Anti-Racism Strategy

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After nearly three and half months, the Anti-Racism Strategy has chosen a logo. The slogan is “Strengthening Relationships.”

“It was a real challenge to come up with a design to reflect the strategy,” said coordinator , Debbie Dedam-Montour. “We did not want it to be Mi’gmaq specific, since we are reaching out to neighbouring communities in Quebec and New Brunswick, and they need to identify with the logo too.”

The goal is to reduce acts of racism by 2020.

With only about half a year on the job, Dedam-Montour has been researching, and developing            resources and strategies. She’s creating workshops and presentations, and ways of appropriately scaling them to different demographics.

“The objective of this strategy is to build better relationships,” Montour-Dedam said. “So anything that’s going to create conflict – we want to move away from that.”

She recently held a session on being assertive when encountering racism. She said there are three ways a person can react.

They can say nothing. But Research suggests internalizing and carrying negativity can have detrimental effects, even on physical health, Montour-Dedam said.

Those encountering racism can also engage aggressively. This can often lead to conflict, which is counterproductive to changing someone’s negative opinion.

People can also address racism in positive ways. Many people have no idea some things they say are racist. 

“You don’t say – ‘you’re a racist.’ You can say – ‘your           comment was racist.’”

FILM: Passing Moments

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“Passing Moments” is a relatable and poetic approach to loss.

“I guess it’s kind of a little about dealing with it,” said Melissa        Girvan, the filmmaker. “Some people get so stuck in the past and things that happen. I think it’s really important to let it go sometimes. You can mourn it, but you can’t define your life [by] it.”

Girvan’s film immediately creates a powerful tone.

Deliberate cuts and other choices lend the hazy, emotional quality of memories to the film. The voice-over provides just enough context.

The stories are only hinted at. The monologue feels personal, but it’s vague. You can’t help but fill in the blanks with your own life.

The film makes you recall the feeling of loss, and it seems to hint at the dangers of holding on to that feeling for too long.

It is very unique, and affective.

Passing Moments from Wapikoni mobile on Vimeo.

FILM: LUJ 051

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Mallory Metallic’s film is driven by curiosity – what is it like to work at the Listuguj Police Department, and not be from here?

The film offers a small glimpse into the lives of the officers. The cameras tag along, and learn about  the unique aspects of being new to the community. The good parts, and the bad.

The film isn’t pointing fingers, or taking sides, though. It is just helping the viewer relate to another perspective.

Relating and accepting others is an important subject to Metallic.

“I hate the whole native vs. non-native thing,” Metallic said.

The implications of these attitudes worries her. Especially when they’re passed on to kids.

“Once they’re done school, how are they going to feel when they go out somewhere else?”

This theme was also a focus in her first film, which won her an award.

LUJ 051 from Wapikoni mobile on Vimeo.

From the LMG (Sept. 21)

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LMG Communications would like to extend its congratulations to all those who made videos with the Wapikoni Mobile this summer.

“Community members used this resource to distribute their individual messages through the viewing at the Alaqsite’w Gitpu School and social media, which is awesome,” said Mike Isaac, Communications Officer for the LMG.

If you have not seen these videos we strongly encourage you to do so.

We also hope that the first few weeks of school have been excellent and hope this will continue throughout the school year.

Reminder next month is Mi’gmaq History Month so be on the lookout for information on this in our next issue.

Lobster Season is Open

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The lobster season opened on September 20. Those with tags can fish for three weeks until October 10th.

And those without tags can get cooked lobster at the Natural Resource building.

“A person can come everyday,” said Kirt Dedam, the Aboriginal Fisheries Strategy Coordinator with Listuguj Fisheries. “That’s how the system has always been.”

The lobster fishery is considered a food fishery.

“The main objective for this fishery is to make sure the community is fed with lobster,” said Dedam.

One person can receive one tag, which allows him or her to fish one trap for the duration of the season. Anyone with a tag cannot receive cooked lobster.

The community has 500 tags. 100 are kept by the LMG and used to directly provide food for the community. Those who receive the other tags are asked to also consider donating some of their catch to the community as well.

Wapikoni is Back

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Wapikoni Studios are back in Listuguj for another month-long stay. They’re working hard on 5 films and 4 songs with folks from here.

It’s entirely free to the community. But a project does take time.

You’ll be able to see all of the work on Sept. 10, at AGS School, at 6 p.m.

There are two fully equipped studios that travel to First Nation communities throughout the summer. A new team takes over at each stop. But the exact same team as last year have come back again.

“It doesn’t happen often that we have the same four people in a community,” said Francis Desroches. “We have a good team, and we have fun doing it.”

Francis Desroches outside the Wapikoni mobile studio on Sept 1. Photo: Adam Hodnett

Francis Desroches outside the Wapikoni mobile studio on Sept 1. Photo: Adam Hodnett

Films created with Wapikoni in Listuguj have been well received. They’ve  won awards. Nate Condo’s film last year has been accepted at a film festival in Texas. And one film has even started a career.

“I can say that there’s a lot of talent in Listuguj. The films that were made, and the music that was made in the last years has received a lot of recognition,” Desroches said.

Everything can be made with these studios – documentaries, narratives, music  and music videos.

Desroches is in charge of community outreach. Melissa Girvan is the coordinator.

“The idea also,” Desroches said, “is we keep meeting the same people, and we know them and we know how to work with them.

There are a lot of people doing projects with Wapikoni again this year.

“I was hoping to see a lot of the same people again,” Desroches said. “A lot of them showed up, so I’m happy with it.”

Anyone can do a project, or just help out. People are always needed for filming or recording audio. And everyone can help you develop any idea.

“We never know what’s going to come up,” Desroches said. “We have a big intense month of creation, and usually good things come out of it.”

Take a video tour of the mobile studio

Listuguj Summer Camp

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The Listuguj summer camps are over for this year, but the kids will now start school with all the great shared memories they’ve made.

The camps began with the idea of getting kids more active. But for the coordinator, Tierra Ritchie, there are now many beneficial aspects of these camps. She sees how much the kids love it, and how excited they are to come back.

“It’s 35-40 of your friends that you’re making these memories with,” Ritchie said. “It makes it that much more special.”

Listuguj Community Services hosts these three-week summer camps for three age groups – 7-9, 10-12, and 13 and up. Each group has different activities.

An effort is made to go visit places. The kids will go to Moncton for the day, or Quebec City. There’s also lots of nearby day trips as well.

The summer camp has been running for 5 years now. And while the organizers know what to expect, kids are showing up with more enthusiastic than they did at first.

Getting kids off the computers was challenge the first year, but now kids have memories, or hear stories from older siblings, and are excited to go to camp.

The organizers are always trying to improve the experience for all the kids. There has been talk about activities with other nearby communities, to start friendships young.

Riverside Recording their First Video

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Mark Morrison and Timmy Isaac have been playing music together for 15 years. They’re making their first music video together right now, with Wapikoni. Their band is called “Riverside.”

Morrison worked on a couple Wapikoni projects last year, including a video for his own song, “Teepee’s on the Highway.” (Find a link on the online version.)

“I was really happy with [the video],” Morrison said. “It couldn’t have come out better, you know. And I have these guys to thank for a lot of it … the way they put it all together, that was the magic.”

Having been through the process before, Morrison knew what to expect. They didn’t come to the studio with a fully developed film, but they had an idea, and never everyone involved would be able to work with it.

“We had some ideas of how we wanted it,” Morrison said. “But then getting together with them and hearing their ideas, and our ideas … we’re pretty much on the same page.”

They’ve been monitoring the tides, and have only said they want it to be dark. The song is called “All or Nothing.”

Mark Morrison’s video to “Teepees on the Highway,” created with Wapikoni last year

Wapikoni Video Tour

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Chief’s Message (Sept. 3)

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In the past the LMG has been spending money we don’t have and this is one of the main reasons why the LMG is in its current deficit. After working for over a year with the Directors and the staff to balance the budgets of the LMG to allow for financial stability and to ensure that the LMG is capable of providing the most effective services possible moving forward we cut the deficit by approximately three million.

Last month Council approved a post-secondary budget without understanding the ramifications of such a vote. This is going to have an impact on the programs and services of the LMG for the budget this year, along with the next few years.

However, as elected officials we need to look out for the best interest for our community as a whole and work within our means. This being said we will be working diligently to ensure that this decision has as little impact on the community as possible. It is my hope that we can work through this with the directorates, to ensure the continuation of partially funded programs and continue working to reduce costs and adhere to the budgets that are in place.

I would like to thank the directors who have worked diligently to reduce costs and maintain budgets.