Nzhishenh brett uncle brett recollet What are your teachings surrounding being an uncle? Being there for my niece and nephews. It’s really understanding the importance of the role that I have and what I do and what I say to my niece and nephews and how that will impact them. I feel like as uncles and aunties, we have a different connection with the kids because they will tell us things that they won’t tell their actual parents. It’s really just being a friend to them and being that role model for them and just having fun with them. Culturally though, when I look at the role of being an uncle, I look at my great uncles and uncles and it’s very sacred. It’s a different connection with Uncles as opposed to parents. As an uncle who takes care of his family, what are the stories of the sacred, proud and protective role that you hold in embracing the safety of family? I have this huge role of being a protector for my nieces and nephews in ways that are very different from the role of a parent or the role of a grandma. I see myself like a shield for the family. I see it as that overview protectiveness to the family. It is very sacred to be an uncle for me and that importance is because I’m a younger uncle, so I feel I’m growing up with my nephews and watching them grow as I grow and seeing them. They teach me a lot too and vice versa. Excerpt from the interview with Brett Recollet by Elizabeth Eshkibok, Cultural Practitioner at the Shkagamik-Kwe Health Centre. Photo taken at and supplied by the Wabano Centre in Ottawa, Ontario.
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