Peggy Revell
It’s been a learning experience that bridges thousands of miles as a district First Nation hosted an exchange group from Honduras over the past week.
Nigigoonsiminikaaning First Nation was proud to welcome the six guests who hail from the Pech tribe, which is made up of eight remote communities in Honduras, Chief Gary Allen noted.
“I think [this exchange] is really just a good opportunity to learn about different cultures, and to share history,” Chief Allen said of the program funded by the Canadian International Development Agency’s “Indigenous Peoples Partnership Program.”
Nigigoonsiminikaaning welcomed their guests Sept. 18 with a pow-wow and gifts.
They also took part in a sweat lodge ceremony, visited a wild rice gathering site, toured the Gizhewaadiziwin Access Centre, and even attended last week’s book launch held at Rainy River First Nations for Métis author David Bouchard.
The exchange also has given the guests learning opportunities, such as lessons on microlending from the Business Development Bank of Canada.
Don Adrian Fiallos Carrasco, the Pech communities’ equivalent of a grand chief, extended many thank-yous for those who have welcomed them and organized the exchange.
Speaking through a translator, he described his communities as having “been forgotten by governments for the past 500 years.”
“Now I can see that it’s really important to have experienced between our communities, between our cultures, because there are many things which we have to learn from each other,” he added, pointing to areas like education, health, and technology, as well as problems with the Honduran government not respecting the Pech peoples’ right to their land.
“This is because the Honduras government doesn’t do anything for us, but now we know we can count on our brothers in Canada,” he said.
“It’s been interesting right from the beginning,” remarked Gwen Reid, who organized the exchange. “It’s been a whirlwind tour for them.”
The visit also has been a “total culture shock” for the group—made up of two youths, two women, and two leaders—from finding the end-of-summer and fall weather chilly to experiencing a trip to McDonald’s (where they were amazed they didn’t even have to leave the car when going through a drive-thru, Reid noted).
By contrast, it would take six hours of travel to even have access to the Internet in their communities, she explained.
The changes included “just little things that you don’t think about,” added Reid, such as having individual tubes of toothpaste or obtaining much-needed reading glasses for one of the guests.
The exchange stems back to 2005 when Reid was visiting Honduras.
“What I did while I was there was to ask around if there were any tribes which were interested in partnering,” she recalled, although it wasn’t until she returned to Canada and two years later that a tribe interested in the exchange was found.
“I was really surprised, actually,” Reid said of hearing the news, noting even then it took a week to contact the community to confirm they were interested in doing the exchange.
As director of Grand Council Treaty #3 at that time, Reid returned to Honduras and toured two communities to see what type of partnership could be built.
“It was very interesting, it was no holiday,” she stressed, noting there was no running water and no electricity in these communities.
Upon returning to Canada, Reid wrote up a proposal for the project. Then in 2007, three Treaty #3 youths went down to the communities in Honduras and then returned to report to the general assembly.
When Reid left her position with Treaty #3, she “sort of took the project with me,” saying she approached Chief Allen to help with the project because of all the work he has done focusing on youth.
“I just think it’s the perfect sort of complement to what he’s done,” she remarked.
“It’s important that our people understand what they have in common,” agreed Chief Allen, adding that even after their guests return to Honduras, he hopes the partnership will continue.
“Focusing on partnership is very important to understanding,” Chief Allen noted. “Whether it’s a community down the road, in a different region, or in another country.
“We need to have that global view of things because we really are connected to everything and to everyone,” he stressed.
