it evolved. But, you know, at some point, what you have to realize, as well, is that the identity of any nation, anywhere across the globe, is not something that is cast in stone. It’s something that evolves. It’s like languages, isn’t it? A language that doesn’t integrate foreign words, that doesn’t grow, will often become stunted. It’s somewhat like that for identities. There’s no difference for culture. Nor for religion. They’re evolving human characteristics. And, and that’s fine. You don’t want them to remain frozen in time either. Huh? Uh, in the sense that, yes, we should be proud of our past, we should be proud of our cultural traits, uh. But that being said, we’re still in the 21st century. So, I think it involves reconciling modernity with pride in your roots, and your ancestors. It’s the same for Quebecers. And also for Acadians, Franco-Ontarians, y’know, uh, even in English Canada. Look, there are a lot of people who are very proud of their Irish origins, and with good reason. There’s a St. Patrick’s Day parade in Montreal and Quebec City, y’know? And people are proud of their Scottish heritage. Huh? You have tattoos of bagpipes all over Canada, but people are, are Canadian, even though they’re proud of their Scottish identity. And you understand, it’s okay that way.

Shared Practices

Richard Moar
March 29, 2011
Listuguj

"My grandfather told us: ‘Go find the tools we had. From there on, you’ll be able to heal.’"

Richard Moar, Nehirowisiw

Reviving traditional practices isn’t always easy. Many elders resist. They’re suspicious of rituals that have long been called diabolical. They prefer not to talk about it. Others are more open. When Richard Moar heard during a visit in Ontario that the rain dance ceremony was part of the Atikamekw culture, he asked his nation's elders if they remembered it. Some people remembered seeing this practice, and Richard Moar proudly added it to his healing tools.

The Secret of Plants

William Jerome
December 14, 2010
Gesgapegiag

"It took me 14 years to learn these things, and I'm still learning."

William Jerome, Mi'qmaq

"When Jacques Cartier landed in Gespeg in 1534, his crew survived thanks to Mi'gmaq remedies," says William Jerome. Like his ancestors, he uses traditional practices to help his fellow humans regain their health, both for their body and their soul. The knowledge he acquired from the members of his nation was enriched through encounters with Algonquin, Iroquois and Innu healers. With them, he shared the secrets of plants, how to make remedies and how to use them. Like them, he contributes to the preservation of an ancestral knowledge that enabled Jacques Cartier to continue his explorations.

Transcript

A close-up of William Jerome.

William Jerome

I was fortunate to meet a man from British Columbia that came down and I was doing a ceremony and we were talking about medicine and then he told me his medicine, he gave me his medicine, and what happened [is] that, some of the medicines I have don’t grow around here.

Zoom in to a very close-up shot of William Jerome.

But I met, I went to meetings like in Montreal, Quebec, and I’ve met different kinds of tribes people, like Montagnais, Algonquins, Iroquois and, uh, the Innus, and sometimes we’ll sit down and we start talking and we talk about medicine. So they started giving me their medicines, and I started giving them my medicines, and we would trade. And, but when I give my medicine, I give them the teachings, how to use it and how to prepare it, and they’ll do the same thing.

So that’s how it started. Today I make seventeen different kinds of medication, I mean medicine. And I use, I try to use a lot on myself. Before I started this journey, I took seventeen different kinds of medication on me. Now I take four, for my heart, and for my blood, and for my [diabetes] and blood pressure, that’s all.

Interviewer

You’re talking about chemical medicines?

William Jerome

Yeah, medicine that I get from the pharmacy. So, and this is a, and this is the thing that our history goes back so many years, that, we were talking earlier today that I did, we went to a 475-year anniversary in Gaspé, and that was 475 years ago when Jacques Cartier has landed in Gaspé coves. And when these people came, there was no doctors, but there were Micmacs. We had the medicine; we gave them the medicine to survive. So this is how strong our history is and our medicines.

That, on the way, growing up, our ancestors, there was nothing to lose. Because people, times change, different people came, and then all the sudden our teachings were gone. Most of our language were gone, most of our ceremonies were gone, and then our medicine was gone. But we were fortunate that some people kept their teachings, especially in New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, they have lot of people that are medicine people over there. And they save their knowledge, and they gave it to their children, and then we start, we start using these medicines in our ceremonies in our traditional ways, we only been doing this maybe in this community, maybe twenty or twenty-five years, going back to our ceremonies. That’s not long.

And one person came, and she started a powwow, traditional powwow, it wasn’t a fancy one, there was people, calling people to come and dance, and listen to the music, and we danced for the sick people and she started that. And then we caught on, and some people caught on and started to go to other places and learn the sweat lodge and other ceremonies and they brought it back. It took me fourteen years to learn all these things, and I’m still learning.

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Report of an interview with Richard Moar

How will we work on healing? My grandfather, at one point, told us, “Rediscover the tools we once had. It’s from there that you’ll be able to heal.” You know, our grandfather communicated this to us, but others didn't want to hear any of it. There are still elders among us, who would never dare, who don’t want to believe in this, y’know, they just don’t want. They don’t want to know what it is, y’know, because it’s been instilled in them that the drum, the ceremonies, the rituals, are all evil.

[…]

Y’know, we scared them, and that's the fear that still exists, that's still pervasive among some elders. But there are others who have started to follow us. Perhaps only partially, but they support us, they discreetly tell us, “This is good for you.” He was one of the last persons to conduct sweats.

[…]

But, as I said earlier, I keep digging and digging. Meaning not just in the ground, but in people's memories. I’m working a lot on this with the elders. But, in order for them to recover that memory, they must see certain things.

I started in 1992. I started looking for something else to keep me healthy. I became interested in ceremonies and even got to the rain dance. It's more practiced in western Canada, but we went to Manitoulin Island, Ontario, near Sudbury.

A village called Wiikwemkoong. They were healers. They were guardians. They were the ones who safeguarded ceremonies. They told us that the rain dance belonged to the Atikamekw. As for us, at first, we weren't sure. It had to be confirmed by our grandfathers. Well, at that time, our grandfathers didn't dare talk much about such things. Some people are aware of individuals with powers, natural gifts, and who played with around with them, in the sense that they were almost able to kill a person with their power. They sometimes call this, magic.

When we heard that the rain dance belonged to the Atikamekw, we headed there. I went to perform in the ceremony. I went to live the experience of the ceremony, to live the rain dance rituals for four years, but mostly in healing. A lot for healing. Because, at that time, my wife was also starting to be sick. So I went to dance and fast.

I did 4 years with rain dance, all the while asking questions. And when I came back to Manawan, I would discuss it with my uncle, who was a certain age. I only told him these things to help him develop his memory.

[…]

At some point, my uncle comes to me. He tells me (we were preparing the site). He says to me, “Richard, I remember now." He says, “I saw one like this on the territory.” And he was talking about sacred places.

And I was happy! I was happy that we confirmed it because we brought the rain dance back to Manawan. Y’know, we do it in Manawan. Now, we have grandfathers who received gifts to help the community.

It’s a great source of pride to have succeeded in finding these tools for ourselves, which belonged to us, which belonged to our ancestors.

That's my journey, prodding into people's memories.

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Cultural Borrowing

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