Belém, Para

Where do I start?

When I arrived in Brazil, the fly in was very beautiful… seeing the Amazon Forest, the green, all the nature from above… seeing the body of water and the different routes that it takes into the land… I just looked at it as being very rich in forest. Entering Belém was totally different… it got a little noisy and the smell of the city wasn’t very pleasant – it is a smell I dislike.

But just seeing a different city, a different part of the world… it is an experience I won’t forget. Hearing a different language on the street, meeting different people and seeing a different culture – it is not like it is back home. I come from a very small community where I know everybody. I understand everyone back home and can communicate with everybody. Here I have a hard time understanding people and communicating with them.

I am attending the IDEA 2010 Congress to share dialogue with different indigenous communities from Para, Brazil and I had the honour of speaking with people from the Tembé community. They shared their struggles with the logging operations on their land and their struggle to maintain their culture and language in the face of hydro development. They said that they never had the need for money even though they live in poverty; they rely on what they get from their land. I shared with them what my aunt told me to share with those who I would meet: “You are not alone in your struggle; we know about it from back home.” They found her words to be supportive and had a strong emotional reaction to the offer of solidarity.

One of the things that I find so surprising here is how many people don’t know that indigenous communities exist in Canada. My presence here is crucial because we need to spread the message that Canada keeps violating our rights and also exploiting our traditional lands: all levels of government need to start respecting indigenous communities.

The workshop that inspired me the most so far was the one facilitated by Sara Paredes Mansilla from Peru (The River of Oral Tradition. The Drama for the Recovery of Historical Heritage). I found that the way that Sara presented the history of the indigenous communities that she works with in Peru – through the use of art – to be very educational and inspiring. During her presentation, I kept thinking how Barriere Lake could put their history into art especially having children and youth involved… that we would be culturally motivated to do this in the Algonquin language.

Some of the things that she shared I could really relate to like the story of the mermaid and the presentation of the “talking knots”. The Peruvian quipu is somehow similar to our three-stringed wampum, which was and continues to be shared around the circle to greet other nations. I know that there is a mermaid story back home, but I will need to ask the elders about it… I think it would be really interesting to see our Anishnabe history through art (perhaps as a theatre play) based on community participation. Most of the history is oral and using arts could preserve the history for a long time and encourage the youth to speak more of their language.