Richard Bellefleur starts a new chapter
Richard Bellefleur is modest about the numerous requests he’s received to attend healing ceremonies across Canada. He attributes these opportunities not to so-called word of mouth, but to a greater force. “It’s the spirit working in people.”
Photo by allison martens
For Richard Bellefleur, the voyage toward his BA in Applied Human Sciences (AHS) has been equally spiritually and intellectually fulfilling.
“I think I’ve had the same battles as many aboriginal youth with alcohol and addiction,” he reflected. “That’s the beauty of my story: Everything comes from spirit. That’s something I had to learn.”
He knew he had reached a critical turning point when, at the urging of his partner of 13 years, he applied for a Specialization in Human Relations.
“She said that it would be such a great gift at this point in my life, and she was right.”
With the full moral support of his band council, he was admitted as a mature student five years ago, at the age of 48.
Now, he draws upon his own life and educational experience to reawaken the spirit in others. “My education has given me confidence, a source of knowledge and a toolbox of expertise.”
He is especially thankful to those who supported him in AHS. “It’s like a family there. They wanted me to succeed in the true sense of the word.”
In addition to facilitating talking circles and performing pipe ceremonies at Montreal’s Native Friendship Centre and the Kahnawake reserve, Bellefleur regularly receives invitations from across Canada to perform in sacred ceremonies.
After graduation in June, he will travel to the Kootenay mountains in British Columbia, as well as to Ghost River, Alberta. He has spent several years in the latter, where he works as a mentor at summer camps for at-risk native youth and adults.
Though he is originally from the Delaware nation in southern Ontario, he has become well versed in the teachings of the Cree and Blackfoot in the Alberta prairies. There, he works closely with Sequoyah Trueblood, an internationally respected Elder.
“These good things come through spirit,” Bellefleur said. “It has come through the way I’ve helped myself, and counsel others.”
In the native tradition, the gift of an eagle feather is the highest honor that can be awarded. Bellefleur has one, given to him by Trueblood. Yet, he says his work is far from done.
“I’m just somebody who has had the opportunity to learn these things. I can only keep them by passing them onto others. That’s my journey.”