(FRANKFURT (Germany)) When he heard extracts from his novel for the first time Kukum read in German at the Frankfurt Book Fair on Wednesday, Michel Jean had a thought for his great-grandmother Almanda.
“I got emotional. I wondered what Almanda would have thought of all this. This woman of Irish origin, who became Innu out of love, brought books in her luggage to occupy the long winter months in the tent; she would no doubt have been proud to see her great-grandson find himself in the spotlight at the world’s largest book fair.
Along with eight other Canadian authors, Michel Jean spent the week in Frankfurt, where Canada was guest of honor at the Book Fair. His novel Kukum has just been translated into German, just like Amun, the collection of short stories he edited. Another of his books, Atuk, is in the process of being soon. And his publishing house is juggling with the idea of translating his novel on residential schools as well, The wind still talks about it, confided to us the translator Michael von Killisch-Horn (responsible for transposing the words of Michel Jean into Goethe’s language).
The writer, journalist and TV news anchor takes it all with humility and even a touch of wonder. “I’m like a child at Belmont Park! He laughs.
Neither spokesperson nor activist
If he does not “pretend” to consider himself as a spokesperson for the indigenous Canadian community (“Joséphine Bacon is a spokesperson, not me!”), It is very much he who, in Frankfurt, had to answer numerous questions from journalists and panelists on the Aboriginal reality in Canada.
“What interests them, it is not the feathers or the folklore, but more the political questions, in particular on the self-determination of the First Nations and the indigenous rights”, notes Michel Jean, who especially does not want to be attached to him the label of activist. “Me, I try to explain things. ”
He remarks that several journalists are surprised by his answers: “The vision that the Germans, and the rest of the world, often have of Canada is that of the peacekeeper country. A beneficent country, on the left… By learning more about Aboriginal history, they discover another Canada, another Quebec… ”
PHOTO NIKLAS GÖRKE, PROVIDED BY THE FRANKFURT BOOK FAIR
Michel Jean (right) and Canadian author Paul Seesequasis (center) answer questions from a host on the Frankfurt Fair stage.
In Frankfurt, Michel Jean had the confirmation of what he already sensed: the indigenous stories are universal. And they must be told at all costs, “even if Canadians don’t necessarily want to hear them.”
So when Governor General of Canada Mary May Simon delivered a touching speech on the importance of Indigenous voices on the Fair’s opening night, the reporter shed a few tears. “She recalled that we have the right to talk about our stories. That we exist. That we have the right to be there! It was moving to hear him speak Inuktitut on stage. It is a moment that will remain engraved in my heart. ”
Questions and answers without red herring
During his stay, Michel Jean participated in numerous interviews on German television and radio, but also in France. Regardless of the medium, many of the questions asked by journalists tackled painful or complex subjects head-on: disappearance of Indigenous cultures and languages, recent discovery of human remains near residential schools, gestures made (or not) by Canada for reconciliation. …
To a journalist who asked him if he was angry with the fate reserved for the natives, he replied: “I am not an angry person, but yes, there is pain in relation to the loss of the territory. We indigenous people tell difficult stories, but often in a soft voice. With Kukum, I wanted to talk about forced sedentarization using a larger than life character, Almanda. Only, for a long time, we had no one to listen to our stories. ”
Why ? chained his interlocutor.
Because these are delicate subjects, which concern the territory and those who have the right to occupy it. In Quebec, people feel they are victims of the colonization of the English. They have David vs. Goliath Syndrome. They forget that for the indigenous peoples, they are the Goliaths.
Michel Jean
But the man remains optimistic: “People weren’t reading native authors 10 years ago. What I am experiencing today would have been impossible then. I feel that Canadian society is changing, although there is still a long way to go. ”
Proud to talk about its roots
Michel Jean’s attitude to his Innu identity has itself changed. Indeed, until recently, Michel Jean did not openly display himself as an indigenous person, at least professionally. Why ? “I think I did like my mother and my grandmother, who were the only Innu in a white village. They were called savages and wanted to blend in with the group. When I started in journalism, it was not a plus to be indigenous. It attracted mostly negative comments. But I have always been very proud, very curious about my native roots. ”
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE FRANKFURT FAIR
The President and CEO of the Fair, Juergen Boos (left), speaks with authors Kim Thúy and Michel Jean.
It was the librarian of a school in Pessamit who convinced her – without knowing it – to publicly display her origins when she wrote on a small sign affixed under a pile of books: Michel Jean, Innu author. Someone forwarded the photo to the principal concerned. The click was made.
This woman wanted to make the students understand that one could be both Innu and a writer. I realized then that there are no native people in public space and that First Nations youth never see themselves on television or in the newspapers. From then on, I was no longer afraid to talk about my roots.
Michel Jean
From now on, each young Innu will be able to tell himself that life can take him to the other side of the world, to the biggest book fair in the world …