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Knowledge Keepers

Foundations – Is Our Past Our Future?

September 12, 2025

By Doug Gilmore

Recently I found myself reflecting on the early days of Pimachiowin Aki. Many fond memories quickly floated to the surface. At the time my role was Park Superintendent of Woodland Caribou Provincial Park, located in Northwest Ontario near the town of Red Lake. Woodland Caribou Park is part of the Pimachiowin Aki World Heritage Site. I recall that I was very excited to take part in the Pimachiowin Aki World Heritage Site process, although at the outset the site had yet to receive that wonderfully appropriate name.

It was in my role as park superintendent only a few years earlier that I had initiated and led a planning process for Woodland Caribou Park. That project was one of my first exposures to working closely with First Nation Communities. To expand on the previous sentence, I must add that this exposure cemented my understanding and belief that working together with Indigenous people is extremely beneficial. Looking back, coming from my Wemtigoshi background, I can easily admit at the outset to looking at things from one perspective, but keeping an open mind to all possibilities.  It took no time at all to come to the realization that this was the only way forward and that any product which may result from our efforts would be the better for our working closely together.

At an early Pimachiowin Aki meeting, members from each community expressed very clearly what was important for their community. Things like protecting the rock paintings, not to over harvest the animals, acting carefully around areas that act as water filters for the watershed were comments common to most. People spoke about the high levels of unemployment in their communities and the desire that this project could help to alleviate that. It was clearly stated that their traditional lands used to provide a livelihood for their people but this no longer was the case.  Community presentations included the desire from their Elders to “protect traditional lands”.  One individual recalled a comment from a grandparent that “we need to protect our lands” and it came with a warning that “there may be difficulties ahead”. Another spoke about how he was raised by his grandparents. They taught him how to preserve food in the summertime and spoke about how they used the land and how he wanted to keep the teachings of his grandfather. He gave an example where people used dried moss as diapers and that one of the teachings of the moss was to put it back in its place.

Someone much smarter than I at an early meeting summarized all the comments by describing the activities of the people on the land as the cultural foundation of the project. The term Living Landscape was used, reflecting on the strong linkage between the land and the people. Strong linkage? I have come to understand it as an inseparable linkage.

Fascinating… an education in real time.

In the months and years to come the World Heritage process continued to be an educational one, enlightening me on what it meant to grow up in a remote First Nation Community where at one time it was normal or part of everyday life to go out on the land or trapline to perform livelihood pursuits. This once normal activity would slowly or in some cases abruptly change to where it became more and more difficult to access the bush to carry out livelihood activities on a regular basis.

The World Heritage process also included working as a member of parallel planning processes with Little Grand Rapids and Pauingasssi First Nations for the part of their traditional territories that lies in the Province of Ontario. This included many opportunities to visit these communities, meet with elders and community members in workshop and open house events. It also included travelling to Weaver Lake as a guest of Poplar River First Nation to attend a Pimachiowin Aki meeting and workshop there. 

Photo: Otake Hidehiro

The workshop events were perhaps the ones that were most impactful for me as we were able to spend a few days in the communities allowing for a less frenetic pace for the exchange of information. Remaining with me are memories of sitting with the late Russell Keeper pouring over maps of his trapline and of him describing in detail the landscape of his youth and how it supported his present-day activities on the land. What also sticks with me is the pride in the voices of various community members as they relayed stories and teachings of their family members and how they are determined to bring them forward and keep them going. Equally impactful was the coordination and care shown by the land use planning representatives for each community, Augustine Keeper and the late Joe Owen, and on the performance of their duties and the responsibility that the community had entrusted them with.

It was brought to my attention that although I was working in partnership toward our common goal, I was sometimes guilty of describing Indigenous land activities as happening in the past, not in the present. Not intentional of course but my background being what it was I periodically fell into the trap of just copying what I heard or read. There is a term for this, a term identified to me by an Indigenous planning partner as “the Invisible Indian Syndrome”. It’s a real thing, definitely! What an eye opener. You’re never too old to learn.

The take away from my perspective is this, the Indigenous people of Pimachiowin Aki gain their life from the land, they always have. Their links to the land are real and permanent and it is through Pimachiowin Aki that they will share it with the world. The stories, traditions and culture they choose to share with the world will be the foundation for the site into the future. For me I think this is unique, for them it’s probably everyday life. 

Filed Under: Cultural Heritage, Indigenous Traditional Knowledge, Knowledge Keepers, Uncategorised, UNESCO World Heritage

Wisdom of the Living Landscape: 21 Quotes from Knowledge Keepers

September 12, 2025

1. There is a big circle we call The Circle of Life. Every living thing The Creator made fits on this circle side by side. Every living thing, including the smallest insect, was given jobs to do. Plants and trees for example were given many jobs, cleaning the air, medicines, as food for the birds, animals, fish and people. Some of the animals, birds and fish where given the job to feed us and much more. Our job as given to us by The Creator was to take care of all life on earth.

Albert Bittern (November 2013)

2. As Annishinaabe people we want to leave a lasting legacy to protect and preserve of this area for the benefit of the planet.

Sophia Rabliauskas, July 1, 2018 (remarks to the World Heritage Committee following inscription of Pimachiowin Aki on the World Heritage List)

3. We want to keep the area the way it always was, to keep it for our children, grandchildren and unborn children, so that they can use and care for it as we have.

Victor Bruce, March 200

4. Traditional knowledge was offered to others only if the Elder felt it was appropriate.  People weren’t forced to know about the tradition, but they would be noticed by the Elders as time went by.

Joe Owen, March 2014

5. Teachings are shared through drumming, singing, community gatherings, offerings. For as long as we remember, the Elder that has the most knowledge and wisdom is the community leader. This Elder would perform traditional drum songs, provide medicine for healing, and use many other traditional methods.

Solomon Pascal (in translation, January 2014)
Whitehead Moose, 2007

6. The Creator has a match and that match is the Thunderbird. He brings that match to the land when the forest gets too old and can’t grow anymore. So the thunderbird comes to earth. After the forest is burnt new growth starts. Animals get tired of eating old food. Just like you and me. The Creator knows that animals need new food. The fire there brings fresh food to eat. As an example: rabbit favours new growth area. When you look at rabbit I think it is like a food chain for animals. Rabbits have three litters a summer. Fox, lynx, marten all depend on rabbit. The Creator has to care for all animals so he sends Thunderbird to earth to make food for rabbit. We like to eat rabbit, too. So he burns for us, too. Where fire comes to a rock area, blueberries come after the fire. [That] feeds a lot of animals. We eat blueberries, too. Fire makes good food areas.

Whitehead Moose, June 2006

7. This place is sacred to me. Why? For as long as I can remember my family trapped, hunted, gathered, had ceremonies. My parents and great grandfather would sing pow-wow and play the drum. They used to do this by the end of the day to give thanks to Manidoo, Creator.

Melba Green, March 2014
Giiwiich, Photograph A115, American Philosophical Society

8. Since stones are grammatically animate, I once asked an old man, Alex Keeper (Giiwiich), ‘Are all of the stones we see about us here alive?’ He reflected a long while and then replied, ‘No! But some are.’ This qualified answer made a lasting impression on me.  

A. Irving Hallowell, 1930s

9. After the Creator finished making everything on earth, he decided to create human beings. He took pieces of mud from the four directions and made them into the shape of a man. Then he took a miigis [cowrie] shell, blew his breath into it and placed it in the man he had made. The man came to life. The Creator gently took this man in his hands and lowered him onto the earth and said, “This is my beautiful garden and I am asking you to take care of it.

Abel Bruce and Albert Bittern

10. There is a cliff-rock-painting of a snapping turtle [on a certain river]. When someone travels along over there, they’d cut some tobacco. They would hope to kill a moose, they would say. Sure enough, that was exactly what would happen. That person would get the blessing to kill a moose. This is the reason they put tobacco in their pipe. They would say, I will kill a moose, as they placed tobacco in their pipe. That was the purpose of the cliff rock-paintings.

Kenneth Owen
Ed Hudson

11. The head of the family would make the decisions in regards to the land. If there was a shortage of beaver or muskrat for example they would leave that area alone for a while, until these populations increased. They did this to ensure future use of these resources.

Ed Hudson, September 2013
Joe Owen, 2008

12. The most qualified wildlife hunter that existed in the boreal forest region. People are very concerned that nobody will carry on or replace such skills.

Joe Owen, 2010

13. Well, the women wear the bells too.  Goodness did they sound good when they were sliding their feet and dancing … Mii wa’a igi ikwewag, igi Gichi-Ikwewag! These were the women. The Grand Women!

Maangoons Strang (Little Loon), 1992

14. The medicines have kept us alive and helped to cure sickness. The bush is our drugstore and we are grateful for all those plants that are happy to give up their lives to help us.

Abel Bruce and Albert Bittern

15. Most people think about a landscape as a physical and natural backdrop for life, a sort of stage upon which life happens. But in the Ojibwe way of thinking, the landscape is alive; it is full of human and non-human beings that engage with the people who know a certain place thoroughly.

Pauingassi Lands Management Plan 
Sophia Rabliauskas, Pimachiowin Aki Press Conference, November 2010

16. The water represents life to the Anishinaabe people. The Creator gave the responsibility to women to create life and to care for the health of the water. Life begins by being surrounded by water in our mother’s womb. In our ceremonies it is the women’s responsibility to carry that water and share it with others. In our stories and teachings, it has always been the grandmothers who watch over the water and they are still carrying out that sacred responsibility today. We were also taught that the water is very spiritual and that we need to acknowledge that spirit in our prayers each day.

Sophia Rabliauskas, December 2011

17. Ji-ganawendamang Gidakiiminaan is itself a tradition of monitoring, of keeping the land by watching over the land.

Enil Keeper, October 2014

18. My dad told me that I had to have a net, hooks, and snare. If you ever go hungry, you can set snares for rabbits and set those hooks for fish. If you do that all the time, you won’t go hungry. If you use your gun to fish with, you won’t kill fish that way. You don’t kill everything with a gun.

Adam Owen, March 1984

19. We don’t laugh at or tease any animals. We hold them with much respect because it is not proper in our culture to tease animals, whether they are large or small. They will hear you when you don’t respect them and they will come after you, get even with you.

Anishinaabe Elder, in translation
Melba Green

20. Knowledge of when and what to harvest, trap and hunt has been passed down through generations. For Anishinaabeg, it’s like instinct.

Melba Green

21. It’s always important to respect people when you meet them because you don’t know what carries them or what watches over them. It’s not the person that you offend. That person may forgive you but the one that’s watching over that person may not forgive you. That’s why it’s important that we always talk polite to people. Even when we travel, we always travel with tobacco and offerings out of respect.

Clinton Keeper (in response to the Wiindigoo Story told to him by Maggie Duck)

Feature Image: Elder Abel Bruce © Otake Hidehiro

Filed Under: Cultural Heritage, Indigenous Traditional Knowledge, Knowledge Keepers, Uncategorised

Oral History Recordings – Drum Dance Ceremony and Interview with Little Grand Rapids First Nation Medicine Man William Bones Leveque

June 20, 2024

A Pimachiowin Aki Director learned years ago that an interview with Little Grand Rapids First Nation medicine man William Bones Leveque was recorded in the 1960s.

 “I read about the interview in the Hudson Bay Company (HBC) records when we did a history project at school for the community,” says the Director for Little Grand Rapids First Nation.

He has wanted to hear the recordings ever since. It was his idea to find the recordings and share them with the people of Pimachiowin Aki.  

The recordings (below) are part of a collection of film and sound recordings that were either created or acquired by HBC.

Learn more about the Hudson’s Bay Company film, video and sound collection

Feature Photo: William Bones Leveque answering questions for tape recorder operated by Don Ferguson 
Photographer: Don Ferguson, 2 July 1963
Don Ferguson fonds, Hudson’s Bay Company Archives, Archives of Manitoba

HBCA-T7-1

Little Grand Rapids [drum dance ceremony and interviews with medicine man William Bones Levesque, interpreter David Duck and HBC employee Walter Moar], [Moccasin Telegraph, Fall/Winter 1963]


HBCA-T7-2

Part two of an oral interview with HBC employee Walter Moar. See transcript below.


HBCA-T7-2 Transcript

Transcribed to the best of our ability.

[Speaker 1] Interviewer Don Ferguson (HBC employee)
[Speaker 2] Interpreter Walter Moar (HBC employee)
[Speaker 3] Unknown
[Speaker 4] Unknown

Relocation after the store burned down

[Speaker 1] (0:00) When did they move over to the other location?

Inaudible

[Speaker 1] Why did they move over there?

[Speaker 2] Well, they figured, they see, when the store burned out here, because they had hard time to come across here, see, with the water, because the water’s always open

Click here for full transcript

[Speaker 1]  I see.

[Speaker 2] (0:27) They have to go around. When they put the store out there, see, they can go in right there.

[Speaker 1] Right

[Speaker 2] Even the airplane couldn’t land here, they have to go around before they can get a mail.

[Speaker 1] I see, and that’s why they moved across.

[Speaker 2] I think that’s what they had to do.

[Speaker 1] I see. And then, um, uh, they just let these buildings go after that, didn’t they?

[Speaker 2] Yeah, yeah.

[Speaker 1] But they burned out, the store burned down, eh?

[Speaker 2] Yeah, yeah. The store burned down and then they built the other one across.

[Speaker 1] I see.

[Speaker 2] This one was… I’ve got this one. They tear it down, they leave boards.

[Speaker 1] Yeah, yeah.

[Speaker 3] Inaudible

[Speaker 2] 01:15 No, no. I think it’s the first one was used by my grandfather, Tony Moar.

[Speaker 1] This is the one that’s still left.

[Speaker 2] Yes. Tony Moar, yeah. 

[Speakers] Inaudible  

[Speaker 1] 01:28 But, uh, Walter says that they first established at Moar Lake. I didn’t know that. Uh, the first store, and then they came here, and then over to the present site.

[Speaker 3] Inaudible

Moving goods by canoe

[Speaker 2] 1:58 This would be after the Berens River. Well, I guess that’s what they said. They got energy from the Berens River to Moar Lake, and they hauled it in by canoe.

[Speaker 1] 2:20 Can you come from Berens River to here now without a portage?

[Speaker 2] No, no, not a portage. Without a portage is…

[Speaker 1] Fifty-two. Fifty-two…

[Speaker 2] Yeah, we used to haul it straight.

[Speaker 1] You were a boy back then.

[Speaker 2] Yeah, when I was a young boy, yeah. I used to haul it straight to the Berens River.

[Speaker 1] Oh, yeah.

[Speaker 2] 2:47 Well, before they moved, they had a tractor over here. They’d bring the stuff by the tractor to here, see?

[Speaker 3] Oh, yes.

[Speaker 2] And after that, they moved across.

[Speaker 1] I see.

[Speaker 2] That was before we used to haul it by canoe. About 1,500 pounds in each canoe.

[Speaker 1] I see.

[Speaker 2] Too many.

[Speaker 3] And you carried 90-pound packs like they used to carry all day?

[Speaker 2] 3:16 Oh, yeah. Some of them carried 400 pounds in a bag.

[Speaker 1] That’s bags of flour.

[Speaker 2] Yeah.

Inaudible

[Speaker 2] Get a few lynx, too. Beavers, birds.

Then and now

[Speaker 1] 3:42 Are the people better off now, would you say, than they were, say, 15 years, 20 years ago?

[Speaker 2] Well, first, I think they have a little bit of family allowance, but before they never had family allowance, not in 20 years ago.

[Speaker 1] They’re getting more income and everything now…

Inaudible

[Speaker 1] … and they’re better health-wise, would you say?

[Speaker 2] I think so. I think so.

[Speaker 1] 4:10 Like, with the nursing station being here?

[Speaker 2] It was a long time ago, nobody ever got sick. I never knew. And I never knew (inaudible) long time ago.

[Speaker 1] Mm-hmm. Well, that’s unusual, because there used to be a lot of people go out every Treaty time, didn’t there?

[Speaker 2] Yeah, yeah. But now…

[Speaker 3] The people they have to learn (inaudible).

Trading with Pauingassi

[Speaker 1] 4:43 What about the Pauingassi crowd? What’s happened there?

[Speaker 2] Well, you see, they belong to this Indian reserve. They belong to this reserve.

[Speaker 1] Yeah.

[Speaker 1]  They stay out there, see, because they got the better fishing out there. They eat fish, see. (inaudible)

[Speaker 1] 4:54 I see. I understand they don’t like the people here.

[Speaker 2] I don’t think so. Well, I don’t know much about that… (laughs)

[Speaker 1] Well, what do they do as far as trading, Walter, is concerned?

[Speaker 2] Well, they come down here to…

[Speaker 1] Oh, I see. They would come down once a week, or once every two weeks, you tell me.

Inaudible

Commercial Fishing

[Speaker 1] Oh, I see. I see. Well, Pete Lazarenko was in here commercial fishing, wasn’t he?

[Speaker 2] Yeah, he was, he was, he was… well, in the fall; every fall, October.

[Speaker 1] Oh, I see. Late fall, eh?

[Speaker 2] Yeah, late in the fall.

[Speaker 1] 5:44 And does he take fish right in the, in Berens River, or…

[Speaker 2] Oh, yeah, they take fish in this lake, and they take fish in this fishing lake.

[Speaker 1] I see.

[Speaker 2] In this lake.

[Speaker 1] Tracy’s up there now, is he?

[Speaker 2] 5:54 Yeah, Tracy’s out there. He’s got lots of… (inaudible)

[Speaker 1] Is he getting any business, any customers up there yet?

[Speaker 2] Yeah, he’s got a few now.

[Speaker 1] He has, eh?

[Speaker 2] Yeah.

[Speaker 1] I see.

[Speaker 3] It’s quite early, too. They only opened… (inaudible)

[Speaker 2] Oh, yeah. Oh, yes.

Inaudible

[Speaker 2] Sometimes rain, cloud. They never got wet.

Agriculture

[Speaker 1] 6:28 Oh, I see. So they, that’s another reason why they kept, moved across, eh?

[Speaker 2] Yeah. Yeah (inaudible). Another one way out there. Gardens.That was my grandfather’s here. Potatoes. He had lots of rhubarb.

[Speaker 1] Rhubarb.

[Speaker 2] Oh, yeah. Everything, they had here.

[Speaker 1] Oh, yeah.

[Speaker 2] They had two horses here.

Inaudible

[Speaker 3] 7:04 Well, they usually have many horses in this part of the country, right?

[Speaker 2] And since when we went out to Berens River, no more horses.

[Speaker 1] No.

Inaudible

Waste Disposal Practices

[Speaker 1] This is still the, the path, like, that they used to come up on, eh? And they hump the flour on their back coming up here. Walter, do you know where the garbage dump was, where they threw the garbage and that?

[Speaker 2] Oh, it was way up in the bank there.

[Speaker 1] I see. Doctor, uh, Walter was saying that their refuse disposal was way behind the house there. That might have been an interesting spot to look into.

[Speaker 2] Oh, yeah. Well, everything, they must have… they bury everything. See, they dig down the hole and they throw everything in there.

[Speaker 1] Is that, that was how they used it, eh? They buried all the garbage?

[Speaker 2] They buried out all that stuff in their cans and all that stuff.

Trading a Double Barrel for a Single Barrel

[Speaker 4] 08:13 Warden Crone, the manager, was at Pukatawagan.

[Speaker 1] Oh, yeah.

[Speaker 4] And he got it from, eh, in Dillon… Dillon, Saskatchewan.

[Speaker 1] 08:20 Oh, yeah.

[Speaker 4] 08:13 And I had, I got a double barrel. See, I got a double barrel in Pukatawagan and I traded him plus ten dollars for this single barrel.

[Speaker 1]  Oh, I see.

[Speaker 4]  But the double barrel, they sawed it off, you see. It was a sawed-off shotgun, just like it. So I wouldn’t, you know, this was in bad condition. I’ve got it at the post office.

[Speaker 1] Yeah, I’d like to have a look at it when we get back.

[Speaker 3] (inaudible)

Gallery

Photo Galleries

Photographer: Ōtake Hidehiro, May 2024
Keeper of the William Bones Leveque drum: Carlisle (Car Leslie) Bushie

Don Ferguson fonds (1987/273). Photographer: Don Ferguson, 2 July 1963
Hudson’s Bay Company Archives, Archives of Manitoba 




William Bones Leveque with pipe
William Bones Leveque, medicine man, singing. Full name, according to Nurse Lowry: Flatstone Jackfish Whiskyjack Joseph William Bones Leveque, known as ‘William Bones’



William Bones Leveque (with pipe) and Chief Sam Bushie






Observers. David Duck holding baby on left 
Women dancing anticlockwise circling drum in small step and dip: 1. Louise Leveque; 2. Sarah Leveque; 3. Frances Bascombe; 4. Marion Eaglestick 



Extreme left David Duck with 4 men dancing. At drum L to R: Bones, Bascombe, Bushie, Keeper. 4 women dancing: Louise Leveque, Sarah Leveque, Frances Bascombe, Marion Eaglestick



David Duck (interpreter on the left) and Robertson (photographer in back)
Observers



HBC post buildings 



Bill Mayer Oakes 



Remains of old HBC post across river from present post 
This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is HBCA-1987-273-022-1-1020x1024.jpg



Cemetery at Little Grand Rapids 



In stern of boat Eric Dranthee, post manager Little Grand Rapids, clerk (only stayed 10 months with Company) Barry Tuckett 

Hudson’s Bay House Photo Collection
Hudson’s Bay Company Archives, Archives of Manitoba 

Little Grand Rapids HBC post, July 1963
William Bones Leveque (left), Little Grand Rapids, July 1963
William Bones Leveque (left), Little Grand Rapids, July 1963
William Bones Leveque (centre), Little Grand Rapids, July 1963
Little Grand Rapids HBC post buildings, 1967. Photographer: George Hunter
Little Grand Rapids HBC post, 1967. Photographer: George Hunter

Thank you to the Pimachiowin Aki Director for Little Grand Rapids First Nation for your efforts to connect people of Pimachiowin Aki with our cultural heritage. Thank you also to drum keeper Carlisle Bushie and photographer Ōtake Hidehiro for making it possible for us to share images of the William Bones Leveque drum today, and to the staff of the Archives of Manitoba for providing Pimachiowin Aki with digitized copies of the audio recordings and photographs donated to the Archives.

Filed Under: Cultural Heritage, First Nation Communities, Knowledge Keepers, Uncategorised Tagged With: Hudson Bay Company, Little Grand Rapids First Nation, Manitoba Archives, Medicine Man, Pauingassi First Nation

How to Harvest Manoomin (Wild Rice) 

March 11, 2024


The late Joe Owen of Pauingassi First Nation often reminisced about harvesting, traveling and listening to stories from his dad. Below, Joe describes the process of harvesting manoomin (wild rice).

Identify Harvest Time

The wild rice plant needs to be above the surface of the water, with the branch extended, and pockets for the kernels formed. Once this occurs, it takes about 10 days for the heads to fill out. At that point, the kernels are ripe and need to be harvested. If this narrow time window is missed, rain or wind will cause the kernels to fall back into the lake.

Pankissinon
(Better pick them quickly before they fall)

Kwiipit (Joe’s Dad) often used this word
Manoomin looks like floating grass before it grows up and out of the water.
Photos: Ōtake Hidehiro


Drying Manoomin (Wild Rice)

Once the kernels are harvested, they are placed in a tall metal pail angled against the heat of the fire to heat and dry them. It is imperative that they be thoroughly dried for two reasons. First, the husking process follows the drying period and the husks won’t detach from the kernel if the kernels aren’t entirely dry. The heat needs to remove moisture and result in temperatures that cause the husk to burn, but not the rice. The second reason for needing high levels of dryness is to preserve the wild rice.  Heating of the kernel is needed to prepare for storage.

In the pot, a paddle is used to continuously stir the rice for 10-15 minutes if the quantity of wild rice is 3-4 pounds. This process is repeated over and over again during the initial drying/stirring process if greater volumes are being dried.

Ahkihkan okii apichii’an (They used a pail)
Piiwapihk ahkihk (A metal pail)
Oki wanaweyaanan ima ahkihkwonk
(It was stirred in the pail)
Apwi oki aapachii’an (A paddle was used)

Separating Husks and Kernels

Photo: Ōtake Hidehiro

Once the drying is done, the rice is placed on a canvas in a shallow pit in the ground. Joe’s Dad would step into the pit wearing moccasins. He would stand on the rice and stir it in an agitator fashion, with his feet moving side to side, while holding a branch or stick to maintain his balance. The agitating action would separate the dry/burned husks from the rice kernels.   

Once the husks and kernels were separated, Joe’s dad would lift out the canvas and throw the kernels up and down, allowing the wind to blow away the husks.

Ahkihkwaabpihk  kii siikinaan oteshpiwepinaanan, wepash ikiweniwak (husks)
Kii pahkwachihsewak (they fall off)

Photo: Ōtake Hidehiro

Pimachiowin Aki is grateful to Joe for sharing his knowledge and Gerald Neufeld for recording Joe’s words.

Filed Under: Cultural Heritage, Food, Harvesting, Indigenous Traditional Knowledge, Knowledge Keepers, Plants, Uncategorised, Wild Rice Tagged With: harvesting, Joe Owen, Pauingassi First Nation, Wild Rice

Remembering Joe Owen

September 18, 2023

By Gerald Neufeld

Joe Owen of Pauingassi First Nation

“The most qualified wildlife hunter in the boreal forest region. People are concerned that nobody will carry on or replace such skills.”

-In September 2010 Joe Owen wrote this caption for his photograph, featured above

Storyteller

As a youth Joe would walk for miles with his Dad to the family trapline at Lewis Lake. Joe recently described how his Dad would wake him and his brother Winston early on a winter morning to walk the distance back to Pauingassi on snowshoes. It was a long day of walking. Joe recalled his legs were short when he was young, and keeping up with Dad was difficult. Joe laughed as he described the experience of being tired and just wanting more sleep, as any youth does. He recently told me he how appreciative he was of his Dad for pushing him to develop a work ethic.

Knowledge Keeper

Joe Owen says, “It is very important that we keep the land as it is. The water is still good. The trees are good. The plants are good. We want to keep it that way so the animals can stay healthy.” Click ‘play’ to watch the full video.

In other conversations, Joe became nostalgic when talking about cultural practices of times past. He would reminisce about picking wild rice and how his Dad processed it, going to the family trapline, and hunting with his Dad. Joe was particularly proud of his ability to hunt big game (he certainly developed this skill from his father who was an exceptional hunter!). With a big smile on his face Joe would announce emphatically that he was the BEST hunter and in support of his proclamation, and pull out a newspaper clip in which Joe himself was the headline in support of his announcement!

Then and Now with Joe Owen

Family Man

Joe consistently spoke fondly of his children and enjoyed spending time with them.

Joe enjoyed talking about earlier days where he’d travel to Pikangikum to visit relatives. He would travel with his Grandmother Ehshinminchimowiye and cousin Shortie. They’d stay with relatives. He describes this as being his Grandmother’s way of introducing him to a world larger than Pauingassi.

Listener

In conversation, Joe listened with intent. It would be a rare conversation in which Joe wouldn’t engage. He had a unique perspective in his understandings. When Joe offered ideas or posed questions, they were well thought out and usually came from a different vantage point than expected. He enjoyed discussing, debating, and learning, and he presented a well-articulated presence. 

Leader

Joe was a proud member of the Board of Directors of Pimachiowin Aki.

Joe Owen representing Pimachiowin Aki at the National Trust Conference in Winnipeg, 2019

Joe had leadership experience in various areas of responsibility including past experience as Chief of Pauingassi and more recently the Manager of Land Use Planning for Pauingassi. In his role of Land Use Planner, Joe participated in active negotiations with the UNESCO World Heritage Site application, which originally included the Whitefeather Forest Area of North-west Ontario. Through these experiences, Joe understood how to deliver communication, negotiate, and develop work processes necessary to interface Pauingassi with Government and other organizations. His work experience served Joe well on the Board of Directors for Pimachiowin Aki and permitted him to actively participate during meetings.   

Joe will be sadly missed.  

Joe Owen at a Pauingassi Land Management Planning Open House

Filed Under: Knowledge Keepers, Uncategorised Tagged With: Joe Owen, Pauingassi First Nation

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