‘My way of sharing and telling stories’
Indigenous artists in Atlantic Canada share their history, experience through their work
T“Through music, theatre, and writing, I’m able to share in a gentle way who I am as an Indigenous person.” Julie Pellissier-lush P.E.I. artist
“I never read or wrote poetry as a kid or a teenager. I know I was taught it in high school, but it went right over my head. Just didn’t catch.” Douglas Walbourne-gough Award-winning poet
he East Coast is home to many great Indigenous artists, who highlight their ancestry through their craft, whether it’s the written word, song, or on film.
Douglas Walbournegough, from Newfoundland, April Martell, from Nova Scotia, and Julie Pellissierlush, from Prince Edward Island have found ways to use their mediums to share their Indigenous experience and the history of their people creatively.
FINDING A LOVE OF WRITING
An award-winning poet and mixed/adopted status member of the Qalipu Mi’kmaq First Nation from Elmastukwek (the Bay of Islands), Ktaqmkuk (Newfoundland), Douglas Walbourne-gough didn’t write poetry until his early 20s.
“I never read or wrote poetry as a kid or a teenager,” Walbourne-gough said. “I know I was taught it in high school, but it went right over my head. Just didn’t catch.”
He was hooked during an undergraduate course with John Steffler at Memorial University of Newfoundland’s Grenfell Campus in Corner Brook. Steffler’s poetry books include That Night We Were Ravenous (1998) and The Grey Islands (1985).
“I saw a poster for one of John’s readings, and John had never mentioned being a writer at that point, because that’s just the kind of guy he was,” Walbourne-gough said.
“So I went to the reading, and it was great. Then I ended up taking a creative writing course with him the following term, and that kind of cracked it all open for me.”
CROW GULCH
Steffler and Stephanie Mckenzie, another Grenfell professor and poet, both wrote endorsements for Crow Gulch, Walbourne-gough’s debut poetry collection published by Goose Lane Editions imprint icehouse poetry in 2019. It was nominated for numerous awards and won the 2021 E.J. Pratt Poetry Award.
Less than two kilometres west of downtown Corner Brook, Crow Gulch was formed by migrant workers during the construction of the city’s pulp and paper mill in the 1920s.
Many residents had Indigenous ancestry, including Walbourne-gough’s father’s family. They lived in Crow Gulch until legally forced out and relocated to Corner Brook’s first large-scale social-housing project, Dunfield Park.
TESTAMENT TO HISTORY
The poems in Crow Gulch explore the poet’s relationship with this history and stand as testaments to people and places he refuses to let fade.
He’s not alone. In August 2021, a collaborative art piece by Mi’kmaw Artists Marcus Gosse and Jordan Bennett was unveilled at the parking lot for the trail leading to Crow Gulch.
“There’s a kind of creative dialogue that we’ve all been contributing toward to the point where now, instead of like ten years ago, you wouldn’t really talk about being from Crow Gulch for fear of a bit of a stigma or shame, and now it’s got to the point where people are kind of drawing a line in the sand and saying, no, this was a community that was here, these were real people,” Walbourne-gough said.
NEW WORKS
Now a Grenfell associate professor and recent 2023 writer-in-residence at MUN’S St. John’s Campus, Walbourne-gough recently published the chapbook Colour Work with Anstruther Press.
Inspired by the poet’s chromesthesia, a form of synesthesia, the poems all relate to colour.
His second collection of poetry, Island, is forthcoming fall 2024 from Goose Lane Editions.
“‘Island builds’ on the community work, the family work, of Crow Gulch,” Walbourne-gough said.
“I looked at Crow Gulch
“I was hesitant to share my original works, but lately I’ve realized that no one is going to hear them if I keep them to myself.” April Martell
through the lens of my grandparents on my dad’s side, because that’s where they lived and that’s where my dad was born. Island takes a look at me as an individual, both sets of my grandparents, and my parents, and kind of uses a lot of personal family history and traumas and stories and stuff,” he explains.
“I become a lens through which readers can look at Qalipu Mi’kmaq enrollment process, you know, the court cases, the controversies. I basically wanted to say, I’m willing to be vulnerable in a very big and real way. Here’s my heart and my guts on a plate and a spotlight is put on it.”
THE MEANING
Although Walbourne-gough is grateful for positive reviews and awards, he never loses sight of why he began writing in the first place.
“If somebody in Toronto, or Vancouver or Winnipeg says this book really resonates with me, that’s a bonus, but it’s the people who are most affected by Qalipu situation personally, those are the people I’m really writing for,” Walbourne-gough said.
“I came at it with all the integrity I could. At the end of the day, I can sleep better knowing I did it that way.”
VIOLENCE AND HOPE
If you visit her Youtube channel and watch Indigenous singer-songwriter April Martell perform her new song “I Did My Best,” you’ll hear a heart-wrenching story about domestic violence and hope.
The song is a strong follow-up to her debut selftitled album released in September 2022 and produced by Canadian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist J.P. Cormier.
Born in Charlottetown, P.E.I., and now living in Antigonish, N.S., Martell always harboured a secret love of singing but didn’t begin performing and recording music until her late 30s.
“I’ve often wondered if maybe storytelling is not just something passed down, but in our blood,” Maretell said.
“My biological mother was a residential school survivor, and my adoptive mom was First Nations and English was her second language.
“My siblings and I never spoke the language, but there were always plenty of stories. Mi’kmaq people are known for being warm and friendly, open and eager to share. I was unfortunately blessed with awkwardness and social anxiety, so while I struggle to open up to people, I like to think maybe music is my way of sharing and telling stories.”
INDIGENOUS EXPERIENCE THROUGH SONG
In 2020, Martell rewrote the words to Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire” to “reflect on Indigenous issues in today’s day and age” and posted a powerful performance on Youtube. The video now has over 20K views.
“It was widely shared and featured on local news, so it was amazing to have that feeling of pride, to have played a part in sharing some of those issues that Indigenous people have always known about,” Martell said.
“I’ve had some incredible feedback from folks who have reached out to tell me how they were so unaware of the history. I had no idea that so many weren’t aware of residential schools.”
IMPORTANT MESSAGE
Although Martell still struggles to put herself out there and perform in public, her first big gig was at the Lunenburg Opera House in September 2023 as part of the Lunenburg Folk Harbour Society’s “Weekends at the Opera House.”
She was recently invited to perform at a local festival, but details won’t be officially announced until March.
“There are some wonderful opportunities out there, and there are so many talented Indigenous artists making a name for themselves and sharing their culture,” Martell said.
“If you want to experience it for yourself, all you have to do is choose a streaming service, or turn on the television or computer, and it’s at your fingertips.”
Sharing those stories is important, she added.
“It’s also something that First Nations people can relate to and connect with,” Martell said.
“That wasn’t the case growing up, and it’s amazing that artists can so easily share their culture and stories with folks outside their own communities.”
INSPIRATION
The encouragement Martell receives on streaming services and social media inspires her to continue her musical journey.
She’s currently going through her catalogue to choose and rewrite songs for an acoustic album while delving into the recording side of the business.
“I was hesitant to share my original works, but lately I’ve realized that no one is going to hear them if I keep them to myself,” Martell said.
“I’m searching for a little courage to maybe get out and do a few little gigs on my own. I’m not the best musician, and I’ve been lucky to work with a couple of great musicians who’ve played for me, but I think it’s time to just go out, mess up, make mistakes, and play a few empty rooms and see how it feels.”
FILM PROJECT
Julie Pellissier-lush and her son Richard Lush recently returned to P.E.I. from Whistler, B.C.
They moved home as part of the 2023 PEI Market Accelerator, a new partnership between the Whistler Film Festival and FILMPEI that selected 14 P.e.i.-based screenwriters and producers to participate in an eightmonth, multi-phase project development program designed to accelerate their original narrative or feature or factual projects.
“My son came up with an idea for a short film and won a grant to get it done,” Pellissier-lush said.
“We filmed it, and now he is going to be sending it to some film festivals.”
NEW ENDEAVOUR
The film is “Meskeyi (I Am Sorry),” a story about an Indigenous man and his son as the father teeters on the brink of his final walk to Spirit World but finds a Wise Elder and Sacred ceremonies to find himself back on the Red Road, the Road to Sobriety.
Filmmaking is a new artistic venture for Pellissierlush, an award-winning Mi’kmaw storyteller, photographer, actor, drummer, best-selling author and the first Indigenous Poet Laureate for P.E.I.
“My artistic career gives me a bridge to sharing my culture, my history, my traditions,” Pellissier-lush said.
“Through music, theatre and writing, I’m able to share in a gentle way who I am as an Indigenous person.”
It breaks down barriers, she said.
“We have been told historically that who we are is not good, our culture was not good, we could even be put into jail for wearing our regalia, and now we can share these stories, the history, with pride,” she said.
“It doesn’t write the wrongs of the past, but it allows us to start to heal when we are invited to these places to share, where there was never an invite before.”
LONG-TIME PASSION
Pellissier-lush always wanted to write and act. When she was 11 years old, she asked for a Smith Corona for Christmas, and still has stacks of old short stories she wrote with the typewriter.
When she started employment work with the Mi’kmaq Confederacy of P.E.I. in 2005, she soon moved over to the Indigenous newspaper, the Kwimu Messenger.
“There I was able to meet with people, interview them, learn their stories, and it inspired me to start writing again,” Pellissier-lush said.
“My first published book came out in 2009, with the help, love and support of Retromedia and its amazing leader Larry Resnitzky.”
“The world spins too fast to get everything done we want to but are trying to keep running with the momentum.” Julie Pellissier-lush
SHARING HISTORY THROUGH WRITING
That book was “My Mi’kmaq Mother,” a memoir about a young Mi’kmaq girl growing up without her mother.
Pellissier-lush wrote it for her children to let them know where she came from and who she is.
In addition to numerous other books published since then, her debut poetry collection, Epekwitk: Mi’kmaq Poetry from Prince Edward Island, was released in November 2021.
Her group, Mi’kmaq Heritage Actors, which is responsible for the popular play Mi’kmaq Legends, are nominated for a 2024 East Coast Music Award for Children’s Entertainer of the Year.
Through her books, songs, poetry, and other creative pursuits, Pellissier-lush celebrates and shares the powerful stories of the Mi’kmaq on P.E.I. and shows no signs of slowing down.
“The world spins too fast to get everything done we want to but are trying to keep running with the momentum,” she said.