Danielle (Pokey) Paul lives in Eskasoni, NS where there are many nicknames in the community. (Erin Poti/CBC)
This story is part of a series by CBC’s Eskasoni Community Bureau. This series comes from weeks of conversations with community members about what they think is important to see, hear and read on CBC platforms.
Walter Gee, Sugar and Pookie.
Like many communities in Primorye, the Eskasoni First Nation is full of nicknames.
This is mostly because they are a long-standing part of Mi’kmaw culture and tradition.
“Everybody calls me Sugar, the doctor calls me Sugar, the priest calls me Sugar,” said Madeline Poulet, an Escasoni grandmother and retired tour guide.
Pullet is not only cute, but as a child she always hid under the kitchen table with the sugar bowl.
In Poulet’s family, all 11 of her siblings were given nicknames. She said many of them were named when something else should have been said.
“It’s like if your brother and sister say your name and whatever name comes out, it just stays,” Poulet said.
Daniel Kateri Paul started going by the name Pokey as a young child. She is now 27 and most people in Eskasoni still call her by that name.
“I don’t hear my real name often,” Paul said. “I adore him. I grew up listening to it so I’m used to it. But people used to make fun of me, call me ‘polka-dot’ or…the ‘hokey-pokey’ song…”
Part of the reason Paul loves her nickname is that it was given to her by her grandfather after she was thrown a Pocahontas birthday party.
Walter Denny says many people in Eskasoni were given nicknames like junior – or jij in Mi’kmaw – to distinguish them from their parents or grandparents with the same names. (Erin Poti/CBC)
“My grandfather spoke a lot of Mi’kmaw, so he named me Pokey because he couldn’t pronounce Pocahontas. I look up to Pocahontas as she was the first Indian princess. The way I thought of her was as free-spirited, nature-loving, kind and humble, and that’s how I think of my nickname.”
The nickname tradition dates back to the 1700s and 1800s, according to Hereditary Chief Stephen Augustine.
Augustine said that tribes often hid the identity of their chief to protect them during battles.
“During the French and English war they were always after the chief of the Mi’kmaw nation. And so they hid his identity by giving him a nickname.”
Augustine, who grew up in Elsipogtog, New Brunswick, still has the nickname because of some pins he got himself years ago while running for public office.
“Still today, when I go back home, some of the elders will say, ‘Oh, there’s Steve for boss, how are you?’
Augustine said that nicknames today are more often given because of a funny circumstance or character trait.
Madeline (Sugar) Poulet says all 11 of her siblings were given nicknames as children growing up in the 1950s and 1960s on the Escasoni First Nation. (Erin Poti/CBC)
But the tradition of nicknames also survived because it helped people identify family members with similar names.
Among them is Walter Denny.
The retired RCMP officer goes by the nickname Walter junior, or Walter jij in Mi’kmaw. This name was given to distinguish him from his father, whose name was also Walter.
“It’s a smaller version of your father,” Danny said.
Many of the nicknames are also Mi’kmaw, including one whose name translates to “Our Mike.”
Families in Escasoni also have nicknames for their surnames, such as Jown – which is often used by people with the surname Denny.
Walter Denny said he believes his family’s nickname, Joan, was passed down from his great-grandfather, although he’s not sure what the story behind it is.
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