A local snowmobile expedition ends near Quebec City. Participants refer to this as a recovery exercise

Last year, Michel Audette watched the first edition of the First Nations Expedition online, but this year the senator personally drove about 50 snowmobiles to the Meshkenu site, located in Saint-Tite-des-Caps, north of Quebec City.

The 15-day, 3,230-kilometer expedition aimed at reconciliation and healing ended on Saturday.

Audette of Washat mac Mani-Uthenam, Innu, says it was a pleasant surprise to hear more non-indigenous people talking about the expedition this year. She hopes he understands its importance.

“I was honored,” said Odette, standing among dozens of family and friends waiting to see the lights of the snowmobiles. “I said 'beautiful things warrant beautiful reactions'.”

Nathalie Guay, co-director of MAMUK, a multi-service center for indigenous peoples in Quebec City, spent a week preparing for the expedition's final stop.

Guay and his mother, Penelope Guay, set up Meshkenu to host more than 40 visitors overnight.

According to Penelope, it's not just a holiday.

“Yes, it's food, but it's also a time to linger,” Penelope said. “It's really a healing process that we want to complete.”

For contributor Dave Robichaud-Kondo, he thought about the survivors he met on a snowmobile trip.

Snowmobiling nearly 10 hours a day for two weeks, Robichaud-Kondo, a Migmaque from the Gesgapegiag First Nation on the Gaspé coast, says the expedition allowed him to put himself in the shoes of those affected by the residential schools. or a family lost as a result of systemic racism.

“I realized, imagine, that's going to happen to me,” Robichaud-Kondo said.

“I was kind of shocked because I used to see documentaries about them on TV. But when you talk to the person in person … you're like wow.”

Although the team endured extreme temperatures, warm-ups and mechanical difficulties, Robichaud-Kondo says their mission was accomplished.

“I needed that,” says a non-native participant

The expedition began on January 27 at the Innu First Nation of Pessamit on the North Shore.

The first edition of the tour, which took place last March, was created to raise awareness of three main issues – the plight of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, children who never come home from residential schools, and the climate of racism that has claimed Indigenous lives. , including Joyce Echaquan.

Echaquan died in 2020 at a Joliet hospital after a video showed him being racially abused by health care workers. His death and the shootings that preceded it sparked outrage and activism, especially after the coroner in Quebec reported that Ehaquan would still be alive if he were white.

This year, organizers say healing and reconciliation are still important, but their fourth goal was to attract non-Native participants.

One of them was Viktor Hamel. According to him, the trip was emotional.

“I needed it,” said Hamel, who is from Bai-Comau. “There's been a lot of sharing. I've made some really, really good friends. After two weeks, it's like a family.”

He said it is important for everyone to be educated about the reality facing indigenous peoples.

“They went through a lot of pain,” Hamel said. “You can't ignore these things … I think it's important that things get better.”

Hamel, whose children are indigenous, says he is not sure if there will be a third edition next year. He said organizers may need time to rest and recover.

Partnership with the Quebec Federation of Snowmobile Clubs

This year, the expedition partnered with the Quebec Federation of Snowmobile Clubs.

The head of the federation, Stephane Deroches, says he is proud of his contribution.

“We need to rebuild that relationship because what happened between indigenous people and non-indigenous people (is) broken. “I think it was a nice gesture of appreciation on our part to share with them,” said Desroches.

According to him, about half of the roads are in ancestral lands. This year's edition caused special difficulties due to the weather.

“Mother Nature didn't help us,” Desroches said.

“It must have been difficult for them… (They) couldn't even go at a good cruising speed.”

More than 300 people expressed their desire to participate

Harry Charles says that at one point there was no snow and the team had to travel over 100 kilometers on gravel or paved roads.

Charles, who was part of the team's support crew and helped transport the participant's luggage with trailers, says that interest in this year's event has reached a peak.

“There were more than 300 participants who applied for participation. That's why only about 50 people took part in them,” explained Charles.

According to him, half of the participants this year are indigenous, and the other half are non-indigenous.

Robichaud-Condo says non-native participants allow for cultural exchange during the trip.

In one of the healing circles, Robichaud-Kondo said that a non-Indigenous participant felt ashamed of the ways in which Indigenous peoples were discriminated against.

“He said, 'You don't deserve this,'” Robichaud-Kondo said. “It was like a growing bond between everyone in the group… I think in 2024 we have to pull ourselves together.”