3 Nations Anthology Contributors: Fredda Paul

Fredda Paul, is a Passamaquoddy elder and healer from the Pleasant Point reservation in Maine. One of the most influential people in Fredda’s life was his grandmother, Grace Lewey. She was a well-respected medicine woman, and became Fredda’s teacher and mentor from the time he was a teenager, upon his return from Indian Residential School in Nova Scotia. Because of his enthusiasm for learning, it wasn’t long before he was chosen by his grandmother to carry on the tradition of Passamaquoddy medicine. His mother, Annie Paul, was a well-known sweet grass braider and a spiritual leader of the tribe. She raised eight children, working for many years in the sardine factory.  She spoke mostly Passamaquoddy and enough of the English language to communicate very well.  Fredda’s father, Michael Paul, was Mik’maq − from Escasonie, Nova Scotia. In 2007, Fredda was given an honorary citation from Unity College for his work to keep traditional medicine alive.