Far North Rambles #16: A Birthday
This week marked the birthday of a humble, but wise person - Elder Josie Jacob of Webequie First Nation. I met Elder Josie back in 2004 when I first visited the fly-in Oji-Cree First Nation community of Webequie. I won’t reveal his age, but if you counted a decade on each thumb and finger on each hand, you would be on your 9th finger.
Over the years, I visited Webequie more than 30 times and got to know many community people. These were generally multi-day visits. The visits included a meeting with Chief and Council. The busy, band, political leadership were interested to find common ground to advance the interests of the people, and they were eager to hear about progress on the Government-to-Government initiatives. The “small p” political meeting was followed, or preceded, by a project meeting with technical project team members from the First Nation.
The political and technical meetings had both formal and informal components and as someone learning the ropes, I spent a lot of time learning about the different roles served by the participants. The elders have a special role. For all of those meetings, Elder Josie Jacob and Elder Ananias Spence attended every single meeting in which we participated to provide insight, guidance and cautions (Photo 1).
Photo 1: Having a break in one of our technical meetings. Left to right: Bruce Jacob, Jon Spence, elder Josie Jacob, and elder Ananias Spence, all of Webequie First Nation at the time. The meeting took place in the band office, Webequie. Image composed by Andy Fyon, Dec 5, 2007.
These community-based meetings were quite different from meetings that I attended back at head office. One special part of the pre- and post-meeting time was the language lesson. Elder Josie and Elder Ananias would try to help us learn a new word or phrase in their Oji-Cree language. There was a lot of laughter during the language lesson, as we struggled to wrap our tongues around words and phrases in their language. I still refer to my home-made language dictionary that I created out of those language lessons. Elsie MacDonald, daughter of Elder Josie and a long-time Council Member and a former Chief, attended those meetings. We were joined by Jon Spence, a very capable technical person, when we had agreed on, and initiated, a land-related project of mutual interest.
As we became better known in community, it became easier to engaged more and more with community members. One such joy became the visit with Elder Josie, and his wife Ellie and Ellie’s sister Tenona in their home (Photo 2).
Photo 2: We always tried to visit with elder Josie Jacob (Webequie First Nation) in his home when we visited the community. Here, elder Josie stands with his wife, Ellie. Ellie’s sister, Tenona is seated on the left. Photo composed by Andy Fyon, in Webequie, Aug. 25, 2012.
We got to know Elder Josie, and his family, outside the boardroom. We shared tea and an occasional meal. He was proud to show his “opiniin” (potato) garden (Photo 3).
Photo 3: Elder Josie Jacob (Webequie First Nation) talking about his potato garden. Image composed by Andy Fyon, in Webequie, Aug. 23, 2012.
Sometimes elder Josie he would talk with sadness about his travels on Winisk Lake (Photo 4). He was very much aware of the changes that had taken place over his life. He always was concerned about the future of the people of Webequie First Nation.
Photo 4: Elder Josie Jacob (Webequie First nation) shared some of his memories of travel in the area of Winisk Lake (in the background). I sensed some sadness in his voice. Image composed by Andy Fyon, Webequie, Aug. 25, 2012.
Elder Josie was always happy to show us his “wah-be-say-shu” (marten) traps (Photo 5) and the “ah-gim” (snowshoes) he made (Photo 6).
Photo 5: Trapping is an integral part of the lives of First Nation people, and is a Constitutionally protected Aboriginal Right. Many living in the Far North trap seasonally. Elder Josie Jacob (Webequie First Nation) shows us his hand crafted marten traps. Image composed by Andy Fyon, in Webequie, Aug. 25, 2012.
Photo 6: Elder Josie Jacob, Webequie First Nation, proudly shows us his hand-crafted snowshoes. Image by Andy Fyon, in Webequie, Oct. 20, 2007.
On one special afternoon, we were able to see Elder Josie, in his home, relaxing with his adopted 5 year old granddaughter. They played and teased in a way that only a grandfather and granddaughter can do (Photo 7).
Photo 7: Elder Josie Jacob and his granddaughter joking around in the Josie’s home. We were used to seeing individuals carry out their official role at community meetings, but it was always special to see an individual like elder Josie be himself in his role as Grandfather. Photo composed by Andy Fyon, Webequie, Dec. 9, 2015. (Incidentally, this was my last visit with friends of Webequie First Nation. I retired from my role as Director, Ontario Geological Survey, 22 days later.
Even Elder Josie’s fiddle made a brief appearance in the hands of his granddaughter (Photo 8). At that time, Josie he was not only an Elder. He was a choomish - a grandfather.
Photo 8: Granddaughter of elder Josie Jacob (Webequie First Nation) trying out her “fiddle” skills in the Webequie home of elder Josie. Photo composed by Andy Fyon, Dec. 10, 2015.
I have many memories of elder Josie Jacob, but seeing him in his element as Grandfather is one of the more special.
Mino dibishkaa / happy birthday, elder Josie.
Andy Fyon, Sept 10, 2020 (Facebook, May 8, 2020).
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