How laughter, ceremony helped Quebec Innu share painful memories

Louis-GeorgesFontaineand JeannetteVollanthave worked side by side for more than five decades,hosting communitybingos, carnivals and forumsfor fellow members of theInnuNation ofUashatmakMani-Utenamon Quebec's North Shore.

In November 2017, the duo's spirited banter eased the wayfor thedevastating testimonialsrecountedinsideMani-Utenam'scommunity centre.

More than sixty Indigenous families from across Quebec travelled to theInnucommunity justeast ofSept-les,650 kilometres northeast of Quebec City,for a week of hearings organized by thenational inquiry into missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG)its first stop in Quebec.

Eachday,FontaineandVollantaddressed the large crowd inInnuand French, addinga few light-hearted jokes a shield against the heartbreakand sorrow thatfilled the room.

"We are a people who like to laugh. We like to kid around. My father used to say, 'If you're not worth teasing, you're not worth much,'"Vollantexplained.

The 71-year-old said she'd used humourto pierce the emotionalburden of her own struggles.

"When I started my healing process, I would only cry, cry,cry. I was choking.I couldn't speak."

Many of the witnesses also used ahumorousapproach to deliver painful chapters of their lives to the rest of the country.

"It's part of the process. We are spiritual people, but spiritual people also have a good sense of humour. We laugh a lot, despite all this suffering. It helps,"Fontainesaid.

Community at heart of reconciliation

While the puns and jokes werecathartic butat times crude,the ceremonieswhich accompanied each family's presentation weresteeped in grace and respect.

As women circled the room to bless people insage-smudging rituals, empty paper bags labelledtearswere placed nearby on plastic chairs.

On the final day of the hearings, the bags filled withthe witnesses' heartachewere burned in a sacred fire outside.

As witnesses approached the sharing circle, sometimes accompanied by dozens of loved ones, singers performed a soothingInnuchant. Achair was left empty for their missing family member.

LaurieOdjicksaid this attention to detail was crucial to the success of thehearings.

"People who are sharing those are wounds that are open. But I do believe inceremony to engage in ceremony and prayer, and as a community, just stand together with this," saidOdjick.

Odjick'sdaughterMaisydisappeared in 2008, along withMaisy'sbest friend,Shannon Alexander.

The teens fromKitiganZibi-AnishinabegFirst Nation, near Ottawa, were 16 and 17.

The inquiry invitedOdjickas an observerto issue recommendations on how it should co-ordinate support for families and improve communication with participants.

Despite the trauma and deeply buried pain the hearings stirred up for those who testified,Odjicksaid just being able to speak the truth is an important step of the healing process.

"Nobody will ever be able to understand what you're going through. But being heardand people showing they cared, that means a lot to a family,"Odjicksaid of the people who lined up after every testimony to hug the witnesses and their families.

Babies seized fromhomes

WhileOdijckappreciated the peacefulnessthat emanated from these rituals, she said more needs to be done to support Indigenous people who have lived throughtrauma.

VivianeMichele agreed the experiencesrecounted by witnesses, from discriminationto child sexual abuse to domestic violence,were hard to bear.

"It was blatantly obvious how colonial forces and abuse of power were exercised, taking children away, sending them to health institutions and never returning the bodies," said Michele,the president of the Quebec Native Women's Association.

Many elderspleaded for answerstothe doubtsthat have haunted them for decades.

Families fromPakuaShipu,550 kilometres east ofSept-leson Quebec's Lower North Shore, explained how medical staff sent their babies away on airplanes to be treated in hospital, never to return.

At least eight children were said to have disappeared from the smallInnucommunity in the1970s.

"These families are still wondering, 'Is my child really dead?'" said Michele.

During thesame period, the pain of these losses and the burden of the unanswered questions about what happenedalso weigheddown on other First Nationsin Quebec.

'Defining moments'for Quebec'sInnu

The toll thesedisappearances tookon their communities was immense.

That's why Jean-CharlesPitacho, theInnuchief ofEkuanitshit,hopesthe parallelQuebecinquiry into relations with its Indigenous peopleswill reconsider its time frame, which only goes back 15 years.

"I think people openedtheir hearts to let out their pain, their sufferingin front of an audience, and I hope this will help pursue reconciliation,"Pitachoreflected recently.

The forced relocation of someInnucommunitiesis also a piece of Quebec history about whichPitachosaid moreQuebecers shouldknow.

"We're in Canada. In Quebec. People were moved from their natural land toadministrative areas, decidedby others,"Pitachosaid.

TheMMIWGcommissioners heard about theforced displacementwhich divided communities because some leaders refused to leave their traditional territory or returned to it after the relocation.

"We should honour the courage of these people,"Pitachosaid. "Despite the church, despite the government, they made the decision to leave."

"This story has been forgotten for too long and is so defining for theInnu."

Steps towardhealing

The repercussions of the conditionsimposed on Quebec's Indigenous peoples are still felt today from fear of public institutionsto domestic violence, to drug and alcohol abuse.

As the inquiry continues its cross-Canada tour with scheduled stops inYellowknife, N.W.T.,andRankin Inlet,Nunavut,in 2018,Fontainehopes commissioners will put in placethe recommendations madeby his people.

He said one is particularly important to him.

"We need to help men to be able to achieve the inquiry's vision,"Fontainesaid, because men "are often the ones responsible for these acts of violence."

ForVollant, the rampant drug abuse that is nowdecimating a new generation ofInnushould be addressed by finding ways for young people to reconnect with the land.

"To be in connection with the earth, the trees, water, the earth's elements that is the best way to heal."