Wall of Honour Recipient Jessie Sylvestre – Community and Culture

Jessie Sylvestre is a Dene first language speaker from ejeredeséche Buffalo River, Saskatchewan. She is fluent in Dene and English.

Jessie had a rich childhood until the age of six.  During that time, living on the land with her parents and four siblings, she learned the Dene language and culture, and was enveloped in love and care, richness, and warmth. 

“My parents lived in a tent during the winter. Dad hunted, trapped, snared and fished to provide for our family,” said Jessie. “We do not ever recall being cold, hungry or lonesome during those times.  We lived on the land and we always had something to do.”

In these early years, Jessie and her siblings thought, laughed, told stories and dreamt in Dene.

At age six, she was forcefully taken from her family to attend the Beauval Indian Residential School.  There, her life changed dramatically, and the richness of her childhood was taken away.

“I do not enjoy talking about my ten years at the residential school. I have experienced so much, physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually,” said Jessie.

”I became withdrawn, extremely lonely and I remember crying a lot.  I missed my parents, and the land where we ran freely.  I missed eating roasted rabbits and having blueberries in the early morning with bannock, beside our little wood airtight heater.” 

Jessie’s Dene knowledge and culture never left her.  She persevered through the horrors that she experienced in residential school and completed her schooling.  She didn’t stop there. 

Following grade 12, Jessie entered the NORTEP program and received her Bachelor of Education in 1992.  She accomplished this while also raising her young family of three alongside her husband Clifford.

As a result of her early upbringing, experiences and resolve, Jessie has spent a lifetime advocating for the preservation of Dene language and culture through her own learning and through her employment, taking on roles in education and beyond. She has worked as a classroom teacher, a Dene language developer for the Saskatchewan Indigenous Cultural Centre, and as a language and cultural programs consultant for the Prince Albert Grand Council.

In 2013, she began her Master of Education degree in Indigenous land-based education through the Department of Educational Foundations.

“My most memorable years in education were definitely in this program. I began to see the world through an Indigenous lens and discovered that learning is not the four walls we have become accustomed to, but occurs on the land. She has so much to offer and she [the Land] has so much to teach us, without words,” shares Jessie.

Her colonial education began to shed off her, and Jessie recalls fondly time spent on a field course with Dr. Peter Hanohano in Hawaii; and classes on the land and water with Dr. Alex Wilson and Dr. Verna St. Denis.

“I learned right on the Pacific Ocean. We launched a pontoon boat and learned about International studies right on the waters. This was finally learning,” said Jessie.

During the nine-day capstone course, Alex and Jessie were out in a canoe on Bakers Narrows, Manitoba, with Jessie humming along to the loons. Jessie thanks Alex for believing in her and extends her deepest gratitude to Alex Wilson and her parents, Stan and Peggy, for their teachings.

“That day on Bakers Narrows, Alex asked me to sing, and I remember clearly that I could not get my lungs to release the song. Thank you for believing in me and the strength of my voice, Alex, and for never giving up on your students. You are the epitome of what educators should be like,” Jessie said.

The journey to finding her voice continued when Jessie was recruited to lead the first ever Dene Language Program at nuhelot’įne thaiyots’į nistameyimâkanak the University of Blue Quills (UnBQ) in St. Paul’s, Alberta. It is the only Bachelor of Arts degree in the Denesųłine language.

Through her work with UnBQ she has published various books, including several children’s books, and has done voiceover narrative work for the Aboriginal Peoples Television Network. In 2019 she did simultaneous interpretation in Dene for the live televised leader’s debate in the House of Commons—a first ever for Canada. She also began her doctoral program with UnBQ in 2017.

“Blue Quills is where life begins its recovery. It has become my solace, my space to heal, and my place to finally grow and shed the many years of colonization,” said Jessie.