Naming to Protect

Jean-Marc Niquay
March 30, 2011
Waswanipi

"We needed to investigate in order to revive this philosophy of the earth."

Jean-Marc Niquay, Nehirowisiw

In Indigenous cultures, things take long, and the struggles are long too. The exploitation of resources followed assimilation measures. Ernest Ottawa is an elder. He’s carried his people's demands for a very long time, but he’s tired. He passed the torch on to his collaborator, Jean-Marc Niquay, who’s convinced that affirmation requires a chance to speak, and who goes to meet his people and listens to them. He knows that to defend the right to occupy a territory, you must first name it and be able to express the profound experience it allows you to live. The territory is a physical and spiritual space. The fight must focus on these two aspects.