The Cree family organizes a traditional rite of passage for son and brother with special needs near Montreal
It was a special Walking Out ceremony that had been in the works for a long time.
A Walking Out is a traditional ceremony in Cree culture that celebrates a young child’s first contact with the ground. It usually takes place around the time they take their first steps and in some Cree communities it happens at dawn.
It was a different path for three-year-old Osiris Matoush from Mistissini.
“It was a difficult and challenging time raising a child with special needs, especially a child with cerebral palsy,” says Osiris’ father, Erasmus Matoush.
When Osiris was born prematurely three years ago, Erasmus and his wife Colleen – and eventually their ten other children – moved from Mistissini in northern Quebec to Montreal to get the medical attention he needed.
Osiris spent the first 300 days of his life in a hospital and is still unable to walk or speak. He does have a 1000 watt smile.
The Matoush family was determined that despite his challenges, Osiris would still have this important rite of passage for a Cree child.
And on June 10, they hosted a Walking Out ceremony in Kahnawake, Que., near Montreal, for Osiris and his younger brother Amadeus.
The ceremony and celebration took place at the Mohawk-Cree Teepee, an all-nation cultural space that will open southwest of Montreal in 2022.
This is believed to be the first Cree Walking Out ceremony to be held on Mohawk land.
“It’s his first time [Osiris] really experiencing the outdoors,” said Erasmus, who helped his son “walk” out of the tipi and placed his son’s feet on the ground step by step as an extended family from Mistissini and Montreal gathered around him.
Welcoming child into Cree society
A Cree Walking Out ceremony is a way to welcome a child to Cree society and a way to bless him or her as they discover their gifts in life and bless their role as a hunter (breadwinner) or housewife .
According to Cree tradition – and in the case of Osiris and Amadeus –
