Lessons from the road #1: road trip to Eeyou Istchee (the Peoples’ land)

After our recent Staff Learning tour in Northern Quebec, we invited our staff to write reflections about their time there. In this series of ‘blog’ posts, you learn about how each of our Program Staff and General Secretary connected with the trip, and why it was important to them!
First up, our General Secretary Jenn Preston sets the context for our trip:

“Relationships, relationships, relationships!”

So, Karen asks me, “I really want to know more about the Cree Nation Government (CNG) Justice programs – can we go there?” Sandra chimes in with “I want to go as well and learn about the income program for hunters”. Mel rounds it out with “I’ll do all the driving for moose stew”. Sarah had not even started her work with us as our Indigenous Rights coordinator, and she declared “of course I want to come”.

And so, my long-time friend and colleague Don Nicholls, Director of Justice for the CNG, agrees to host the CFSC team for a few days in Mistissini and makes good suggestions for other stops as he and I map it out. It is the first time in my life that I travelled solely by car to Eeyou Istchee. As a child, there was a car, a train, and finally a float plane. The world has changed.

I would have first been in Cree territory as a baby – sometime in the mid-1960s. With a lifetime of personal family relationships, it was a pleasure to start working with the Grand Council of the Crees (GCC) in the international arena, close to 30 years ago. CFSC has been in relationship with GCC / CNG for decades. We worked closely with Cree representatives in the Coalition for the Human Rights of Indigenous Peoples, as well as in the intensive journey to see the adoption of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and then secure federal legislation for the implementation. Retired GCC lawyer Paul Joffe even served as an associate member of our Indigenous Rights program.

SO with Karen’s request, we then embarked on a CFSC road trip. We all arrived in Ottawa and loaded the rented vehicle with lunch, snacks and bags. LOTS of potato chips. Road trips travel on snacks. And we drove north. On the way, we had briefly stopped in Waswanipi, and I saw a poster for CNG Grand Chief Paul John Murdoch – son of the late Gerti Diamond, who had lived with my family for 2 years in the late 60s, my auntie.

12 hours after leaving Ottawa, we arrived at the Mistissini Lodge, a comfortable lodge right on the water.

Our hosts were exceptionally generous with time, food, knowledge, laughter, friendship. We worked hard at being good guests too! Presentations, tours, boat ride, blueberries, tea, so many meals on the deck of the Nicholls’ family home. Celina, staff at the Justice Department, tracked down a woman who had moose hide moccasins for sale – a joy to smell the fragrance that is pure magic and bring home a unique and priceless gift.

After many experiences described in the other blogs you are about to read, we started the journey back to Ottawa. Our first stop was a seniors’ residence to meet Don’s mom, Dorothy Nicholls – an amazing woman. Then we went on to the Cree Cultural Institute in Oje-Boujoumou. This opened in 2011, and my father had donated his considerable personal collection. It was a thrill to see some of those items that had been on display in our home and a bigger thrill to see his picture on the wall with his mentor John Blackned, and Sidney Georgekish. John made the tent miniature for my dad.

This somewhat unintended trip was a journey indeed. I enjoyed sharing my knowledge and experiences with the staff team as we drove. CFSC is much richer from what everyone learned. This is a particular methodology for our work in all program areas. Relationships, relationships, relationships. Partnerships are what make our work useful. Thank you to Don, Wade, Celina, Amy, Will, Robert, Noah, Dorothy, Nathania, Nelson, and Jamie for all you do and all you shared.