CPTnet
April 3, 2004
ASUBPEESCHOSEEWAGONG: Follow the Footsteps- Ottawa Youth in Grassy Narrows
by Matt Schaaf
"[The] people are like a sleeping giant, and now after so many years of
being dormant, they have rekindled the sacred fire on the surface, that has
forever been burning deep within," wrote Andrea Innes, a member of the
Ottawa Mennonite Church, after a March-break youth delegation to
Asubpeeschoseewagong (Grassy Narrows.)
Seven high school youth and two adult sponsors traveled from the nation's
capital to the remote First Nations community to experience a language
lesson from a local Ojibway teacher, visit an elder's trap-line clear-cut by
Abitibi-Consolidated and hear presentations from local trappers. The group
also met Janice Billy of the Secwempec Nation in BC (which is blocking the
Sun Peaks ski resort's attempt to develop Secwempec traditional land), and
toured the Abitibi pulp mill in Kenora.
In the mill office hung a poster of two brown-skinned people paddling a
northern lake with the legend: "We have not inherited the earth from our
fathers, we are borrowing it from our children."
Innes reflected, "Like all cultures in Canada the Anishnaabe culture must be
respected, for there is nothing wrong, impractical or harmful about their
way of life. The Anishnaabe people are wise and carry a great knowledge of
the forests, lakes, and skies around them, and we can learn much about
these people in terms of sustainable living."
Bunked in the school, the youth filled their evenings eating with community
members and playing basketball and broomball with Grassy Narrows
youth. Each one got a taste of CPT violence reduction work role-playing a
blockade in the bush.
As they left to present their findings to churches and schools in Ottawa,
many of the delegates marvelled at the gracefulness and strength of the
Anishnaabe resistance to racism. The people of Grassy Narrows are teaching
youth and the communities around them their culture and beliefs, hoping to
gain more appreciation and recognition as nation, Innes reported.
Innes contributed a poem as part of her debriefing:
Follow the footsteps
Walk the path into the woods,
Stop, Look, Listen, Feel, Understand
We learn, we come to see and understand your world
The hurt, the struggle, we are here to fight with you
For the trees, and the swift and gentle breeze
We want to feel with you,
Share the stories, the tradition and the pain
Take a step outside into the arms of nature Embrace the silence Listen to
the Great Spirit as he speaks through the trees
We come to hear you, for you teach us to listen
To speak well felt out words
And to be comforted by silence
Ottawa Mennonite Church delegates included Andrea Innes, Elizabeth Woodyard,
Greer Leckie, Stewart Leckie, Eli Froese-Germain, Thomas Montgomery,
Mireille Rigby, adult sponsor Leonard Gerbrandt, and youth pastor Katie
Derksen.
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Supporting violence-reduction efforts around the world is its mandate.
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