Purdue University Part 2: Canoes Carry Culture

Purdue University Podcast Part 2: Canoes Carry Culture

“These canoes carry culture. They carry our past. They carry our future and who we are as a people.” 

“It’s going to take all of the cultures, all people, working together, to make the planet a better place…We are all in this together.” 

-Mr. Wayne Valliere

On Monday, October 11, Indigenous Peoples’ Day, a group of Lac du Flambeau Public School 8th graders participated in a birch bark canoe launch at Purdue University. The canoe, named The Council of the Three Fires, was built by Lac du Flambeau Public School Ojibwe Language and Culture Teacher and birch bark canoe maker Mr. Wayne Valliere and his apprentice, Mr. Peterson.  

Before the launch, Lac du Flambeau Talk Show host/8th grade student, Jackson Chapman, interviewed participants in anticipation of the trip. 

On today’s episode, Jackson follows up with these students and conducts an in-depth interview with Mr. Valliere. After asking Mr. Valliere to share his background and thoughts on the value of teaching/education , Jackson and his guests discuss some of the finest moments of the Purdue trip, share, in detail, part of the canoe-building process, talk about the history and significance of birch bark canoes in Anishinaabe culture, celebrate how, “...by launching that canoe we were sending a message to the world that the Anishnaabe people are still alive and we’re still thriving and we’re still on the planet.” Finally, Mr. Valliere explains how the launch supports the Anishinaabe mission to spread an important message to the entire human tribe. That message is: “We are all in this together…What we do today matters. The things we do today for the environment, matters. It’s so important that we speak up for our grandmother, the Earth.”

SHOW NOTES/KEY QUOTES:

• “By launching that canoe we were sending a message to the world that the Anishnaabe people are still alive and we’re still thriving and we’re still on the planet. We’ve turned into modern Indians. But our beliefs and our ways and our morals and our teachings–they’re still very evident in our tribe.”
• “These canoes carry culture. They carry our past. They carry our future and who we are as a people. Everywhere we went we went by birch bark canoe. The great migration from the eastern seaboard to Madeline Island was done by birch bark canoe.”
• “The main mission for this project and for all our cultural projects that we do…we have a message as Anishinabe people…and that message is the importance of clean water to drink and clean air to breath…and we look at cultures, and it’s going to take all of the cultures, all people working together, to make the planet a better place.”
• Bimaadizijig = human tribe in Ojibwe 
• “We are all in it together.”
• “The importance of clean water to drink and clean air to breath - it’s something all of the human tribe needs to survive. And if we don’t wake up and start changing our ways and finding better ways of doing things, we are going to be in trouble.”
• Manaataajigewin = respect in Ojibwe
• “We look at our older brothers the plants and the animals - the trees - they don’t need humans to live…but we sure need them. So wouldn’t it make sense to respect the things you count on?”
• “Somehow, someway we’ve lost touch with that as a human tribe.”
• Biinizi - nibi = clean water 
• Biinizi - Bagadinaamowin = clear air 
• “What we do today matters.”
• “It is our responsibility to do what we can right now.”