Not too many times in your lifetime you come across
special people that make an impact on your life. Our team at Canadian
Ecotourism Services (CES) have all had the privilege to have met Sherman
Herodier. We all had more than just a working relationship with him. We all
consider him a close friend and an Elder that we can all look up to. Each of us always looked forward to
connecting with him and his amazing sense of humour always made our day. He was
a strong Cultural Ambassador in Eeyou Istchee and spoke so highly of preserving
his culture for future generations. His kind soul has touched all of us and we
will always remember him.
Here are a few words from our team…
“I
guess I knew that Sherman and I would be lifelong friends when he trusted me
enough to give me a Cree nickname. After a week together in Waskaganish,
Sherman looks at me and says 'Jason White . . . White . . . . hmmmm, Gawabaitch
(don't quote me on the spelling), and then he and the other guys all laughed. I
figured they just thought it was funny that I now had a new name in Cree.
It wasn't until a couple of days later that my friend Paul Diamond said to me
'you know that nickname Sherman gave you? Well, it doesn't exactly mean 'white'
like the colour.' I had be duped! But by a sweetheart of a guy.
And
then a couple of months later I'm at the Air Creebec gate getting ready to
board around 7:00 am, and I hear 'hey, Gawabaitch' . . . and as I stood up to
go and see my friend Sherman at least 30 Cree people looked at me and started
to laugh, lol. Not in a mean way of course. I'm going to miss him.”
– Jason White
“Every time I think of Sherman, I have a smile on my face. I feel so grateful to have known him. He was such a kind and loving soul and I’ll always remember him.” – Amanda Huculak
“We
at the CES were all greatly touched in different ways by Sherman and are so
saddened by his passing. He was what we all hope to be when it comes to being a
humanitarian. His spirit will rest high in all of us. Rest in the highest
spirit Sherman, and when we live our life true and strong we will think of you
old friend.” – Clinton Belcher
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