Nipissing First Nation’s Kendaaswin is becoming a cultural hub for community youth | CBC News

For the past seven years, Randy Penasse has been the face of the Nipissing First Nation Kendaaswin, or community library. 

It’s a role that he takes seriously, especially as a new generation of patrons looks for stories and information about the Nipissing culture and community.

He didn’t grow up dreaming of becoming a niigaanzid kendaaswin – Ojibwe for librarian. He said the opportunity to be a part of the library “just happened.”

“I used to think, ‘I never saw anybody hardly at the library, what do they do there?,” he said. “And is that even worth having anymore?”

“I had that kind of mindset before and once I joined the library…it opened my eyes to a whole world of opportunity and a whole world of collaboration with so many people, so many departments, so many fields.”

It was a learning opportunity that has led Penasse on a path to knowledge – he says he’s “still learning” – and also ensuring that others find the same benefits in walking through the library’s front doors.

“I kind of laugh now at my old way of thinking,” he said. “Because maybe it happened for a reason.”

“Maybe it’s my purpose, because now I can try to reach those people who might think that same old way, and try to try to help them understand exactly how important the library is.”

It’s not just about books, he said. The library serves as a cultural hub of sorts.

“Some people come in and do their resumes. Some people come in and just watch videos,” Penasse said.

“I had a young man just the other day come in and he wanted to learn a new set for his drums,” Penasse said. “He’s a musician, so he sat and and I gave him headphones and he went through song lists and and listened to people playing and stuff.”

Parents with toddlers frequent the kendaaswin – the “baby group” Penasse calls them –  as do groups of seniors.

“They kind of just sit and chat and I give them coffee.” 

They’ve also teamed with different community groups from Nipissing First Nation to ensure that youth have plenty of opportunities for workshops and events in the library.

What’s popular at the Kendaaswin?

Penasse says he’s proud that people – especially kids new to the library experience – are interested in learning about their culture.

That includes requesting books on medicinal healings, he said.

“A lot of our members like to pick medicine and they need some of these Cree healer books and Ojibway healer books in order to recognize and and and identify these plants in the wild,” he said. 

“A lot of my patrons have also asked for cultural books and language books,” he said, adding that cultural leaders have selected a few books to be translated into the Nipissing dialect of Ojibwe, which is a unique branch of the language.

“We’re trying to sustain the Nipissing dialect, and trying to make sure that it remains, make sure its identity is strong and well-known in the community,” Penasse said.

That may be a challenge, but if the interests of the youth are any indication, Nipissing is on its way to setting a strong foundation of knowledge about the language.

“I think a lot of the young people are the ones who are wanting to learn and wanting to know this and it’s really encouraging to see so much action with the culture now,” Penasse said. “I don’t I don’t think people were comfortable doing that, before.”

But still, patrons haven’t forgotten about the library standard: Penasse recently processed an order for a series of paperbacks by Louis L’Amour – a pulp Western author who wrote 89 novels between 1951 and 1987.

He’s also delving into his own interests – Penasse says he just borrowed a selection of Sherlock Holmes books.

“What I want to read next are more Sherlock Holmes stories,” he said. “I have them right here, actually. The Complete Novels and Stories, Volume One by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle.”