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.

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.

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.

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.