A & Q WOMEN IN THE SPOTLIGHT
PELLISSIER-LUSH Julie Words by Story Sheidow Photos courtesy of Julie Pellissier-Lush with
sharing them do you enjoy the most?
It really did. I wrote the part about my mother’s death when I was about six months pregnant, and it felt like I cried for days! I also could see that I was a survivor, and the people who were always there for me made my life special. Not that I didn’t miss my mother—I always do—but my life was okay, I was okay without her. It is funny, but even today, what captures my attention is the sentence that starts with, “I knew your mother...” It always gives me hope that I will fill in the pieces of the puzzle on who she was! Q. How does it feel to be the PEI Poet Laureate, as well as PEI’s first Mi’kmaq Poet Laureate? I am so very humbled and proud to be in the role. This is what I do; I promote stories and writing, so now, I just have an extra sense that this is really what I was born to do! It is like singing and winning one of the highest awards!I want to do so much in my three years; I want to talk, present, workshop, and entertain as many people as I can—because, truly, I am the real story of “if you believe, you can achieve anything!” I am Julie, born in Summerside, lived on Lennox Island and all over Canada, and I was chosen! If I was a young person, it would give me hope that I could do things that no one else has, and that makes me very happy.If my work inspires our youth to dream, I am doing my job! Q. I had the pleasure of seeing you speak to a class at the public library recently. I love the way you incorporate traditional Mi’kmaq legends into your presentations. How are these legends passed down from generation to generation, and how have they, perhaps, changed over the years? What aspect of
Q. What brought you to acting and writing?
My favourite part is when I see the audience get the meaning behind the stories, because then, I know they are with me on the journeys through time I take people through! They can be a bear, an eagle that makes the wind, a young girl who believes in herself—and they can watch, in their mind, how the universe was created. So many places we can travel together, in the stories I tell. When the audience gets it, I know they heard me, and the words went to their heads and their hearts! Q. Where can we read other works you’ve written, and can you name a few? I have written a book of poetry that has not yet been published, and also a children’s book on creation that should be coming out soon, about 24 different Mi’kmaq plays and six songs. I am also working on a book for children on our spiritual beliefs. Many are in production, and I hope that they will be published soon!
They have always been in my blood. As a young girl, I would listen to my father’s comedy records, and act out the skits I could see in my mind. Bob Newhart was one of my favourites. When my father had friends over, I would put on a show, and make the voices and faces I could see in my mind for each of the records. It made me happy to make others happy. As for writing, I wrote my first song in grade five. And, in all the music competitions I entered, I always won first place, because there was no other songwriter in my age group!That gave me so much confidence in writing!
Q. What are some projects you have performed in?
I have performed on the Georgetown stage, doing the play Blithe Spirit. At the University of Manitoba, I was in a two-person play about two women in a sanitarium. I travelled across Canada for six weeks with the Confederation Centre of the Arts, performing my creation poem. I sang for Prince Charles and his wife, Camilla. Mi’kmaq Legends has taken me all over the Atlantic region, and to Toronto. Mi’kmaq Heritage Actors helps keep me young, working and developing the young people who join up, and we have done videos with Holland College and the Green Machine! Q. Your book, My Mi’kmaq Mother, is a memoir about a daughter searching to know a mother she’s never met. It must have taken courage to write such a personal memoir. Did publishing this story have an effect on your emotions towards your own story, and your past?
Q. Is there anything you’d like us to add?
Working with youth, and seeing the pride grow in them as they start to understand the legends, makes me so happy. I really want to do for the youth what I would have loved when I was their age! Dedicate your life to the youth, and you are creating the future, giving them hope! That is what it’s really all about!
Julie Pellissier-Lush, M.S.M Mi'kmaq Family Resource Centre 158 St Peters Road, Charlottetown 902.892.0928
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker