Wendat Nation

CEGEPs honour Indigenous achievement at St. Lawrence

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , , , , ,

CEGEPs honour Indigenous achievement at St. Lawrence

Cassandra Kerwin, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

cassandra@qctonline.com

For the first time, the four CEGEPs of Quebec City honoured Indigenous students at a recognition gala for the Indigenous college community of Quebec. On May 2, the ceremony welcomed recipients, family, friends and community members for a cocktail, gala dinner and show at CEGEP Champlain- St. Lawrence.

The ceremony opened with a land acknowledgement followed by an opening prayer by Wendat elder Yolande Picard. “Throughout my life, I never considered higher education important, but now, after re- flection, I have realized that it is greatly important in today’s age because my education has allowed me to tour the world and to be here this evening,” she said after the prayer. “Thanks for recognizing the value of our youth and their hard work. Thanks for recognizing our peoples, because they’re just as important and valuable as any other people.”

“In a spirit of friendship and solidarity, inspired by Université Laval’s territorial acknowledgement, I pay tribute to the First Peoples who welcome our college and all of its activities onto their ancestral territories,” said Edward Berryman, director of studies at St. Lawrence. “Since we are at the crossroads of the Nionwentsïo of the Wendat people, the Ndakina of the Wabanaki people, the Nitassinan of the Innu people, the Nitaskinan of the Atikamekw people and the Wolastokuk of the Wolastoqey people, we honour our relationships with one another.

“Dear students, this gala is an opportunity to recognize your remarkable journeys of resilience and commitment, to celebrate your voices and, through them, those of your families and communities, and to highlight your unique contributions that enrich our college and community life,” said Berryman. “You bring knowledge, cultures, visions and dreams that transform our institutions, step by step. Tonight’s event, which brings us together around you, is a magnificent example of how far we have come and the hopes we can nurture for generations to come!”

To celebrate the students’ hard work and dedication, the Indigenous community organized the first Recognition Gala for Indigenous CEGEP students in Quebec City, inspired by a similar ceremony at Cégep de Sept-Îles, created by Innu author Naomi Fontaine. The gala ceremony was held in English, French and several Indigenous languages.

Members of the community and alumni from the four participating CEGEPs (St. Lawrence, Garneau, Sainte-Foy and Limoilou) distributed four awards to the 16 participants: Leadership and Community Engagement; Promotion of Indigenous Cultures; Resilience and Perseverance; and Solidarity and Collaborative Spirit. The Puamun Meshkenu organization also awarded a Coup de Cœur scholarship. After the ceremony, attendees enjoyed a buffet dinner and a concert with a live band.

The full list of award winners is below:

Leadership and Community Engagement

– Frédérique-Christina Picard (Innu Nation; Cégep Limoilou)

– Hugo Picard Copeau (Innu Nation; Pessamit, Que.; Cégep Limoilou)

– Laurence Vollant-Vachon (Innu Nation; Pessamit, Que.; Cégep de Sainte-Foy)

–  William-Frédéric Bacon-Hervieux (Innu Nation; Cégep Garneau)

Promotion of Indigenous Cultures

– Émilie Labbé-Hervieux (Innu Nation: Pessamit, Que.; Cégep Limoilou)

– Janie Fontaine (Innu Nation; Pessamit, Que.; Cégep de Sainte-Foy)

– Kimi Ottawa-Flamand (Atikamekw Nation; Manawan, Que.; Cégep Garneau)

-Logan Morsillo (Ojibway Nation; Matachewan, Ont.; St. Lawrence)

Resilience and Perseverance

– Anne-Marie Riverin Rousselot (Innu Nation; Pessamit, Que.; Cégep de Sainte-Foy)

– Ève Jean (Wendat Nation; Cégep Garneau)

– Jennifer Côté-Wapachee (Cree Nation of Eeyou Istchee; Cégep de Sainte-Foy)

– Julianne Labbé (Wendake, Que.; Cégep Limoilou)

– Stecy Jourdain (Innu Nation; Uashat mak Mani-Utenam, Que.; Cégep Garneau)

Solidarity and Collaborative Spirit

– Aiden Aqpik-Savard (Inuit Nation; Iqaluit, Nunavut; Cégep Limoilou)

– Amélie André (Innu Nation, Maliotenam, Que.; Cégep de Sainte-Foy)

– Louis-Félix Morin (Abenaki Nation; Odanak, Que.; Cégep Garneau)

Puamun Meshkenu Coup de Coeur award

Laurence Vollant-Vachon (Innu Nation; Pessamit, Que.; Cégep de Ste-Foy)

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KWE! showcases First Nations and Inuit cultures

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , ,

KWE! showcases First Nations and Inuit cultures

Cassandra Kerwin, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

cassandra@qctonline.com

From June 12 to 15 at Place Jean-Béliveau, Quebecers are invited to discover the rich cultures of the 11 First Nations in Quebec through conferences, kiosks, films and music at the KWE! Meet with Indigenous Peoples festival at Place Jean-Béliveau and other sites around the city. The word kwe means “hello” in several Indigenous languages, and the festival is all about connection.

“KWE! is above all an invitation to connect, share and discover in a festive and welcoming atmosphere,” said KWE! executive director Mélanie Vincent. “We are reaching out to the entire population to come and meet us. Thanks to a diverse and interactive program, everyone will be able to enjoy a unique and enriching experience!” She continued, “The purpose of the festival is to meet our neighbours. Sometimes, we travel the world and know more about other nations than we do about our First Nations.”

KWE! is pulling out all the stops for this eighth edition. It opens with Tressages, a fashion show featuring collaboration between renowned Quebec fashion designer Jean-Claude Poitras and First Nations and Inuit designers, on June 12 at the Grand Théâtre. Tickets ($20) are available now.

From movies to conferences and workshops, discussions over tea, and savouring Chef Maxime Lizotte’s menu, there is much to discover and learn over the four-day festival.

“The traditions of the First Nations and Inuit of Quebec reflect exceptional richness and diversity. I am convinced that the event will once again be a resounding success this year,” said Ian Lafrenière, Quebec minister responsible for relations with First Nations and Inuit.

While some people walk through the Forest of 11 Indigenous Languages, others will work with modern and traditional tools at the FabLab Workshop or attend one of many talks about Indigenous life or powwows. On June 13, KWE! will project Anishnabe short films from Wapikoni Mobile, and on June 14, the coming-of-age film Ninan Auassat – Nous, les enfants, directed by Kim O’Bomsawin. To keep people moving, Dr. Stanley Vollant will lead the Puamun Meshkenu (Path of a Thousand Dreams) Walk at 1 p.m. on June 14.

In support of the festival, on June 13, the Gabrielle-Roy Library will present Frétillant et Agile, a play by Wendat author Jocelyn Sioui about two people, young and old, embarking on the adventure of a lifetime to discover humanity.

The festivities will continue on June 21, National Indigenous Peoples Day, with a show at Place de L’Assemblée-Nationale. Wendat composer and film music producer Geneviève Gros-Louis will open the show and be joined by members of the 11 First Nations to sing the festival theme song, inspired by Serge Fiori’s Un musicien parmi tant d’autres. A live tribute to pioneering Innu singer-songwriter Florent Vollant will feature Zachary Richard, Maten, Dumas, Hauterive, Scott-Pien Picard and Vincent Vallières.

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Huron-Wendat Nation mulls dropping “Huron” from official name

Local Journalism Initiative / / / , , , , ,

Huron-Wendat Nation mulls dropping “Huron” from official name

Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporter

editor@qctonline.com

The Huron-Wendat Nation of Wendake could soon drop the word “Huron” from its name.

The nation will hold a public consultation on April 26 to get an idea of community members’ attitudes toward a potential name change, and move forward with the change if the consultation indicates support for the idea, Grand Chief Pierre Picard told the QCT.

Picard explained that the name change has been discussed informally for some time. Wendake itself was known as Village-des-Hurons until the mid-1980s.

“The conversations that I’ve had with younger people, they use the name Wendat, although there can be an attachment to the name Huron if you’re an older person who has been calling yourself Huron or Huron-Wendat for 60, 70, 80 years. On April 26, we’ll see whether people are in favour of the change,” Picard said.

Wendat author and anthropologist Louis-Karl Picard-Sioui is one high-profile supporter of the name change. He explained that the word “Huron” was derived from the French word hure, meaning “boar’s head” because French colonists thought the way Wendat men wore their hair, in a ridge down the centre with the sides shaved, resembled a boar’s head; in the 19th century, the word huron became an insult, a synonym for “vulgar.” The word “Wendat,” he said, is likely to have come from a Wendat term meaning “people who all speak the same language;” other sources suggest it might mean “island dwellers.” The important thing, he said, was that the name came from the nation itself, not from outsiders.

Picard-Sioui said the current double-barrelled name is “confusing. … Why call us two names, including one that’s a slur? It’s like calling the Quebec nation the ‘frog-Québécois nation.’ We’re in the era of decolonization and it’s not normal to define ourselves in the colonial sense,” he said.

“I’m 49 years old, and since I was little, the term ‘Huron’ has been on its way out,” he added. “For 150 years, people used it so they would be understood [by outsiders], but by the time my generation were teenagers, 30-some years ago, we were already telling people not to call us that.”

Picard said if the consultation indicates support for the name change, it would need to be confirmed by a band council resolution. The nation would then need to apply to the federal government for permission to enact an official name change. “We’re still under the Indian Act, so there’s a whole process … but I can’t see the feds refusing that in 2025,” he said. Institutions that officially use the double name, such as the Musée Huron-Wendat, could then choose whether or not to incorporate the change in their own names.

He observed that colonial names for Indigenous Peoples are increasingly falling out of use in Quebec – two of Quebec’s larger First Nations are now commonly known by their Indigenous names, the Innu and the Anishnabe, rather than the colonial Montagnais and Algonquin. “Zimbabwe used to be Southern Rhodesia,” he pointed out. “We’re not the only nation that has done this. … It’s a correction of history that has let outsiders define us. We want to define ourselves now.”

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