Aboriginal scholars research their roots

Project hopes to revitalize culture and language

- WCR photo by Ramon Gonzalez Fr. Camille Piche looks at a 224-page manuscript written in Cree syllabics in the 1880s by Bishop Emile Grouard that contains prayers, hymns, catechism and Christian doctrine.

By RAMON GONZALEZ
WCR Staff Writer
Edmonton

The written works of the Oblate missionaries who served among Aboriginal people in northwestern Canada have now become the subject of research.

A team of Aboriginal scholars at the University of Alberta has just begun a five-year research project that involves studying rare books and manuscripts written in Cree by Oblate missionaries who worked and lived among their ancestors.

The purpose of the research project is to gain further insight into the relationship between Aboriginal people and the Oblates, and at the same time revitalize Aboriginal language and culture, said project leader Dr. Cora Weber-Pillwax.

"We are peering into the past and enhancing the oral remembering and the oral expression of the past using those materials."

Oblate Father Camille Piche, who has been gathering, sorting and cataloging books and manuscripts from the archives of the Missionary Oblates of Father Lacombe Province, is happy to see the books being put to good use.

Cree resource books

He recently handed in five boxes - about 100 books - to the team of researchers and will soon hand in a few more. The collection consists of Gospels, grammars and dictionaries written in Cree by the likes of Father Albert Lacombe and Father Roger Vandersteene between the 1800s and the 1970s. Among other reasons, the missionaries wrote the texts in a bid to preach and teach the faith in the people's own language.

"The Oblates have been living and working among the Aboriginal population for over 150 years and during that time, many of our men learned the language . . . and wrote grammars and dictionaries," explained Piche, who is also a part of the research team.

Lacombe set the tone for other missionaries when he composed a dictionary, a grammar and a summary of the Catholic faith in Cree. His works and the works of three other influential missionaries will be the main subjects of the study, according to Weber-Pillwax. The idea for the project began two years ago when Piche approached Weber-Pillwax and told her he thought the books could be of value in revitalizing Aboriginal culture.

Weber-Pillwax agreed and soon afterwards Piche began collecting the texts. "First of all it was a question of gathering them because there were books all over the place, including the museum, the provincial archives, the St. Albert archives and the missions," he said. "In a sense, all these books have been coming together because a lot of the missions have been closed down. As these missions closed down all these books kept coming in."

The books are mainly from the former Grandin Province of the Oblates, which covered Alberta and the Northwest Territories. It is hoped other provinces like Manitoba and B.C. will become part of the research project as well.

Priests' intentions

"I believe this (study) will give Aboriginal people a chance to discover and to reflect on the intentions of the priests," Piche said. "Why did they come and why did they learn the language and how well did they learn it and how were they involved in the community?"

But the study is really more than language and culture, the priest said. "It will also give us a chance to maybe study the Oblates too and the Church." He also hopes the study will renew the relationship between the Oblates and Aboriginal communities.

Weber-Pillwax hopes the study of the Oblate records will help bridge the cultural gap that now exists between young Aboriginal people and their ancestors.

"Because of social effects and the impact of schooling and religion, there is a gap between the young people and the elders and that gap is not being bridged. So we have to bridge it ourselves."

The Aboriginal scholar said the research is not an academic exercise but one that will involve the communities touched by the Oblates.

"We will have Cree people looking at those materials and figuring out how can we use this stuff today," she said. "At the end of the five years, I am hoping we will have community projects going. A lot of our team members are very interested in having curriculum development projects come out of this historical research."

A treasure trove

The Oblate-run University of St. Paul in Ottawa, one of about 10 partners in the study, may house all the historical texts once the project is completed, Piche said. "They would have an Aboriginal library and they would also have a place where they would store these books and make them available to researchers."

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