Joséphine Bacon

Early Life & Education

Joséphine Bacon was born in the Innu village of Pessamit, on Quebec’s North Shore, in 1947 (see also First Nations in Quebec). She spent the first five years of her life living on the land with her family. They lived in traditional Innu ways of life in the area known in Innu-aimun as Nutshimit, the hinterland of Innu traditional territory. At the age of five, she was sent to residential school near Sept-Îles, Quebec. Bacon has said that, despite the cultural uprooting that occurred when she was placed in a residential school, it nonetheless allowed her to meet Innu from communities throughout the region. While extremely uncommon at residential schools, she has stated that they were able to speak to each other in their own language. She attended residential school for 14 years.

In an interview with CBC, Bacon stated she left Maliotenam, the First Nation community adjacent to Sept-Îles, for Quebec City shortly after leaving residential school. She stated her goal, along with several friends, was to attend secretarial school and start a career. Though she could speak French and English as needed, with her friends she always spoke Innu-aimun. Bacon then continued her secretarial education in Ottawa. She only stayed in Ottawa for six months.

Career

According to an interview with CBC, Joséphine Bacon states that, around 1968, she found herself in Montreal having a hard time finding work. Bacon held several odd jobs at the time to survive. She then found herself on the west side of Montreal. She has stated this is where many Indigenous people tended to live and gather at the time. She became friends with Indigenous students at McGill University, and they took her in and introduced her to the arts, culture and nightlife scene of Montreal in the late 1960s. Bacon got in contact with a team of anthropologists studying Innu in Labrador and Quebec. Bacon found herself working as a translator for the team, who in turn taught her the traditional stories of the Innu people, which, because she was sent to a residential school, she had never learned.

Bacon has stated she became anthropologist Sylvie Vincent’s assistant and travelled with her to Natashquan. It was during these trips that Bacon was re-introduced to her Innu heritage and traditional stories by the Elders of the village. She credits this work with allowing her to recover part of her Innu identity. She also described relearning the “language of Nutshimit.” She states the language has a different sound when spoken on the land compared with when it’s spoken by people living on reserves.

Ultimately, Bacon did not become a secretary, as she continued working with these anthropologists and documentarians interested in the lives and ways of life of the Innu. Bacon worked as a research assistant and translator for many years.

In addition to her career as a translator and interpreter, Bacon has also taught the Innu-aimun language at the Kiuna College in Odanak, Quebec. Bacon also holds a position of Elder in Residence at the Université de Québec à Montréal.

In an interview with CBC, Bacon states the National Film Board offered her an opportunity to train as documentary filmmaker. Her first film, which is now considered lost, recorded a meeting between Innu Elders and Kahnawake Clan Mothers.

Bacon also wrote the film Ameshkuatan – Les sorties du castor (1978) and directed, co-wrote and narrated Tshishe Mishtikuashisht - Le petit grand européen : Johan Beetz (1997), a documentary about a Belgian aristocrat who settled on Quebec’s North Shore, integrated into the Innu community and became a local legend.

Bacon has also had two minor acting roles, appearing in Bootlegger (2021) and Hochelaga, Land of Souls (2017).

Poetry

Joséphine Bacon says her career as a poet happened by accident. Her friendship with the poet and writer Laure Morali sent Bacon on a new path, that of a poet. She published her first work with Morali in 2008. She had been writing words and phrases on scraps of paper for much of her life, but she realized they could become poems. In an interview, she described these scribblings as the words “that were within her” and those whispered to her during multiple encounters with Innu Elders.

Bacon’s first poetic efforts describe life in the Innu hinterland — Nutshimit — the region where Innu travelled in their traditional ways of life.

Bacon has collaborated with Quebec singer Chloé Sainte-Marie. Additionally, her poetry has been interpreted by Alexandre Belliard. Both musicians are notable Quebecois figures, which has helped cement Bacon’s poetry within the broader context of Quebec pop culture. Bacon has said that does not consider this to be cultural appropriation, as she believes Innu-aimun should be spoken and heard more broadly.

Bacon’s six published collections of poetry pay homage to Innu Elders, Nutshimit and to her 50 years living in Montreal. Bacon has said that Montreal made her who she is. Her poem Un thé dans la toundra/Nipishapui nete mushuat was chosen as a finalist for both the Governor General’s Literary Award and the Grand Prix du livre de Montréal.

Bacon’s published collections of poetry include:

• Bâtons à message/Tshissinuatshitakana(2009)
• Nous sommes tous des sauvages(2011), co-written with José Acquelin
• Un thé dans la toundra/Nipishapui nete mushuat(2013)
• Uiesh/Quelque part (2018)
• Nin auass/Moi l’enfant (2021)
• Kau Minuat/Une fois de plus (2023)

Awards & Distinctions

• Honourary doctorate in anthropology, Université Laval (2016)
• Ostana Prize (2017)
• Officer, L’Ordre de Montréal (2018)
• Companion, Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec (2018)
• Prix des libraires du Québec - Quebecois poetry category (Uiesh/Quelque part), (2019)
• Indigenous Voices Awards – Published Works in French (2019)
• Officer, Ordre national du Québec (2022)
• Officer, Order of Canada (2023)