The Chronicle Herald (Provincial)
Dedicated to his community
Eskasoni’s Clark Paul wants Mi’kmaq to reconnect to their culture
Clark Paul is an Eskasoni hero.
The 74-year-old is a residential school survivor and in the midst of a four-year battle with bladder cancer, nevertheless he is doing everything in his power to help Mi'kmaq reconnect to their culture and spirituality.
“Once I made a commitment to the pipe my life didn't belong to me anymore, it belonged to the people because it's my commitment to help the people,” said Paul.
Born in Membertou First Nation, he was moved to Eskasoni at only 18 months to be raised by his grandfather Noel Johnson. He's always considered Eskasoni home.
He remembers a time when all cultural practices and dances were outlawed and his people were jailed for practising their beliefs. They tried to find ways to hide and still do it, but Paul says much wasn't passed down.
As a child he was sent to the Shubenacadie Indian Residential School, where he was physically and emotionally abused.
“When I went there, I was in trouble from the get-go, I couldn't speak a word of English. But believe me within six months I learned English, it was beaten into me,” said Paul.
It would take years for him to come to grips with that trauma. He said he kept running "what if" scenarios in his head, but ceremony helped him see the abuse wasn't his fault.
“Without even realizing it, I had blamed myself and that is what I had to work through,” said Paul.
When he left the residential school he was 11 years old and weighed only 36 kilograms. He has come to realize that the adults that harmed him were to blame. So, first he had to get to know himself and then he had to ask the spirits for help.
HELPING OTHERS
He's found solace and healing for himself by helping others.
Paul works as a cultural support worker at Eskasoni Mental Health and helps other residential school survivors reconnect to their culture.
“I can't heal them, but I can show them the way to help them heal," said Paul.
His biggest advice to helping others is to listen and to listen intently.
Paul said people make the mistake of listening just to answer but people need to feel heard and listened to without judgment. He believes firmly that each person who comes to him for help comes with gifts of their own.
Paul has helped people with addictions, people who were incarcerated and people who just felt discouraged by life.
“Maybe no one ever treated them with respect,” said Paul.
He is also trained in First Nations mental health first aid and sits on the board of the Access Open Minds as a cultural support for the children who attend.
Paul loves to see the kids and to help them increase their cultural knowledge.
Jeannine Faye Denny has worked with Paul since 2013 and her fondest memories of him are their cultural knowledge trips.
“When he first taught us about sweetgrass picking ... he had such pride in the children and seeing that made me smile,” said the 43-year-old.
Denny says her own grandparents have died and Paul has become a grandfather figure for her. She comes to him to learn about the culture and the history of Eskasoni.
Denny asked Paul to close his eyes and tell her his earliest memories of their community.
He explained the community had a large farming base and people always tried to feed one another. It's that willingness to teach that impresses her.
“He has such patience, the knowledge and all this wisdom and he's able to share with us and if he knows you're really interested and have a passion for it, he'll make the time for you. That's what I love about Clark,” said Denny.
PERSONAL LIFE
Paul has 23 children and is now married to Wanita Paul. He is a pipe carrier, a lodge keeper and a knowledge keeper.
The COVID-19 pandemic has been preventing him from visiting friends in other Indigenous communities, but he's been doing what he can to help the community in which he lives.
Last summer he helped construct the sweat lodge at the MMIWG memorial garden.
Paul says every six months he's reassessed for his cancer, so the doctors can monitor the spread. And he's lost count of the number of surgeries he has had. They've never successfully been able to remove all of the cancer so some days he struggles with his health.
But Paul is determined to keep helping his community.
“No matter how sick I am, if I have the energy, I will carry on fulfilling my commitment ... people come first,” said Paul.