In the Know:
Respect the Moose
June 2021
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Episode description
Moose are vital to many Indigenous communities across so-called Canada. In this episode we learn about Cree moose teachings from Jeff Wastesicoot and Dr. Kevin Lewis before talking to Chief Joe Alphonse (Tŝilhqot’in) and Dara Wawatie-Chabot (Anishinaabe) about their experiences with moose preservation.
We want to recognize that some of the audio for this episde was pulled from a webinar co-hosted by Keepers of the Water, Kâniyâsihk Culture Camps, Indigenous Knowledge & Wisdom Centre, and Indigenous Climate Action.
About Jeff Wastesicoot
Jeff comes from Pimickamack Cree Nation (Cross Lake Manitoba). He has served as a Language consultant and knowledge Keeper for many years.
Jeff continues to dedicate much of his time to helping people overcome personal challenges through ceremonies, traditional medicines and counseling. He has dedicated his life to the preservation of the Nehiyew language and culture. Jeff recognizes the spirit within the tongue, as he interprets the parables within the Nehiyew language. He is recognized in the acknowledged among the First Nations community as a spiritual leader and traditional healer.
Jeff’s life experience includes time spent in residential school and foster homes in Canada and the United States. Memories of the time spent with his grandparents, Johnston Blacksmith and Mary North in Pimickamack Cree Nation, prior to entering the residential school and foster care system, brought solace during troubling times away from home. It was these memories that prompted his return to his community and people of Pimickamack Cree Nation and the teaching of his grandparents and other elders among them.
Jeff was re-indoctrinated to the ways of the Nehiyew upon his return. The experience of residential school and numerous foster homes suppressed the language of his birth and he had to reclaim it over time. His determination to reclaim the language and ways of his grandparents resulted in a proficiency that garnered recognition as an interpreter and language consultant. This recognition drew Jeff into the work of First Nations leaders and Elders throughout Canada.
The stories told to him in the Nehiyew language through ceremony and consult with the Elders remain, and he in turn, continues to promote this knowledge with other Nations throughout Canada. Jeff resides in Onihcikiskwapiwin Cree Nation (Saddle Lake Alberta) with his wife Shelly, their children and grandchildren.
About Dr. Kevin Lewis
Dr. Kevin wâsakâyâsiw Lewis is a nêhiyaw (Plains Cree) instructor, researcher and writer. Dr. Lewis has worked with higher learning institutions within the Prairie Provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta in the areas of Cree Language Development and Instructional methodologies.
His research interests include language and policy development, second language teaching methodologies, teacher education programming, and environmental education. For the past 18 years, Dr. Lewis has been working with community schools in promoting land and language-based education and is founder of kâniyâsihk Culture Camps (www.kaniyasihkculturecamps.com/) a non-profit organization focused on holistic community well-being and co-developer of Land-Based Cree Immersion School kâ-nêyâsihk mîkiwâhpa. Dr. Lewis is from Ministikwan Lake Cree Nation in Treaty 6 Territory.
Connect with kâniyâsihk Culture Camps
Website: KaniyasihkCultureCamps.com
Facebook: @nehiyawUniversity
Twitter: @theislander7
Instagram: @kaniyasihkculturecamps
About Dara Wawatie-Chabot
Dara Wawatie-Chabot is Anishinabekwe from Kitigan Zibi Anishinabeg and Algonquins of Barrier Lake Quebec. A young mother, student, teacher and leader, they have spent time in Ottawa learning about Indigenous and Canadian politics, grassroots activism and levergaging platforms to enhance the voices of the traditional caretakers of Anishinabe Aki. Their work on the Moose Moratorium focuses on solidarity building, advocacy and momentum building.
Connect with Dara (Wawatay Creations)
Facebook: @WawatayCreations
Instagram: @WawatayCreations
Connect with the Moose Moratorium
Instagram: @MooseMoratorium
Twitter: @AnishinaabeMM
About Nits’ilʔin Joe Alphonse – Tribal Chairman (Tl’etinqox)
Chief Joe Alphonse has been the Tribal Chairman of the Tŝilhqot’in National Government (TNG) since 2010 and elected Chief of the Tl’etinqox-t’in Government since 2009. He remains the longest elected Chief in the history of Tl’etinqox-t’in. From 2000 to 2009 Chief Alphonse acted as the Director of Government and Services at the TNG. From 1997 to 2000 he attended Lethbridge Community College for Environmental and Political Science and managed Punky Lake Wilderness Camp Society in 2000. Chief Alphonse also acted as a Council member of Tl’etinqox-t’in from 1989 to 1993.
Chief Alphonse played an instrumental role in the Tŝilhqot’in Nation vs. British Columbia Aboriginal Title case. As a fluent Chilcotin speaker, Chief Alphonse is a fifth generation Tŝilhqot’in Chief and the direct decedent of Chief Anaham, the Grand Chief of the Tŝilhqot’in Nation during the Chilcotin War of 1864. Chief Alphonse has brought stability, consistency and respectability into the many roles he has been honoured to hold within his community and Nation.
Connect with the Tŝilhqot’in National Government
Website: tsilhqotin.ca/
Facebook: @Tsilhqotin
Twitter: @tsilhqotin
Sources
https://alcesjournal.org/index.php/alces/article/view/243
https://www.tvo.org/article/ontarios-declining-moose-population
https://www.cbc.ca/news/indigenous/algonquin-barriere-lake-moose-moratorium-1.5723545
https://ricochet.media/en/3285/anishinaabe-block-roads-to-stop-trophy-hunting-in-northern-quebec
http://nationnews.ca/news/barriere-lake-takes-action-against-overhunting-in-wildlife-reserve/
https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/supreme-court-hands-tsilhqotin-major-victory-historic-ruling/