BIIGTIGONG NISHNAABEG — Hawaii, New Zealand and Northwestern Ontario: a new book connects issues faced by Indigenous peoples from distant corners of the globe.
“This book is not my story,” said Chantelle Richmond, co-author of Because This Land is Who We Are. “It’s a collection of stories from my cousins, sisters, my mom, aunties and generations of people that have told me all of their stories about the strength of our community.
“Even though my name is on the book … this is really a big community process.”
Richmond held a book launch and signing event on Wednesday night at the Biigtigong Nishnaabeg Community Hall, where she took part in a question and answer session about Because This Land is Who We Are.
Richmond’s home community plays a key role in the book Because This Land is Who We Are, which she co-wrote with Brad Coombes of New Zealand and Renee Pualani Louis of Hawaii.
“The three communities that we wrote about all have similar issues that we’ve all been working on over the years and our voices are much stronger together,” said Richmond.
The main focus on the book is on environmental repossession, which is the processes implemented by Indigenous communities to reclaim their lands and the knowledges that are tied to them.
“It may not always be about physically being on the land but it could be about supporting the knowledge and connections to help us remember the things that we may have forgotten,” Richmond said. “There’s other ways of connecting with the land such as with language preservation and the resurrection of pow wows.
Richmond was born in Toronto and moved up to Marathon with her parents in the early 1980’s. Her mom was from Biigtigong Nishnaabeg, then called Pic River First Nation, and her father was from Newfoundland.
She said her background is one that left her wondering where she fit in.
Richmond has been a professor of geography at Western University in London since 2007, but Biigtigong Nishnaabeg still played a major role in who she was.
“Where do I belong was a big question that I had later in my life,” Richmond said. “I know that I belong here and I love this place, but it’s a really hard journey.
“I know people like me in Canada and the United States that don’t know where they come from and they don’t have this place to call home, which is really sad.”
Richmond said that she and her fellow offers wrote this book to help other communities.
“Each of the communities that are focussed on in the book draw their own concepts of being in those places and we offer examples of what they are doing and how they are doing it,” Richmond said.
“We hope that we can inspire other communities in positive ways.”
Richmond will be in Thunder Bay Thursday night for another book launch and signing event from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Paterson Auditorium on the third floor of the Bora Laskin Faculty of Law PACI building at 401 Red River Road.
