This paper has for subject the Atikamekw community of the Nitaskinan, the Atikamekw territory of the Mauricie region in the province of Quebec. I will first address my personal link with this territory, as a personal reflection on the relationship I have with this territory and the Atikamekw culture, followed by the story of Atikamekw people of the Nitaskinan, and finally what is the present situation for them.
Although I am a born and raised Montrealer, I did not choose to address the Indigenous community of the metropolis. The territory that was chosen for this essay is the Nitaskinan, a gigantic Atikamekw ancestral territory. This land has a special meaning to me, as I work in a summer camp called Minogami, located right next to the
…show more content…
Not only does the camp offers classic camp activities such as rock climbing, hiking, arts and knowledge on natural science, it also uses canoe-camping trips as an excuse for personal development and growth. The expeditions range from 2 to 35 days on rivers and lakes, and it is surrounded by nature that the campers learn about themselves and overcome multiple challenges as they push their physical and mental limits. This close relationship to the land as a pedagogy tool has been historically part of the Atikamekw culture, as the Atikamekw Nehirowisiw (balance and union with nature) is a definition of their identity . As many institutions and camp in Canada, Indigenous heritage is appropriated and transformed, and can be seen in many aspects of most summer camps. At Minogami, camp life is cradled by Indigenous traditions, observed in the legends we tell, the song we sing and the vocabulary we use. Another example of Indigenous-based traditions we hold on to is giving feathers of different colors at the end of the stay to the campers, as a form of reward and acknowledgement of their achievement of different challenges. Moreover, many activities are traditional Indigenous ones, such as canoe and archery. It has been for a long time a great debate at the camp, how to act towards the Indigenous population of the Nitaskinan, and how to decolonize the camp. As I was never a young camper at Minogami …show more content…
Most of the current information we have on Atikamekw’s history is based on religious papers from the French missionaries and reports from the wood industry and the Hudson’s Bay Company’s . Historically, the Atikamekw people have been known to participate in the trade fur with the French colonizers, as many fur trade centers of the Hudson Bay Company were on Atikamekw territory. The Atikamekw people used to be a majority in the Nitaskinan, until the 1870s when a mass of French Canadian lumberjacks moved up North. This mass immigration from colonizers came late after the Europeans discovered Quebec, as the dense wood and harsh winter stop them from going North . The Nitaskinan historically was lust for by the wood industry, but the present situation is similar . The residential schools in the Nitaskinan started to appear in the 1930s and the last one of the area closed in
Steckley, J., & Cummins, B. D. (2008). Full circle: Canada's First Nations (2nd ed.). Toronto:
Our name is derived by Vetromile from the Pānnawānbskek, 'it forks on the white rocks,' or Penobscot, 'it flows on rocks’. My tribe connected to the Abnaki confederacy (q. v.), closely related in language and customs to the Norridgewock. They are sometimes included in the most numerous tribe of the Abnaki confederacy, and for a time more influential than the Norridgewock. My tribe has occupied the country on both sides of Penobscot bay and river, and claimed the entire basin of Penobscot river. Our summer resort was near the sea, but during the winter and spring we inhabited lands near the falls, where we still reside today, My tribes principal modern village being called Oldtown, on Indian island, a few miles above Bangor, in Penobscot county.
When considering the birth of America, most people look to Christopher Columbus and the Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth Rock. In An Infinity of Nations, Michael Witgen looks to shed light on the role Native Americans played in the formation of early America. Witgen analyzes the social relationships between the European settlers and the indigenous tribes of the Anishinaabeg and the Haudenosaunee in order to tell the story of the westward expansion of early American civilization. Witgen depicts agreement and conflict between the colonizing groups while also explaining the formation of power within them – but his analysis is incomplete. The incorporation of Joan Scott’s and Michael Foucault’s definitions of gender and power relationships into
James M. McClurken writes the first section, which deals with the Ottawa people. McClurken tells about the Ottawa peoples’ relationship with the environment they lived in and how they adapted to change when contacted by Europeans. One thing I found interesting about the Ottawa is their beliefs. The Ottawa believed in respect for the individual. Their leaders represented the people much like our elected officials represent us when a decision is needed for the whole of the country. They are in tune with nature and consider the earth and animals part of their family, addressing them with “father,” “mother,” “brother,” “sister.” The Ottawa’s also amazed me at their ability to believe in the supernatural, the spirits that told what sickness a person has and the healing power of the firewalkers is a leap of faith. I am always amazed that people survived without Advil and Tums, and they didn’t just survived they thrived! The Ottawa were great traders, in fact they traded all over northern Michigan. A surprising fact I read in the section was of the fleecing of the Indian...
In our day and age where our youth are becoming more aware of the history of the country and the people who inhabit it, the culture of Native Americans has become more accessible and sparks an interest in many people young and old. Recent events, like the Dakota Access Pipeline, grab the attention of people, both protesters and supporters, as the Sioux tribe and their allies refuse to stay quiet and fight to protect their land and their water. Many Native people are unashamed of their heritage, proud of their culture and their ancestors. There is pride in being Native, and their connection with their culture may be just as important today as it was in the 1800’s and before, proving that the boarding school’s ultimate goal of complete Native assimilation to western culture has
LaDuke, Winona. All Our Relations: Native Struggles for Land and Life. Cambridge, MA: South End Press, 1999. Print.
Fleras, Augie. “Aboriginal Peoples in Canada: Repairing the Relationship.” Chapter 7 of Unequal Relations: An Introduction to Race, Ethnic and Aboriginal Dynamics in Canada. 6th ed. Toronto: Pearson, 2010. 162-210. Print.
Marquise Lepage’s documentary, Martha of the North (2009) provides an insight to the 1953 forced relocation of the Inuit from Northern Quebec to the High Arctic. It does an exceptional job at explaining how the Inuit’s lives were affected and molded at a holistic perspective. Martha of the North (2009) can be explained through the concept of holism and its limitations. The concept of holism can explain the effects that the relocations has had on the Inuit people. Although the Inuit’s behaviour can be analyzed through the concept there are aspects of their experience that holism does not account for. The documentary follows the life of one of the first Inuit to be relocated, a woman named Martha, along with her family and the people in her community.
Across Canada and the United States there are many First Nations languages which are a part of the Algonquian language family, all of which with varying states of health. Although these languages share many characteristics of the Algonquian language family, the cultures, systems of beliefs, and geographic location of their respective Nations differentiate them. In being shaped by the landscape, cultures, and spirituality of the First Nations, the language brings the speakers closer to their land and traditions while reaffirming their identity as First Peoples. Using the Blackfoot Nation to further explore this concept, this paper will show that while language threads together First Nations culture, spirituality, traditions and land, as well as their identity, each of these essential components also maintain and revitalize the language.
... middle of paper ... ... Regina: Canadian Plains Research Center, University of Regina. Manitoba Métis Federation (MMF) (2013).
A small archipelago off the northwest coast of Britsh Columbia is known as the “islands of the people.” This island is diverse in both land and sea environment. From the 1700’s when the first ship sailed off its coast and a captain logged about the existence, slow attentiveness was given to the island. Its abundance, in both natural resources physical environment, and its allure in the concealed Haida peoples, beckoned settlers to come to the island. Settlers would spark an era of prosperity and catastrophe for the native and environmental populations.
The influence of the fur trade, religious missions, disease, language and acculturation changed the First Nations’ pre-colonial existence. Treaties that were signed with Aboriginal people acted as an attempt to make way for land settlement; and it was with the first Indian Act that the distinction was made between “Status” and “non-Status” Aboriginal people” (JUS-3360 module 3.2, (The Newcomers, 1997)).
Whilst including a plethora of academic sources and government documents, Barman also draws extensively from sources of indigenous voice, such as conversations between August Jack Khatsalano and Major Matthews. This allows for the expression of indigenous agency, and reveals how they reacted to a chronology of systematic displacement. This first-hand approach is appropriate in supporting Barman’s thesis, which says that Indigenous peoples are the most adversely affected by urbanization in a variety of ways.
When a native author Greg Sams said that the reservations are just “red ghettos”, the author David disagree with that. He thinks there must be something else beyond that point. After his grandfather died, he somehow changed his mind. Because he could not think anything e...
MacDougall, Brenda. One of the Family: Metis Culture in Nineteenth-Century Northwestern Saskatchewan. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 2010.