L'nu Elders Lost Everything in House Fire

On the morning of March 27, 2023 Mi'kmaq community members, Joe and Sutik (Judy) Googoo from Whycocomagh lost their home in a fire. Joe and Judy are beloved knowledge keepers and educators throughout Mi'kma'ki. Joe and Sutik (Judy) Googoo are land-based educators for Mi’kmaq students in schools, youth camps, workshops, universities, and colleges throughout Unama’ki (Cape Breton, Nova Scotia) and Mi'kma'ki (other Mi'kmaq communities).

They share their knowledge of traditional herbal medicines, wild foods, hide tanning, drum making, moccasin making, quill work, moose hair tufting, snaring, forging, tracking, and so much more. They teach what they love: canoeing, kayaking, fishing, eel spearing, hunting, gardening. They are involved intricately with community on so many levels and kindly welcome people from all walks of life and all districts of Mi’kma’ki.

When news of the house fire spread, the community was devastated for them, especially after hearing about the loss of their beloved animals, they lost two puppies, their bird, and their cat who had just given birth to kittens the morning of the fire, who's lives were also sadly taken by the fire. Judy and Joe are both devastated by their loss. They lost all of their lifes work, both of their taxidermy was lost, all of their hand tools, power tools, paintings they collected, they lost everything in the fire and their hearts are broken. Let’s come together and help support Judy and Joe through this tragedy, as they have spent their lives helping others and doing their part to preserve the culture and language by dedicating their lives to sharing their knowledge about the things they love most and the things that make them feel whole and healthy.

Please help by donating if you have it within your means, and if you’re unable to donate, something as simple as interacting and sharing their fundraisraiser on social media helps tremendously. If you’d like to do more you’re welcome to sell crafts, dinners, baked goods, etc. and donate all of the proceeds directly to this GoFundMe, or Judy's personal EMT

Their EMT is:

If you send an emt, they'll have auto deposit set up, but just incase, please make the security question something obvious like: what color is the sky/sun? what year is it? etc. Their granddaughter WAS accepting EMT's on their behalf, but we were recently notifed that Judy got the auto deposit setup on her EMT! So if you'd like to send an E-transfer instead of donate to the GoFundMe, that's fine too!

Here is a video of Judy and Joe's appearence on the APTN show Merchants of the Wild! This is just one event captured on film of Judy and Joe sharing their knowlege with Indigenous youth from all across Kanada.

Here are a few pictures of Judy and Joe in their natural element, on the land in Mi'kma'ki:

Depending on the response to this fundraiser, we may increase our goal to help them replace as many of their belongings as possible; unfortunately, some things are irreplaceable, but hopefully we can help lighten the load, even just a little bit.

Wela'lioq, thank you all so much.