Indigenous author bringing back the story of the buffalo
- Katie Doke Sawatzky | June 21, 2017
It all started when Joely BigEagle-Kequahtooway was searching for a nice place to take a family picture.
After snapping photos in front of a sculpted beaver, grasshopper, turtle and bird, the Regina artist had one question on her mind, “Where are the buffalo?”
The absence of the animal, despite its cultural significance to the Indigenous peoples of the Plains, is something BigEagle-Kequahtooway will address in a book she will write this coming year.
"It’s like [people think] the buffalo are dead, they’re gone, get over it," said BigEagle-Kequahtooway, who is from White Bear First Nation. "It’s kind of the same thing with residential school. It’s happened it’s in the past, get over it."
BigEagle-Kequatooway received the Indigenous Pathways Initiative grant this month. She will use it to put together an anthology of stories and art about the buffalo and in order to “bring the truth to light.”
She said the significance of the buffalo for Indigenous people should be recognized by settlers who don’t know about it but also by Indigenous people, who find the buffalo’s story too painful.
“It was a sign of a good life, … sustenance and spiritual and everything and then it was taken away and now within our own people, it’s almost like a swear word when you talk about buffalo because it’s like this trauma trigger,” said BigEagle-Kequahtooway.
She hopes her book will be a way for people to remember and honour the buffalo again.
“I think if we can start with art, whether that’s writing or visual or performance, then maybe that’ll trigger some of the good memories,” she said.
The book will include stories that BigEagle-Kequahtooway will gather from Elders and others with an affinity for the animal. She’ll also include stories she’s written, including a non-fiction piece that won Briarpatch magazine’s 2016 Creative Writing Contest, some children’s stories and buffalo origin stories. The buffalo conservation going on in Elk Island National Park might also be part of her research.
Passion for educating the public about Indigenous history is something BigEagle-Kequahtooway has done for years. Back in 2007, she worked with the Regina Aboriginal Professionals’ Association to convince the city and the provincial government to proclaim June as Aboriginal History month. RAPA’s work was recognized by MP Jean Crowder who put forward a motion for a National History Aboriginal Month, which passed in 2009.
BigEagle-Kequahtooway said celebrations have come a long way.
“In 2007 it was awareness…Now, with truth and reconciliation it seems like everyday is Aboriginal history day, which is exactly what we wanted…I wouldn’t say it spearheaded all of everything, but to me it was the beginning. And now look where we are,” she said.
As for her book, BigEagle-Kequahtooway wants readers to know that it’s okay for Indigenous people to share stories about the buffalo without fear of appropriation. She also hopes it will encourage young people and inspire young artists.
“I want to benefit reading this book and knowing that our culture is not only surviving but thriving,” she said.