Kklamuksisinu Sa’n Nikk: melknat aq Sesaqasit Ji’nm Our Uncle John Nick: A Hardy and Educated Man Prepared by Helen Woodrow, Educational Planning and Design Associates for the Provincial Historic Commemorations Program February 2012 The Blessing of Time For centuries old age was associated with vitality and character. Elders were stable depositories of customs and legends, guardians of local values, acknowledged experts in skills and crafts, and valued voices in communal council.1 Though contemporary views of aging have eroded that status in some societies, elders in many Newfoundland and Labrador communities continue to nourish our understanding of history. They are the keepers of knowledge, the beacons illuminating the windows on the past. Many elders record oral histories, providing critical perspectives on various subjects. Others develop community archives and museums, thereby saving valuable documents from the landwash and ensuring educational …It seems We are like the moon – Born, Grow slowly, Then fade away, to reappear again In a never-­‐ending cycle. Our lives go on Until we are old and wise. Then end. We are no more, Except we leave A heritage that never dies. –Rita Joe– From “Poems”, www.indigenouspeople.net/addition.htm. efforts take place. Some harness new technologies to fulfill their keeping role. John Nick Jeddore: Keeper of Knowledge John Nick Jeddore is a member of the Miawpukek Band at Conne River. He is a deeply religious man, with a passionate commitment to his family and culture. A teacher and mentor, John Nick is an expert on the cultural practices and traditional activities of the Mi’kmaq. He uses a variety of tools to keep and share that knowledge. In 2005, John Nick Jeddore was the first Newfoundlander to be recognized with the Elder Achievement Award by the Mi’kmaq of Nova Scotia. Deborah Ginnish, the Executive Director of the Mi’kmaq Association of Cultural 1 James Hillman, The Force of Character and the Lasting Life (NY: Random House, 1999), 3. 2 Studies identified him as “an elder of historical significance who is considered by many to be an open book on the Mi’kmaq culture of his province.”2 In Aboriginal culture, elders help people put their practices and beliefs in context so younger generations can understand why things are the way they are. Judy White, a member of the Qalipu Band and Self-­‐Government Advisor for the Miawpukek Band at Conne River, spoke about how elders fulfill this role. “For example, in school settings some people believed it was disrespectful if sweet grass was left out in the open on the desk. They thought it was wrong. Was it supposed to be kept in sacred place? Elders helped us understand how that belief came about, and why people thought that sweet grass should be hidden. In fact sweet grass should be out in the open but it was hidden because it was not acceptable to the church.”3 John Nick has become critical of how similar biases may have infused everyday knowledge, and even conventional historical accounts. “Written history is not always facts, but who can disprove it? In my lifetime, I have seen errors in some parts of Newfoundland history.”4 He is now attending to the historical record of the Mi’kmaq. At one time, John Nick thought his indigenous knowledge had no value. He had adopted the conventional view that knowledge was only contained in books written by the privileged. Then he realized those books often ignored the tacit knowledge that had been learned through observation, training, and engaging with community experts. Tacit knowledge and thought processes are often taken for granted by elders as they assume everyone possesses that knowledge. Elders may fail to see that they are experts. Since his retirement, John Nick has become so 2 Clayton Hunt, “John Nick Jeddore Chosen to Receive Prestigious Award,” The Coaster, Sept 20, 2005. 3 Judy White, Recorded telephone interview, Jan 20, 2012. 4 John Nick Jeddore, Comment on Facebook page, January 5, 2012, 6:53 pm. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=64813976. 3 prolific in sharing his expertise that he has become a living document, providing evidence of a culture he regards as being in danger of extinction. The Apprenticeship of a Tradition Bearer John Nick Jeddore was born at Conne River in October 1922. In those times, government assimilation policies were designed to weaken and destroy Aboriginal culture, and indigenous languages were “snatched away” by the school system.5 In Newfoundland, John Nick and other Mi’kmaq of his generation also lost fluency in their first language through intermarriage. John Nick was the second child of Peter Francis and Sarah Ann (House) Jeddore and the grandson of Saqamax Noel Jeddore.6 Sarah Ann and other English mothers in Conne River could not speak Mi’kmaq, and preferred that it was not spoken in the home. English was also used in the country, as his maternal uncle was a member of Peter Jeddore’s hunting party. When he was eight years old, John Nick went into the interior of Newfoundland to learn the country ways of his ancestors. Like many of his male contemporaries throughout the province, this step into traditional culture signaled the end of formal schooling. The Jeddore trapping grounds became his classroom. He started his “nomad way of life... trapping, hunting, living off the land, and taking care of the land.”7 In that environment, he heard stories about three generations of Jeddores. By the time John Nick was 15, he was going to the country with the great Mi’kmaq hunter, Nickley Jeddore. He thought of Nickley, who was a fluent Mi’kmaq speaker, as the last link to the ancestors. In 1941 they were in the country hunting when John Nick came out to buy ammunition at St. Alban’s. Young men who had enlisted in the Newfoundland Overseas Forestry Unit were gathered near 5 Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq poet Rita Joe attended the Shubenacadie Indian Residential School. She described the loss of her language in the poem “ I Lost My Talk.” http://www.poetrymap.ca/profile.php?PoetID=27 6 Saqamaw is the Mi’kmaq word for chief. 7 John Nicholas Jeddore, “Memoirs,” draft manuscript. 4 the temporary recruiting centre, and John Nick decided to join them on their great adventure in Scotland. In his memoirs, John Nick reflects on how that decision altered his relationship to Mi’kmaq culture. “No more would I hear the echoes of [Nickley’s] voice across the hills, across the steady singing Micmac hymns, hear his hearty laugh…or do any of the wonderful things that he was so good at, the things our Micmac race had been doing for hundreds of years.”8 In Scotland, John Nick worked as a logger providing wood for the British coal industry, and was promoted to assistant scaler. He refused other work promotions because of his limited school education but took responsibility for training members of the 3rd Inverness Battalion Home Guard. This was a battalion of over 700 men from Newfoundland. By the time he returned home in 1945 a man could no longer live on the proceeds of his trapping, the caribou had almost disappeared, and John Nick was anxious to marry Pauline Collier. He went to work cutting pulpwood for Bowaters until he was diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1954. A number of hospitalizations and operations in Corner Brook and St. John’s took him away from home for almost three years and left him unable to work. Then he spent two years sitting and sleeping in a lounge chair to prevent his lungs from hemorrhaging. Around 1965 he was beginning to feel more physically able, and with a gift from his eldest daughter of her income tax return and money earned from a trip as a river guide, he decided to open a small shop. It grew to supply many items needed by the local community and as he built his business, he also became more active in the life of his community. In 2007, at the age of 85, he retired from Jeddore’s Convenience. One of John Nick’s leadership roles in the seventies was as the first president of the Conne River Native Council. He later became a councillor with the Miawpukek Band Council. It was during those years that he began his memoir. “We were an important part of history somewhere, the way we lived and the customs. Mi’kmaq people were a part of the world.”9 Since that time, John Nick has 8 Ibid. 9 John Nick Jeddore, Interview, August 21, 2008. 5 focused on his role as a keeper of knowledge and tradition bearer. Now his memoir is being edited for publication. “I wanted to do this so bad… to hang on to what we had one time. I had to get it down somewhere.”10 Keeper of Traditional Practices Judy White identifies John Nick as the curator and holder of traditional knowledge with respect to land, land use, hunting practices, traditional practices, the role of the church and how the Mi’kmaq came to embrace Catholicism.11 Others have stressed John Nick’s knowledge and practices related to food. Caribou was the main source of food in the traditional Mi’kmaq diet and everything was used. The fat from the crushed caribou bones was used at church: singing would go on for hours, and caribou fat eased the dryness of the throat.12 Hooves would be treated over a fire, and then used as soup bones. The skin was used in bedding and the hides provided moccasins, boots, snowshoes, and lacing. Moose, beaver, eel, salmon, geese were also eaten but when food was scarce black spruce was used to smoke fox and otter to improve their taste. The Mi’kmaq hunters depended on the food they caught or went hungry. In his memoirs, John Nick describes how different sized troughs were made in the country and used as washbasins, tanning vats or for storing bear fat or berries. He writes of country superstitions. For example, if a hunter pointed at a bear he would lose it, or if he slept on red boughs he could expect to cut himself with an axe that season.13 John Nick can explain the reason behind the feast that is held when a salmon is taken in the spring, and why the salmon’s bones are returned to the water. But no matter what knowledge people seek from John Nick, his engagement with traditional practices gives him much joy. He told the reporter for The Coaster, the regional newspaper serving the Coast of Bays region,“I like to participate in the old Mi’kmaq traditions as much as possible. I still like to hunt, 10 Ibid. 11 Judy White, Telephone interview, January 20, 2012. 12 John Nick Jeddore, “Memoirs,” draft manuscript. 13 Ibid. 6 fish, trap, spear eels, and gather wood for myself and other elders. I’ll keep on enjoying life as much as possible.”14 John Nick is not as agile as he once was, and harvesting practices have changed. The simple snare and spear to catch salmon John Nick used as a young man has been replaced with new technology. Every species that is caught now requires a license. When he was a young man, bear fat provided the fuel that kept him walking for hundreds of miles in the country. Now he depends on an all terrain vehicle to take him to the interior to hunt and trap available traditional foods, and to the nearby waterways that furnish eel, trout and salmon. A Tradition Bearer Shares his Knowledge Uncle John Nick engages in a variety of face-­‐to-­‐face informal education programs throughout Newfoundland and Atlantic Canada. He admits to feeling somewhat intimidated when he received his first invitation to speak in a school setting. Yet when John Nick heard the students’ questions, asking how he would know his way around the country and where to find things, he realized they were interested in his territory, a place where he was the expert. Now every year he participates in Culture Days at St. Anne’s School at Conne River. Many people have approached John Nick as a resource person, asking for his assistance in establishing their Mi’kmaq identity. He is not a genealogical researcher but helps with whatever information he can. He is also invited to many sessions on the history and indigenous knowledge of the Mi’kmaq. In 2008, Chief Mi’sel Joe asked John Nick to attend an Aboriginal Traditional Knowledge session in Nova Scotia. At that meeting, participants from other aboriginal communities commented that they have the traditional knowledge of previous generations but have lost the vital link to practice. Howard Jeddore of Conne River was also at the session and reported, “They were very impressed with Uncle. That’s why he 14 Clayton Hunt, “John Nick Jeddore Chosen to Receive Prestigious Award,” The
Coaster, Sept 20, 2005. 7 stresses the connection between knowledge and practice. It almost changed the focus of the workshop.” Howard Jeddore is an addictions worker with Conne River Health and Social Services. He organizes various health promotion and crime prevention programs sponsored by the Miawpukek Band. They have formed young men and young women’s cultural groups that regularly sponsor various programs in the community. Some take place in the country, where participants may set snares or beaver traps as a way of learning about the past. “Uncle will tell them to get an education. He tells them he didn’t need education in his times, but they will. These twelve-­‐ to eighteen-­‐year-­‐olds listen to him and they have good questions. I am so impressed by how much respect they show. Uncle is a great man. I’m 46 and I think of him as my teacher and role model.”15 In his efforts to share his knowledge of traditional activities and practices, John Nick has sought to master new technologies. In 2007 he bought a computer. “You’re never too old to learn new things,” he told The Coaster. 16 With the support of his family and friends, he began producing electronic files of the correspondence he had written to The Evening Telegram since the 70s.17 He also entered his memoirs. Curious about new communication tools, he established a blog site so he could share portions of the draft memoir with readers. In 2011, he appeared on a CBC Land and Sea television program called The Mi’kmaq Way. His documentary efforts are not limited to a particular media or approach. John Nick uses social media, still photography and video to reveal cultural traditions and practices of the past. He joined Facebook, and at present has close to 1400 friends on that social media site. Some comments appearing on his page over the last few months demonstrate his commitment to traditional culture and his effectiveness in reaching a broad audience living many miles from Bay d’ Espoir. 15 Howard Jeddore, Recorded telephone interview, Jan 12, 2012. 16 “Profile of Our People,” The Coaster, Jan 20, 2009. 17 Gerald Penney, Telephone interview, Jan 11, 2012. 8 “I saw you on a television show…two or three months ago. I live in Vermont close to the Canadian border. I was so impressed I just had to find you on Facebook.”18 “Teacher from Alberta here! I’m showing my students your video…It’s the knowledge that you pass on to young students like mine that will keep your culture alive!”19 “Mr. Jeddore. I love reading all your adventures. You truly are a wonderful man and a great role model for young people.”20 “You’re an inspiration to all, especially fellow Newfoundlanders.”21 “Mr. John Nick Jeddore, your words are so simple to read but there is so much wisdom in what you say. I really enjoy reading your wisdom.”22 Such comments are found among John Nick’s reflections on history, humorous stories, pleas for help with computer disasters, and promotions of a healthy lifestyle. He posts pictures of his nutritious meals and other images from his daily 75-­‐minute workout. Many historical and contemporary still photographs and videos also appear on his Facebook page. The preparation and eating of country food is one focus of the video documentation: the cleaning of the beaver and caribou paunch; the cooking of beaver tail; drinking the beaver gall; cooking caribou bones; and preparing bear paws. He has also shot footage on many aspects of his culture: making eel spears; using a tumpline; packing a bundle; mowing with a scythe; trapping; cleaning and cooking eels; and preparing salmon. You’ll even see him tap dancing. Some of the videos also appear on YouTube. John Nick started using media some years ago but today his grandchildren, other family members, and friends have become members of his documentation team. 18 John Nick Jeddore, Comment on Facebook, Sept 23, 2011, 7:51 pm. 19 Ibid, Nov 7, 2011, 11:46 am. 20 Ibid, Dec 12, 2011, 4:25 pm. 21 Ibid, Dec 15, 2011, 7:43 am. 22 Ibid, Jan 11, 2012, 3:04 pm. 9 Enriching the Newfoundland and Labrador Culture Judy White worries about the future without Uncle John Nick. “By losing John Nick we will lose a wealth of information, and that is a loss of culture. He has done a great job of sharing that wealth. There will be no one to fill his shoes but he’s touched so many lives there will be pieces of his knowledge in all of us. If you brought 800 of us together, we might be able to make him up.”23 There has been a massive change in how Mi’kmaq society is seen in Newfoundland and Labrador. John Nick is proud to be a North American Indian. He is an expert on the intangible cultural heritage of the Mi’kmaq and has dedicated his energy to sharing the “heritage that will never die.”24 He has helped his fellow Newfoundlanders and Labradorians understand how the Mi’kmaq have enriched our diverse culture. 23 Judy White, Recorded telephone interview, Jan 20, 2012. 24 Rita Joe, From Poems. www.indigenouspeople.net/addition.htm 10 References Primary Sources
Interviews
Gerald Penney, January 11, 2012. Telephone Interview. St. John’s, NL. Author
Collection.
Howard Jeddore, January 12, 2009. Recorded Telephone Interview. St. John’s, NL.
Author Collection.
John Nick Jeddore, August 21, 2008. Recorded Interview. Conne River, NL.
Association of Heritage Industries Collection.
John Nick Jeddore, January 18, 2012. Telephone Interview. St. John’s, NL. Author
Collection.
Josep Jeddore, January 19, 2012. Recorded Interview. St. John’s, NL. Author
Collection.
Judy White, January 20, 2012. Recorded Telephone Interview. St. John’s, NF.
Author Collection.
John Nick Jeddore Collection
Blog. http://johnnjeddore.blogspot.com
Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=64813976 “Memoirs,” draft manuscript, 2011.
Video
Conversation with my Grandfather.” 4:42 min
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LTWxbdfHsA
“John Nick Jeddore Talks about Eel Spears.” 6:17 min
www.youtube.com/watch?v=hSmTvZ_H1A8
“The Mi’kmaq Way.” CBC Land and Sea Program, 2011.
www.cbc.ca/landandsea/2011/08/the-mikmaq-way.html
11 Secondary Sources
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Newfoundland.” Master’s Thesis, Memorial University of Newfoundland, 1983.
Curran, Tom. They Also Served: The Newfoundland Overseas Forestry Unit, 19391945. St. John’s, NF: Jesperson Press, 1987.
Higgins, Jenny. “Impact of Non-Aboriginal Activities on the Mi'kmaq.”
http://www.heritage.nf.ca/aboriginal/mikmaq_impacts.html.
Hilliard, William. “A People on the Mend.” The Evening Telegram, August 24,
1997.
Hillman, James. The Force of Character. NY: Random House, 1999.
“History of Miawpukek (Conne River).”
http://miawpukekfootsteps.com/q=node/155.
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Coaster, September 20, 2005.
Hunt, Clayton. “Profile of Our People.” The Coaster, January 20, 2009.
Jackson, Doug. On the Country: The Micmac of Newfoundland. St. John’s: Harry
Cuff Publications, 1993.
“Jeddore wins seniors of Distinction Award.” The Coaster, July 6, 2010.
“Jeddore v Her Majesty the Queen.” Judicial Decision of the Federal Court.
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Joe, Rita. “Poet Laureate of the Mi’kmaq Nation.”
http://www.poetrymap.ca/profile.php?PoetID=27
“ Local Indians Seek their Due.” The Evening Telegram, August 18, 1967.
Millais, J. Guillie. “The Micmacs in Newfoundland.” The Newfoundland
Quarterly, 7, 4 (1908), 18-21
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http://ngb.chebucto.org/NFREG/WWII/ww2-nofu-surname-index.shtml.
Pastore, Ralph. “The History of the Newfoundland Mi'kmaq.”
http://www.heritage.nf.ca/aboriginal/mikmaq_history.html
Pastore, Ralph. Newfoundland Micmacs: A History of their Traditional Life.
Newfoundland Historical Society, Pamphlet No. 5, 1978.
12 “Profile of Our People,” The Coaster, Jan 20, 2009.
St. Croix, Rev. Stanley. “The Micmacs of Newfoundland.” The Book of
Newfoundland, Volume 1. Edinburgh: Thomas Nelson (Printers) Ltd., 1937.
Tompkins, Edward. The Mi’kmaw People of Newfoundland: A Celebration. Corner
Brook: Federation of Newfoundland Indians, 2004.
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Thanks to all those who shared their stories and memories of John Nick. Bernie Francis
in Nova Scotia translated the title.
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