Old Nemaska - a vibrant example of the importance of community heritage and tradition

Heading up the RDN towards the JBH, I reflected on my most amazing day in Old Nemaska, a place I had wanted to visit before and was so grateful for the opportunity this time. I now know why people talk so fondly of it and look forward going back every year..

Thanks to the first responders for allowing us to hitch a ride over when we arrived at the landing. We passed people participating in the family fishing derby on the way, pulling up to Old Nemaska, I could see the boats out on the water and kids enjoying a swim at midday. As we approached, Thomas said, “Welcome to Paradise.” I can definitely say, he was right.

It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen - breathtaking, actually!

We landed at the staircase at the far end of the strip and were able to walk through. It was great to meet some new faces and to catch a visit with those I haven’t seen in awhile!

Watching people smoking freshly caught sturgeon, and hearing about the great smoked sturgeon workshop that happened the week before, I thought about how we need to ensure that these types of experiences are a part of what we do with students. There is so much knowledge that needs to be passed, and opportunities do not always come to everyone to learn. Just being in Old Nemaska, and watching the smoking process, you realize how much these traditional skills and the knowledge gained while learning, are such a large part of identity and pride.

Old Nemaska also shows us how important community

heritage is, and how important it is to ensure that we pass on community history and ensure that our young people continue to draw strength from knowledge of where they come from.

As I travelled away from that beautiful place full of community, togetherness, and a reverence for shared heritage and tradition, I thought about our education system.

There’s a lot of education research that tells us how important positive identity formation is to the self-esteem of our youth, and how important self-esteem is to the ability to succeed in school. If we are going to give our youth everything they require to build the strength necessary and the self-esteem necessary to be successful in their schooling, then we need to take lessons from experiences like Old Nemaska: we must make sure that culture, history, community identity, traditional knowledge, and culture are core parts of our education system if we are to use the Cree School Board as tool in positive identity construction as Eenouch/Eeyouch for our youth.

Thank you Nemaska - I am grateful for that time and being able to experience a bit of Old Nemaska!