Book recalls growing up in Nipissing First Nation

In 'A Warrior Spirit,' author Les Couchi honours his Nipissing First Nation community, blending personal memories with elders' stories.

A Nipissing First Nation man has written a book about the community, and it is dedicated to a former elder.

Les Couchi is a former police officer, educator and you can now add author to his impressive resume. Couchi has written a book, ‘A Warrior Spirit,’ about Nipissing First Nation, west of North Bay.

“I started my research by reaching out to the elders and talking to them,” he said.

“A lot (of the book), too, is my experience growing up as a child in the First Nation.”

Couchi said the community is almost 37 kilometres long and in the 1960s, many people living there didn’t have cars. Even using the telephone was a long-distance call.

The community was separated but he said hockey was the start of uniting the community.

“In the ‘60s, our chief of the time, Ted Commanda, tried to get recreation for the community so we would have something else to do,” Couchi said.

Uniting First Nations

“And the Warriors were created.”

He added that the word ‘warrior’ in the community means something else. It does not mean a soldier or a fighter. A warrior is someone who works to unite the First Nation.

“The hockey team united the community,” he said.

“Both east and west factions got together and produced this great hockey team. They were the only industrial beer league that made money. You had to pay to watch them play.”

Couchi said he struggled to decide who to dedicate the book to before selecting June Commanda.

“She was a residential school survivor,” he said.

“She was also a former councillor for several years. June also had great insight into what it was like in the ‘good old days,’ so to speak.”

Dramatic change

Couchi added he also talked with former Chief Phil Goulais, who was an amazing chief and found ways “to get around the Indian Act to make this whole thing work.”

He said that the community has changed dramatically over the years.

“When I was the economic development worker for the band, we had six businesses -- today we have 87,” said Couchi.

He added that when you go to the local arena, most of the ads on the boards are from the First Nation.

“We have a movie studio, forestry companies, construction firms, a lot of businesses.”

Couchi said retail outlets and the mom-and-pop shops are doing well, which is a testament to the resilience of Nipissing First Nation.