Here is a contemporary Mi'kmaq legend of the life of a great man, who
becomes chief, the embodiment of Mi'kmaq values of humility, courage,
honour, service and sacrifice of personal gain for the sake of others.
He lived a long and storied life, hundreds of years ago, before the
arrival of the European scouts and, later, their warships. He was a
renowned warrior but, more so, a peacemaker. His people followed him to
the point of devotion, yet he was uncannily modest, even embarrassed by
his own achievements. He suffered great loss, yet his understanding of
his place, his role in a great society, a greater natural world and an
inestimable metaphysical world, guided him through his pain.
Mi'kmaq readers may recognize these time-honoured themes based on
traditional tales passing values generation to generation. Others will
gain a new appreciation for what was lost under colonialism and the
attempted genocide of this vibrant, sophisticated and successful culture
and society.
With We Were Not the Savages, Daniel Paul changed the way the world
understood the history of Eastern Canada and the fully developed
civilization that existed before the arrival of the European explorers
and settlers, and the nature of the subsequent violent attack on that
culture. With Chief Lightning Bolt, Paul shows us exactly what was lost,
the beauty of the Mi'kma'ki that once existed, the culture that survived
and is only now beginning to recover.
