The last nomad: Kopiteotak

The last nomad: Kopiteotak. © Guillaume Vincent

At the beginning of July, our collaborator Daniel Gauvreau told me of his wish to present to our readers some members of the First Nations who live in our community. A good friend then directed us towards Chomis (grandfather) T8aminik (Dominique) Rankin. We were lucky enough to talk with him beside a small, peaceful lake. This first encounter was memorable. Daniel tells you about it below :

The morning air is calm beside a small lake surrounded by dense forest where former Algonquin Grand Chief Dominique Rankin welcomes us. He is a massive, historic figure, his face marked by serenity. His volubility is deafening, yet his voice is soft and his smile slightly mocking. We are on the land, in La Conception, where he anticipates establishing the Kina8at Ensemble (prononced Kinawat), a place of healing for the First Nations and of culture for the general public.

To refer to themselves, the Algonquin prefer the term Anicinape (prononced Anishinabé), which means “human living in harmony with nature”. The 2016 census says that 40,880 persons identify themselves as such. This people has occupied this land for 8,000 years, particularly along the length of the Outaouais River as far as Abitibi where, come summer, they would gather to take advantage of the abundance of wildlife and vegetation.

Come autumn, they took down their pointed tents and, with their families, undertook a migration on their hunting grounds; they managed to feed themselves all winter on large and small game. It was a hard season, but they had confidence in nature and took care to manage the resources by allowing them to reproduce. It is during a migration that Chief Dominique was born…but in unusual circumstances.

The child one hears crying from afar

It was the winter of 1947. His mother had given birth prematurely and in the tent, she was weakening. His father T8amy (Twamy), who was both Okima (chief) and medicine man, could do nothing more for her. By chance, a metal bird passed overhead and the men were able to get it to land on the dunes of the frozen lake.

To get them to the hospital, they placed in it the mother, her baby and another woman who needed treatment. After a perilous takeoff, the plane caught fire and crashed at the far end of the lake.

Running to the crash site on snowshoes, T8amy managed to extricate the unconscious pilot, his own wife, the baby and the passenger. All returned to the tents except the father, who decided to keep his son with him overnight in the forest. The baby probably had symptoms of pneumothorax.

At sunrise, when a new life begins for the Anicinape, the baby was breathing normally. During their return, the others heard the baby’s cries across the lake. His mother gave him the name Kopiteotak, “the child one hears crying from afar”.

A thousand-year-old culture at our doors

As Kopiteotak likes to recount, “I was born on the banks of the Harricana and I lived as a nomad with my family.” He is, therefore, one of the last living witnesses of this era of nomadic life to which 20th century colonialism put an end. At the age of seven and a half, he was placed in a residential school – cut off from family, language, traditions and customs. He remained there for seven years before being expelled. The black-robed priests changed his diabolical first name to Dominique.

He smiles: “devil, or demon, is a word that does not even exist in my language.” This dark time of his life still haunts his dreams to this day. He speaks of it in a book called On nous appelait les SAUVAGES – They Called Us “Savages” – a book available in French and English, co-written with his companion Marie-Josée Tardif. But thanks to much hard work on himself over more than half-century, and with the support of the elders, the chief has made peace and found tranquility.

Kopiteotak, whom those close to him affectionately nickname Chomis (grandfather), was chosen by the elders to succeed his father as hereditary chief. After several years of politics, he opted for the role of spiritual guide to the Anicinape culture. In this role, he has met such well-known individuals as Nelson Mandela and the Dalai Lama.

He has also been to Rome, where he came up against Vatican bureaucracy. But he notes, with a smile, “It is not up to me to judge the Church and I have nothing to ask them. It is up to them, instead, to speak.

” Quietly seated in front of his lake, Chomis is serene. He works towards reconciliation and follows his nomadic path among the peoples to help them discover the rich, thousand-year-old culture from which he derives.

kina8at.ca

 

More from this author by clicking on his photo below.

Daniel Gauvreau

 

Daniel Gauvreau80 Posts

Récréologue et journaliste de formation, tour à tour organisateur, formateur, consultant, chroniqueur et traducteur dans le milieu du plein air, Daniel Gauvreau est passionné d’activité physique en extérieur. De retour d’un périple au Québec et en France, il a choisi les Hautes-Laurentides pour satisfaire son amour de la nature. Semi-retraité, moniteur de ski de fond à SFMT, son expérience profite désormais aux lecteurs de Tremblant Express. Recreation professional and journalist by education, organizer, trainer, consultant, columnist and translator about the outdoors by experience, Daniel Gavreau is passionate about physical activity outside. Following a trip through Québec and France, he chose the Hautes-Laurentides as the place to satisfy his love of nature. Semi-retired and teaching cross-country skiing with SFMT, he now offers his experience to Tremblant Express readers.

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