These Wabanaki entrepreneurs hold traditional teachings close in their work
The smell of a bonfire was in the air at Maqiyahtimok Centre on Tuesday, where cedar tea steeped beside maple-infused salmon along with the famous bannock dough made by Wolastoqew chef Melinda Paul.
She teamed up with Mi’kmaw chef Darren Peter Paul at the centre in Sitansisk (St. Mary’s First Nation) for an afternoon workshop for people attending the Atlantic Indigenous Tourism Summit just across the river in Fredericton.
For Melinda Paul, who is from Sitansisk, cooking these traditional meals was all in a day’s work.
“It all comes from the heart when you love what you do,” she said.
She runs Lindy’s Take Out in Neqotkuk (Tobique First Nation), about 180 kilometres northwest of Fredericton, but also does catering on the side.
“I do just about everything but I’m focusing on Indigenous cooking and learning how to forage and cook with the things we used growing up,” she said.
Working alongside her was Darren Peter Paul, from Metepenagiag Mi’kmaq Nation, a private chef and co-owner of Wabanaki Food Truck which serves foods from across Wabanaki territory like seafood, duck, corn, squash, beans and a more contemporary staple — bologna.
Their afternoon course highlighted their specialized skills and backgrounds in preparing traditional foods.
“We want to give people the chance to have their traditional foods and do them in a traditional way,” said Darren Peter Paul.
At the Atlantic Indigenous Tourism Summit, Wabanaki entrepreneurs across New Brunswick share how their cultural passions align with their businesses.
He reflected on the teachings he’s received around food. He talked about only taking what you need, serving elders first, and being sure to offer a plate to the spirit world.
“I really like to put good intentions into the cooking as well, because I feel like a lot of people can actually really taste that,” he said.
Upstairs, Angela Beek, a Wolastoqew artist from Sitansisk, prepared sweetgrass for her afternoon course where she taught how to craft sweetgrass dolls.
“I love passing it on because I know when I learn this stuff it fills up parts of me I didn’t even know were empty,” Beek said.
For Beek, the dolls carry deep meaning. She recalled learning of their significance in the late 19th and early 20th century when First Nations ceremonies were banned under the Indian Act.
She said people back then used the sweetgrass dolls as decorations in their homes, in an attempt to hide medicines from Indian agents.
“We kind of hid things in plain sight,” said Beek.
In the next room, Shelly Perley of Esgenoôpetitj First Nation prepared cedar foot baths, which filled the room with the grounding scent of medicine.
She credited her mother, traditional healer and elder Jeannie Bartibogue, for passing down the teachings she now shares as her livelihood.
“I always acknowledge her when I talk about the cedar footbath and how I learned it or even the blanket ceremony,” said Perley.
“She’s always with me.”
Now she is passing on those teachings in her business, Jumi’s Wellness, where she incorporates her Mi’kmaw cultural practices with modern wellness tourism.
“It’s nice because our people are wanting that self-help and to bring in the culture and open those doors and get on their healing journey,” said Perley.
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