The Laughing People : A Tribute to My Innu Friends

Documenting the Innu people and illuminating how injustice and cultural meaning manifest in individual lives. __The Laughing People__ recounts Serge Bouchard’s anthropological research in the 1970s in Ekuanitshit, documenting the Indigenous Innu people and illuminating how wide-scale injustice and cultural meaning manifest in individual terms. The book invites readers to take part in preserving Innu history, thereby protecting an Innu future. "'In a way this book is a gift that Serge Bouchard and the Essipit community are giving to the Innu people. Like a mirror, like a lake whose shores disappear into the horizon, it gives back to those who behold it an image of great depth. As far back as memories go, the Innu were there; they are still there, and will continue to be there until memories cease. And for them to remain, their fire must be maintained.' Martin Dufour, Chief, Essipit Innu First Nation Band Council. The Laughing People, translated from the award-winning Le peuple rieur, conveys the richness and resilience of the Innu while reminding us of the forces - old and new - that threaten their community. This memoir and tribute tells the tale of the very long journey of a very small nation, recounting both its joie de vivre and its crosses borne. Readers follow Bouchard, a young anthropologist in the 1970s, as he arrives in Ekuanitshit (Mingan, Quebec) and comes to know its residents. His observations and questions document a community weathering yet another season of change - skidoos replace dogsleds and forests are bulldozed for prefabricated housing - while nonetheless defying external pressures to assimilate or disappear altogether. Returning to these texts fifty years later, Bouchard moves beyond platitudes of strength and dives into wide-scale injustices to present the sacrifices and beauty of the Innu people on individual terms. Whether recounting the impact of the residential school system on Georges Mestokosho, the wave of Innu activism inspired by An Antane Kapesh, or the uncelebrated work of women like Nishapet Enim, The Laughing People presents an opportunity for readers to be part of the preservation and proliferation of these important stories."-- Provided by publisher The Laughing People , translated from the award-winning Le peuple rieur, conveys the richness and resilience of the Innu while reminding us of the forces – old and new – that threaten their community. This memoir and tribute tells the tale of the very long journey of a very small nation, recounting both its joie de vivre and its crosses borne. Readers follow Serge Bouchard, a young anthropologist in the 1970s, as he arrives in Ekuanitshit (Mingan, Quebec) and comes to know its residents. His observations and questions document a community weathering yet another season of change – skidoos replace dogsleds and forests are bulldozed for prefabricated housing – while nonetheless defying external pressures to assimilate or disappear altogether. Returning to these texts fifty years later, Bouchard moves beyond platitudes of strength and dives into wide-scale injustices to present the sacrifices and beauty of the Innu people on individual terms. Whether recounting the impact of the residential school system on Georges Mestokosho, the wave of Innu activism inspired by An Antane Kapesh, or the uncelebrated work of women like Nishapet Enim, The Laughing People presents an opportunity for readers to be part of the preservation and proliferation of these important stories. Cover THE LAUGHING PEOPLE Title Copyright Dedication Contents A Word from the Chief of the Essipit Acknowledgments Note on the Innu Prologue: In My Red Book 1 The Laugh of a Good Man 2 Cod Country 3 Floating Islands 4 Élisabeth’s Bread 5 The Animated World 6 The Time of Fur 7 Essipit, “The River of Shells” 8 A Sad Chapter for Children of the State Epilogue: They Will Be Here Tomorrow Notes Bibliography Index