Archive for category: Feature

Oakley Barnaby shot his first moose this year. It was given to the Pow Wow. He just turned 12 years old.

He’s been hunting with his mom, Jill Metallic, and Ricky Condo his whole life. Condo likes to bringing kids hunting and fishing.

Among many things, Condo reminds people of the recent past, when First Nation hunting rights weren’t being acknowledged. When he was growing up, some people were even scared to hunt. He makes sure the kids never feel that way.   

“Nowadays it’s not the same,” he said. “We go everywhere and anywhere there’s moose. Whenever we want – to practice our rights.”

But Condo certainly doesn’t take every moose he sees.

“My god, there’d be no moose left out there,” he said.

He tries to teach the kids the many aspects of hunting, like when, how, and why to hunt.

“You don’t just shoot it for fun,” Barnaby says now, pulling a stool up after school. “You have to have a reason to have it.”

“Anybody can shoot a moose,” Condo said. “It’s what you do with the moose after.”

Condo and Barnaby were driving on “Pow Wow Road,” when they spotted a big dark moose about 350 yards away. Barnaby had been practicing, so he got out, and steadied the gun in between the door and truck. His mom had her gun ready too, in case he missed.

Barnaby could only see the face. He shot. And everyone thought it fell just off the road.

When they got up, they saw the moose running down the hill – now nearly 1,000 feet from the road. It was heading straight for the trees.

Condo took aim and shot. The moose fell

With the help of a friend and lots of rope and pulleys, they managed to pull the moose all the way back to the road, and onto the truck.

“It was good that it was hard,” Barnaby says now. “So I know how difficult it could be.”

Twenty-three years ago, decisions were made to revive Mi’gmaq traditions. A program began, titled – “Relearning a Way of Life.”

Twenty-two people came together to learn and share what they knew of traditional practices. Some even came from out west.

Claudia Gray remembers one elder from Gesgapegiag, who was going blind and deaf. She was teaching how to make baskets.

“If you did it wrong, she’d go up to you and just tear it apart and throw it down,” Gray said. “That’s how we learned. It was fantastic.”

Claudia Gray in her classroom at AGS

The group wanted as close to a real understanding as possible of aspects of pre-contact culture.

“The only way to really do that,” Gray said. “Was creating the village, from the ground up.”

An entire village was built, with as much traditional knowledge as possible.

“Some of the students still practice the skills,” Gray said.

A lot was learned from a book Gray’s aunt – Vivian – had written, but never published.

“She studied this her entire life,” Gray said.

Her aunt had been teaching her things her as long as she could remember. So for Gray, a lot of practices were just a part of her life. Now they were being shared.

The program ran for three years, and then Gray was asked to teach “Pre-Contact Mi’gmaq Culture,” when AGS opened up. It has been open for 19 years now.

Vivian Gray’s work is now taught to every single kid in Listuguj. It is now just a part of growing up, and going through school.

This is a long way from when Claudia Gray was a kid. She remembers making crafts secretly. She would have history lessons and often wonder why textbooks never mentioned Mi’gmaq people.

Now – even when her students don’t seem interested in the material – Gray is certain the class is having a beneficial impact.

“We notice that our students, when they leave AGS,” she said. “[They] cross over and don’t feel inferior, don’t feel different. They feel equal, and happy with who they are. And if there’s something said that’s not correct, they correct it. They have the ability to do that. That makes us proud.”

“Oprah Moment”

“Who would ever think that this is what I would do,” Gray said. 

She had never planned to move back to Listuguj. She thought she might of retired here. But things changed.

She found herself unexpectedly moving home as a single mother.

It happened to be at a time that interest in reviving traditions was growing.

Members of the LMG knew Gray’s family — particularly her aunt — had interests in traditional practices. Not that Gray had ever thought much of it herself.  In  fact, she didn’t always understand it as a kid.

“I thought it was torture,” she said.

Regardless, it was always remained a part of her life.

“Crafty Claudia is what they called me.”

Still, she never imagined these interests could be a job.

“Relearning a Way of Life” was so successful that it ran for three years, and changed Gray’s life.

“That was my ‘aha moment.’ That was my Oprah moment. Of — ‘this is it, I’m home for a reason,'” she said. “It saved my life.”

Pre-Contact Mi’gmaq Culture

The original program grew into “Pre-Contact Mi’gmaq Culture” at AGS. It’s been taught since the school opened. Gray now teaches some of the grandchildren of participants of “Relearning a Way of Life.”

They teach the kids a lot of what they learned 23 years ago, but they also try to pass on some of the experiences of rediscovering the knowledge for the first time. One exercise for fourth graders helps them begin imagining what life could have been like hundreds, and thousands, of years ago

“The scenario is — you’re in the woods. It’s October, so it’s kind of cool. And you’re bare naked. What are you going to do to survive?” Gray said. “It really sparks their thinking.”

The class does quill work with actual porcupines quills. They go out to the woods, and gather everything they need.

“They have to learn to wait. Patience is a big thing,” Gray said.

Some kids don’t necessarily appreciate everything that is taught, but then again, neither did Gray when she was young.

“I said the same thing at 13, and I’m sitting here in a Mi’gmaq school, doing something that I thought was totally irrelevant, totally unnecessary, but yet it was my whole life,” she said. “For them to have the opportunity to know where you come from, and why you are still here today, makes who you are – I think anyway – makes you a better person.”

For Gray, it’s important that the kids share what they learn. She encourages them to go home and talk with their parents and grandparents.

“They  were part of the group that we were a part of. It wasn’t a part of our teachings everyday in school. Or even practiced with families.”

The class is proof that the decision to revitalize these aspects of culture 23-years ago was successful. Gray says the interest — and understanding of its importance — has grown tremendously over the last two decades.

“The spark was there. Now it’s fire.”

It is now at the point where students exposed to these traditions throughout their lives have grown up, graduated from university, and are doing great things. Gray certainly doesn’t take all the credit, but a healthy approach to history has undoubtedly contributed to pride, and confidence.

“Knowing who you are and where you come from – that’s all you need. And you know right from wrong. And you know that things that happen in the past can either break you, or shape you,” she said. “Most of them are standing their grounds, and changing the future. And that’s what makes us proud… they will make a difference. Because they’re not going to let history repeat itself.”

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

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

The good news is more salmon have been recorded so far this year in comparison to last.

“We can’t say it’s a good year,” said David LeBlanc, the Executive Director of the Restigouche River Watershed Management Council (RRWMC). “Last year was a really poor year. It was one of the worst in many many years.”

However, there is still some encouraging data.

“The good news is we seem to have a good grilse run,” LeBlanc said. “The best since 2011.”

Grilse are typically 98 per cent male. They are young fish that have spent one winter at sea. A good grilse run could be an indication of a good smolt run the previous year. If so, it could mean there will be a good salmon run the following year, when the predominantly female fish start returning after two winters in the ocean.

These numbers are based on two estimating methods.

“Counting Barriers” on the Causapscal River and the Northwest Upsalquitch River block fish that are moving upstream. They’re then counted before the barriers are opened and the fish are allowed to continue on. These are operated by the Department of Fisheries and Oceans with the help of the RRWMC.

Visual counts in pools with canoes and snorkels are also conducted in the middle of the season on the Matapedia River by the The Corporation de Gestion des Rivières Matapédia et Patapédia (CGRMP). Another snorkelling count will be done in all the tributaries in September, and another in October.

LeBlanc said the results of these counts are only considered minimum numbers. It is not 100 per cent accurate.

“But at least it gives us numbers to compare year after year,” he said.

A smolt wheel is also operated to get a rough count of the young fish leaving the river systems for the first time.

“The result of the spring of 2015 were much higher than previous years,” said LeBlanc. “That’s positive.”

Reports from fishing camps also help provide a better picture of the salmon populations.

Overall, the rough estimate is that the population seems to be about 30 per cent better than last year.

“One of the fishermen did say that they did notice some pretty decent returns this year,” said Kirt Dedam, the Aboriginal Fisheries Strategy Coordinator with Listuguj Fisheries. 

Dedam said the Fisheries is just in the early stages of getting organized around the salmon file. Right now, the focus is solely on talking with the community, to determine what – if anything – it would like to do with the fish.

An end of season salmon harvesters meeting was held on August 13.

“That was  a first,” Dedam said.

In September a post salmon season discussion will be held. At the end of that month a consumption study workshop will be held. This will be a vital step to help determine how a consumption study will be conducted.

“It’s going to be a very important study for us,” Dedam said. “It’s going to help us talk about sustainability, and those types of things.”

The results of this study is entirely for Listuguj-use only.

“The raw data that comes from this is internally for us,” Dedam said. “We’re not doing it because government wants a number, or to put numbers on things. We’re doing it for the community.”

It is all to be able to talk accurately about the salmon, and understand the community’s wishes when addressing it. That’s why it’s so important to get involvement.

“I can have all the ideas, but I work in the best interest of the community always,” Dedam said. “That’s why we have to have these community meetings, to find out what people want to do.”

There will also be community salmon summit in October, and a management salmon summit in November.

A lawsuit filed by the Mig’mawei Mawiomi Secretariat (MMS) is simple – the crown did not consult First Nation’s people before developing on their land.

Executive Director of the MMS, Troy Jerome, refers often to several legal precedents when explaining the grounds for the lawsuit. The key is a ruling that the crown must consult First Nation people when developing on their land.

“Chaleur Terminals” in Belledune is moving forward, and the Mi’gmaq have not been consulted.

The company did hold an information session.

“The crown cannot delegate its duty to consult,” Jerome said. “How does Chaleur Terminal, or any of its parent companies know how to deal with an aboriginal right?”

Another source of contention is the New Brunswick Government’s insistence that the matter is for the federal government, according to Jerome.

Troy Jerome in his office on July 30.

“They should of engaged with the feds and made sure the feds engaged with us before they issued any permits. You cannot just say, ‘we’re issuing permits, you go talk to the feds,’” Jerome said. “You’re the crown … It’s the crown that has a legal obligation. It’s the crown that has a fiduciary duty.”

“It’s the province in this case, which represents the crown, that removed us from our land, put us on these reserves, and it has the fiduciary [duty].”

Jerome said there is a misconception that Mi’gmaq people oppose all projects.

“[We’re] looking for where they can be involved in. Where we can benefit, but at the same time, not ruin our way of life.”

There are concerns over the actual project – 110-car trains moving along the Restigouche River twice a day, carrying product from the Alberta tar sands, to be stored and exported. Jerome – and many others – would like to know the various impacts such a project could have on the area.

Jerome said he has not been given any such information. He does, however, have a document

But that is not the basis of the lawsuit.

“It is based directly on the authorization the provincial government gave to build that terminal.”

The court date is set for January 18th.

“We are going into a project management kind of scenario with our lawyers.,” Jerome said. “We’re not going to wait until December to prepare ourselves. We’ll be ready way early.”

He said an important aspect to the preparations will be the principle of Etuaptmum – two eye seeing. Using the strengths of multiple perspectives when understanding or explaining anything.

“From the aboriginal perspective – we know what it is,” said Jerome. “But we need to show western science to a western judge so that he can look at it and say, ‘ok, what they’re saying is backed up by science.'” 

Experts in multiple fields are being lined up.

As of July 30th Jerome had not received a response from any of the parities

Bonnie Doyle Creber, a Communications Director with the NB Government said it would not be commenting on the matter while it is before the courts.

Michelle Perron,  a Media Relations representative with  the Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, decline to comment and stated the federal government was not named in the litigation. She also provided this link about the government’s duty to consult.