With Qimmik, Innu journalist and novelist Michel Jean brings to light the tragedy of sled dog killings among the Inuit people of far northern Quebec in the 1960s. A heartbreaking story that speaks of trauma but also highlights the “resilience” of the people of this region.
Between 1960 and 1970, Quebec police officers decimated more than a thousand sled dogs one after another in Nunavik. At that time, the government forced Inuit communities to settle in villages. To achieve this, we eliminated the northern canids (or “qimmiq” in the Inuktitut language), which the indigenous peoples of the Arctic consider their peers.
The murder profoundly disrupted the Inuit way of life and created a strong feeling of anger that still lingers today, Michel Jean whispers in an interview, adding that this acculturation policy was only implemented about sixty years ago.
The historical drama forms the backdrop for Qimmik, a contemplative novel with minimalist realism that took the author several years to write. The eras overlap. On the one hand, there is a young lawyer named Ève, who works to defend an Inuken accused of the murder of two Sûreté du Québec police officers, and on the other, Saullu and Ulaajuk, another freedom-loving couple Time.
In my opinion, I don’t take sides or blame anyone. I’m not looking for someone to blame. I show a situation that is simply based on facts. It’s up to the reader to take their own journey.
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Inuit on a dog-drawn sleigh. (archive photo)
Photo: Library and Archives Canada
The author, a member of the Mashteuiatsh community, enjoys sharing stories from different nations in his own way. He quotes Joséphine Bacon: If we don’t tell our stories, who will do it for us?
Identity nationalists always say that Ottawa is largely responsible for Aboriginal problems. But the dog massacre and colonial policies in Nunavik were led by Quebec, he says.
The Kukum revelation
Michel Jean always wanted to write books, but the click came a little late, he admits. He was 40 years old and working on Point, a show that aired on Radio-Canada. One evening when I was alone in the office I said to myself, “Hey, I’ve never written before,” it had the effect of a detonator. So I started writing in my free time.
In 2019, the Alma-born journalist will truly establish himself as a writer with the publication of Kukum, an intimate story about the atypical journey of his great-grandmother Almanda Siméon, traumatized by forced sedentarism among the Inuit of Qimmik.
I had to win a prize in France so that the media in Quebec could start talking about the book, the publication of which had gone virtually unnoticed a few months earlier, the writer recalls without bitterness.
Kukum will have great success in Quebec as readers are fascinated by this new pen, highly acclaimed in France. This is proof of the great openness of the public in Quebec, emphasizes Michel Jean. When people realize that Indigenous stories are also part of their history, we feel a great curiosity and desire to learn more.
Michel Jean is a presenter at TVA, the only Indigenous person in this position in Quebec. During his career as a journalist, which led him to work for several information networks in the province, he remembers a time not long ago when revealing his identity was not well received by either colleagues or the hierarchy.
All my friends and relatives knew I was Innu, but I didn’t talk about it at work, he confirms. Because it’s nothing worth a pat on the back.
“Michel, nobody cares about Indian stories”: I’ve heard this sentence at least once in every newsroom I’ve worked in.
The bad jokes, sometimes openly racist, the prejudice or simply the inability to find a job when he reveals that he is Aboriginal will have long since thwarted Michel Jean’s claims to identity. Man prefers to live in peace.
When my grandmother died in 2010, I began to be open about it. She was like a connection to family for me because I grew up outside of the community.
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Michel Jean remains the only Indigenous news anchor based in Quebec.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Ismaël Houdassine
Then the novelist asked himself. What is the indigenous part that has survived in him? He described this return to basics in his great book Atuk. In an interview he particularly highlights an episode when he meets one of his aunts for the first time a few hours after his grandmother’s funeral.
She wanted to talk to me. She said to me, “You have the Indian in you. I’ve seen you in situations where people around you get angry but you always stay calm, that’s the Indian!”
In ten years, the situation of the indigenous population in Quebec has changed significantly, he mentions. Since then, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission report has been presented, the residential school system has been put in the spotlight, and the death of Joyce Echaquan, an Atikamekw mother who lost her life in disturbing circumstances at Joliette Hospital in 2020. The Joyce Echaquan tragedy helped open hearts and eyes, he notes.
The 63-year-old author, who doesn’t want to describe himself as an activist, says there’s still a long way to go, particularly in Quebec media, when it comes to attitudes toward Indigenous people. I see openings, particularly at Radio-Canada. But an opening is not an open door, he says.
For Michel Jean, the recognition of indigenous peoples means a greater presence in Quebec’s economic life at all levels. When I started in the business, there weren’t many women in the media. Institutions have implemented measures in favor of women. This corrected a deep injustice. Indigenous peoples also have a right to their place.
Qimmik has been available in bookstores since October 18th.