Elders

Otsi’tsakèn:ra (Charles Patton)

A Bear Clan elder and Faithkeeper of the Haudenosaunee (6 Nations/Iroquois) way of life, married 49 yrs, he and his wife Niioie:ren have 3 sons & 7 grandchildren.  They reside at Kahnawa:ke - the northern section of Kanien’keha:ka (Mohawk) ancestral territory.  He worked with the Kanien'keha Nation Council for 20 years, taught Kanien'keha Physical Education in Kahnawa:ke for almost 30 years, built the Patton’s Glen Golf Club, a Par 3 Golf Course, which he operates along with his family. 

A scholarship to the University of Michigan, he graduated with a B.Ed in Phys Ed & English. His professional life centres around language/cultural education, ceremony & conferences in Canada, USA & UN.
At Machu Pichu, he worked with medicine men. The McGill IHPP Program acknowledged him for contributions in developing the concept:  Eniathi’nikonraiéntho (plant a seed in their minds).  He is currently involved as a cultural advisor with the First Nations Technical Institute of Ontario and often with organizations and educational institutions in Montreal.

Jacques Newashish, Atikamekw Elder and artist

Born in La Tuque in 1958, Jacques Newashish lived in a tent in Wemotaci for all of his childhood. His parents raised him with traditional values and ways of life; his father was a hunter and trapper and his mother taught him language and traditions of his people. Jacques is a multi-disciplinary artist working with painting, sculpture, storytelling and singing. A number of his completed projects include installations that combine natural elements, such as wood, roots, feathers, and stones using techniques of painting and drawing. For example, with his work Cercle de vie, which is a piece on the forests of the Atikamekw nation take root in the urban landscape of Montreal. A multi-talented artist, Jacques travels around the world with his hand drum, his songs, and his stories; he is well known throughout all of Wemotaci. As contemporary works of art, his pieces simultaneously draw from the legends and traditions of Native American culture while still transcending folkloric expectation.

(Source: https://www.sacredfireproductions.ca/artists/jacques-newashish/ )

This content has been updated on 16 March 2022 at 18 h 37 min.