Authors aim to correct historic slur against Mi'kmaw community in new book about explorer
CBC
Miawpukek First Nation Chief Mi'sel Joe and collaborator Sheila O'Neill have teamed up on a book that aims to correct a slur against Mi'kmaw people that has persisted for generations, and was taught to schoolchildren as fact.
O'Neill and Joe want to dispel the myth that the Mi'kmaq were brought to Newfoundland by the French to kill the Beothuk, who were declared extinct in the 19th century.
"It's not true," O'Neill said.
"Under truth and reconciliation the idea is truth first and then reconciliation. So we wanted to write this book to put the truth out there that no, we were not Beothuk killers, and in fact we had good relations with them,"
The timing of its release was planned ahead of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation — a federal holiday to recognize the legacy of the country's residential school system.
Suliewey is the sequel to the writing duo's first novel together, My Indian, which was released in the spring of 2021.
"'Suliewey' really means 'money' but also refers to the name Sylvester," Joe told CBC News in a recent interview.
Sylvester Joe is the main character of both books and a real relative of Mi'sel Joe. In 1822 Sylvester guided explorer William Cormack across Newfoundland and kept him away from the remaining Beothuk camps, which is the basis of the first book.
Joe said there's no historical record of Sylvester after that period. The duo hired a historian to help but they came up empty.
For the new book, Joe said, they finally decided to write it as historical fiction.
"For me, it was to finish the story about Sylvester," he said.
"Instead of taking Cormack to kill the Beothuk people, he tried to keep him away."
"We retold Cormack's journal from the perspective of his guide for that purpose, to show another side of the narrative."
Joe said the books are also about teaching and encouraging others to share their stories.
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