Witamowikok, “Telling” Atikamekw Nehirowisiw Land Today
For 30 years the Nehirowisiwok have been engaged in a land claims process with Quebec and Canadian governments. This article aims to document one of the significant routes of this resistance, self-determination and recognition of Nehirowisiwok sovereignty: discourse. Storytelling is considered to be a creative process for the Nehirowisiwok in which can be expressed the capacity to act. The stories collected during field research in Atikamekw nehirowisiw territory since 2000 and the audiovisual Atikamekw nehirowisiw production of the Wapikoni Mobile project are the different sources used in this paper to outline the conceptions and concerns with respect to their territory. Before looking at the modes of appropriation of the new media by Aboriginal people, in particular by the young Nehirowisiwok, the authors will first establish the continuity of the oral tradition. Then they will promote the ‘telling’ of the elders, witnesses to the transformation of the land. Their messages are addressed to new generations of Nehirowisiwok and to non-Aboriginal people.