Wolastoqiyik/Madawaska
A river enters another river
Artists
Michèle-Anne Théberge
Phyllis Grant
Madawaska.
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‘Can you see at the shadow of the forest, near the Great Falls, the tombs of our fathers? Well, they are the first ones who, came in within this region. They saw the sun glistened in the valley, way before the English walks upon this region, a long time even before the arrival of the French, your fathers. Those graves are as old as our sense of belonging to this land. Today with an open hand, my heart is giving you a part of this region; my arm will help you defend it, and as long as your rifles are still willing to kill the moose, that your fish spears will catch the fish of our many rivers, that your eyes will love to see the grass of the prairie go green again and that your ears enjoy listening to the rolls of the waters of the Walloostook River ( Saint John River) which are making roar the giant destroyer (the waterfalls of Grand-Sault) who is far away. Brothers and friends, you are more than welcome,’ said François-Xavier, great sachem of the Malecites.
Matawaskaw, in cri language would mean there is water grass at the wharf of the rivers.
But in Malecite, Madawaska is mainly known as the Region, domain of the porcupines.
In 1785, about twenty Acadian families of Sainte-Anne-des-Pays-Bas, renamed Fredericton in honour of the second son of Georges III, - the Cyr, Mercure, Thibodeau, Violette, Mazerolle, Martin - with Joseph Daigre as the leader, left for the North West, the Madawaska, sailing along the Saint John river . Boarded on about 15 canoes, they paddled during 10 days, went past Médoctec, Rapides de femmes, les Bois-Francs and Tobique.
The Promised Land was marked by a cross put up by Daigre on a headland near the Grand Sault waterfalls.
Madawaska: Major Route of Quebec-Halifax.
After Memramcook and Caraquet, Saint-Basile in Madawaska, the third Acadian parish, was named in the memory of a doctor of the church and bishop of Césarée Madawaska, region of the Malecites, Acadians, Quebeckers, Scottish, Irish, English, unite to create the region of the Brayons and the stars of the republic flag.
And then appear the delicious pancakes made of buckwheat flour, called ploys. When are they going to make a movie about the difficult settlement, on Tante Blanche and the black misery?
Nice lands who transform the following maxim: the hand that brandished the tomahawk is not made to guide the plow: the hand who pulled out the hair of the Mohawk won’t stoop so low as to lift the vegetables.
Region of lakes and rivers, of forests, of pulp and paper, our Acadia of lands and forests.
It is time for the big fair, to the sound of the bell engraved with the fleurs de lys that the Malecites brought from Sainte-Anne-des-Pays-Bas. Time for the festivities with the sweet little monster of Baker Lake and the princess Malobiannah with the tight abyss where gushing forth the thunder and the scum: the Grand Sault waterfalls, energy in the stream of the region.
Michèle-Anne Théberge
Moncton, N.B.
Originally from Quebec City, Michèle-Anne Théberge currently lives in Montreal. She has lived for many years in Caraquet and Moncton, New Brunswick.
A prolific artist, she has participated on several occasions in the Atlantic Visual Arts Festival and has held several exhibitions in the Moncton and Caraquet regions.
The work she created for the exhibition Irréductibles racines is inspired by the Mi'kmaq origin of the name "Madawaska".
The name Madawaska means "the territory of the porcupine" according to André Gaudet's book entitled Que signifient ces noms Indiens de ces villes et villages des Provinces Maritimes.
Phyllis Grant
First Nation
Pabineau, N.B.
Phyllis Grant is a Mi’gmaq artist from Pabineau First Nation. She is a mother, artist, rapper, filmmaker, dreamer and lover of all creation.
Her artwork was exhibited in Canada at the Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba (2007), and in the US with Honor the Earth’s “Impacted Nations” which toured New York City, Minneapolis, Santa Fe, and Chicago (2005–2008). Phyllis is one of 15 artists across Canada who designed and painted a six-foot Coca-Cola art bottle for Coca-Cola Canada for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Her most recent exhibits were in Rome at Angelica Gallery and Foundation Besso in Italy and at the Joseph D. Carrier Upper Gallery in Toronto with the Associazione Romana Acquerellisti (ARA)/Roman Watercolour Association (2018 and 2019).
In the sphere of animation, she directed “Maq and the Spirit of the Woods”, produced by the National Film Board of Canada. It was selected and screened at several festivals, including the Terres en vues / Land InSights festival in Montreal, the American Indian Film Institute’s Film Festival in San Francisco, the Chicago International Children’s Film Festival, National Geographic’s “All Roads Film Festival” in Los Angeles and Washington, DC, and at the REDCAT Cal Arts Disney Theatre in California.
Phyllis holds a Bachelor of Integrated Studies from the University of New Brunswick with a certificate in Leadership Studies. (2015)
Her artwork has appeared with many organizations and in publications, notably, Pearson Canada, Everywoman’s Almanac (Native Women's Press), First Nation’s Children’s Futures Fund, UNB and more. She also loves writing poetry and her verses were published in "Cadence, female voices of NB" (Frog Hollow Press, 2020).
Phyllis is one of 150 Canadians selected by the Government of Canada to serve as a Canada 150 Ambassador with the title Distinguished Artist (2017).
She recently created a cenotaph design for Mi'gmaq Veterans at her home reserve of Pabineau First Nation, New Brunswick (2020).
Phyllis is passionate about community building and transformative learning in terms of leadership through arts and technology. Her art focuses on sharing traditions and exploring identity within the process of creation, often retelling the Mi'gmaq legends she grew up with.
Phyllis enjoys inspiring and facilitating creativity in others, and shares her path with unique expressions of family, community, stories, medicines, passion and love.