The 2018 AKBLG Convention, held in Fernie, attracted members of influence from around the East, Central, and West Kootenay, as well as the Boundary Region.
On Wednesday, April 18, keynote speaker ?aq’am Chief Joe Pierre welcomed those attending and spoke about the history of the area in a talk titled “Seven Generations of Relationships and Seven Generations of Reconciliation”.
Pierre is from the St. Mary’s Indian Band or Aq’am, close to the City of Cranbrook, a community which is a member of the Ktunaxa Nation and is made up of four reserves totaling roughly 18,420 acres or 7,461 hectares. It has the largest land and population base of the Ktunaxa Nation Bands.
Pierre was born in 1968, two years before the St. Eugene Mission closed down. Growing up, he remembered that building as abandoned, unused. Pierre expressed how glad he is that it’s now something different.
“I’m so glad my son, Jude, he’s growing up in this time,” he said.
Pierre remembers as a child learning from his grandfather, Andrew Michelle, who was born in 1891, before residential schools, before many municipalities in this area were established.
As a family, they would often head into the mountains to hunt. The distance and elevation they would travel was very dependent on weather, as well as the strength of his grandmother who insisted on coming. Pierre clearly remembers his grandmother pull out her rucksack and disappear into the bush. He loved watching her move through the woods, so fast and agile.
He has a few photos of him and his sister sitting at their grandfather’s feet, listening to stories of old. Pierre said he was blessed to continue this tradition of storytelling today.
As he grew older, Pierre started to think more about his past and where he came from. To him, a generation is about 20 years. To visually portray his family’s history in the area, he built a timeline.
He started with one bead, representing the current generation: his son, Jude. From there, he added more and more beads for every generation his family has spent in this area. Every five beads represented 100 years, and before he knew it, Pierre had created a string of beads almost as tall as he – 500 generations in length.
With research, he discovered that non-Ktunaxa people have spent approximately seven generations in the area. When Pierre thinks of those seven generations, he is forced to remember the rail lines and the residential schools. So much change is such recent history.
He explained that when one thinks of these times, it could easily make them sad and jaded. However, Pierre tries to stay positive, comforted by the knowledge that his son will never know those times as previous generations did.
Speaking to the future, Pierre said that he is educating his son about this history of the Ktunaxa, to ensure their stories are passed on. “I’m thinking seven generations in the future,” he said.
Adding to this, and addressing all AKBLG attendees, Pierre said that he is thinking about a future as good neighbours. He “dreams about the relationship we should have in the Kootenays.”
During the summer of 2017, Pierre says he was comforted and relieved by the great response the ?aq’am community received from neighbouring communities when the wildfires consumed several houses on their land.
He added that some First Nations communities in the province did not receive the same help.
“It’s about having a plan,” said Pierre.
“That for me, is the next seven generations.”
