Thunder Bay Public Library hosts Indigenous Author Series

By Rick Garrick

THUNDER BAY — Lakehead University associate professor Juan Sanchez Martinez and a group of Indigenous authors shared readings from Indigenous Waterviews: An Anthology of Story, Song, and Protocol for Water Ethics on Oct. 22 at the Waverley Library. The event was part of the Thunder Bay Public Library’s Indigenous Author Series.

“It was so beautiful to see community, intergenerational, from different backgrounds — that’s what we wanted because this message is a process, peoples and colours,” says Martinez, who is originally from the Colombian Andes. “The place where I come from is a place of clouds and rain, and I was thinking today, it’s a rainy day and oh yeah, this is perfect for this celebration.”

Martinez says the anthology features the work of about 40 Indigenous writers, artists and Elders. The anthology is available for download.

“With the publication of this volume, we hope to inspire cross-cultural conversations on topics such as health, education, public policy, [and] water ethics,” Martinez says. “I do believe that art and creativity is powerful and we need to have a school for it in our resurgence, in our recovering of who we are.”

Martinez also shared a film with a message from Indigenous people at a spring in Colombia during the event.

“Part of the work that I do and is done in this anthology is to bridge communities, so learning from each other, we get stronger,” Martinez says.

Fort William Elder Sheila DeCorte, one of the Elders whose work is featured in the anthology, says she shared her water reflections for the Water Walks she does in Thunder Bay during the readings.

“It’s great to see that it’s just not here in Canada, here in Thunder Bay, that Water Walkers and people are doing the work for the water,” Elder DeCorte says. “It’s just so beautiful.”

Fort William’s Nolan Schmerk, one of the Indigenous authors whose work is featured in the anthology, says he shared about ReconciliACTION during the readings.

“My part was all about ReconciliACTION and my personal stance, what it is that I can do to contribute and try to make the world a better place and hoping to inspire other people to find what it is that they have inside and to do similarly, share with the world,” Schmerk says, noting that he shared some of his poetry. “It was a lovely place to share it, I could feel the love in this room.”

Andrew Judge, one of the Indigenous authors whose work is featured in the anthology, says his contribution to the anthology was a rap song that he wrote about 20 years ago.

“[It] speaks to sort of our journey through colonialism from my point of view at the time 20 years ago and just realizing that throughout that whole journey water was always around us as Anishinaabe people and it’s always been sacred,” Judge says.

Judge says he also shared a song during the readings, the title of which translates to: The water of the Earth is the same as the blood in my veins.

“[It’s] a beautiful song, and we got the crowd to sing it, too, which is, I think, very impactful,” Judge says.

Joseph Lane, one of the Indigenous authors whose work is featured in the anthology, says he enjoyed having the community at the readings.

“This turned out to be a lot bigger than I thought it was going to be, so it was nice to see so many different faces and new faces — it was really nice to see so many people coming to heal,” Lane says. “It was good for the spirit, it made me feel lighter knowing that there’s so many people that are moving forward in a good way.”