Keyword: resilience

Remembering the past to give hope for the future

The equinox, for many First Nations people, represents change and transformation. Spring in particular is a time of awakening, renewal as well as rebirth. It is also time to journey towards the gathering place. This special place, where meetings, exchanges, celebrations and mourning take place, is full of meaning and memories because it remembers the past, bears witness to the present and offers hope for the future.

Living, surviving, and never giving up!

Pessamit, 1973. This story begins 40 years ago, after a routine medical exam given at the dispensary of an Innu community in the beautiful Côte-Nord region. The news was unexpected and devastating: like the weighted blade of a guillotine, falling at lightning speed between its wooden pillars, unimpeded by any obstacle in its path, not even my head. That’s when the doctor told us, in a language I didn’t understand, that I would soon have to leave my family, friends and community for a very long time. I felt the guillotine’s effects once again, except that this time, it wasn’t only my head that was severed from my body, it was my very soul that would be severed from the family unit. That seemed more horrible to me than losing my head.