That night Michael Joe had another visitor. He woke from a deep sleep. A figure with no face and the hooves of a caribou stood before him. Michael Joe lay on the earth. He trembled. The figure stirred a fire at his feet. The sparks flew up. The heat of the fire warmed him. Michael Joe was afraid. He thought the figure was Mindou—the devil. Michael Joe stood up. He was determined to face the creature. He stared into the dark hole of the figure's face. Wait. A devil would not come to keep him warm. Michael Joe moved forward to speak to the vision. It was too late. The figure disappeared.

Michael Joe did not understand the meaning of his vision. He did not understand what he was supposed to learn from his vision quest. He went home feeling confused and unhappy with himself.

A few months later Michael Joe went to New Brunswick. He went to visit an elder. The elder was going to give Michael Joe his spiritual name. Michael Joe hoped he would be called Screaming Eagle. A fine name for a chief. The eagle is the only animal that has brushed the face of the Great Spirit. It is a creature beloved by God.

The ceremony was a long one. The chanting and praying went on and on. Michael Joe's mind began to wander. He started listing the birds that he could be named after. Eagle. Hawk. Chicken. "If it goes on much longer," he thought, "all that will be left is a turkey. I'll be known as Turkey Joe."

Finally the elder turned to Michael Joe. He gave him his spiritual name. The name would guide him through life. The elder called him Wapukek Quaopou—White Caribou.

"I don't want to be named after a caribou," Michael Joe thought. "I want to be named after an eagle."

That was in the late 1980s. Since then, Michael Joe has thought a lot about the name given to him by the elder. He has wondered about the white caribou and the dark figure that came to him during his spiritual quest. He has thought about the history and the future of his people. He has laughed to himself, trying to picture himself as a screaming eagle.

The caribou has given food and clothing to the Mi'kmaq people of Newfoundland. Today, artists in Conne River also use the antlers to make beautiful sculptures. So the caribou is a strong link between their present and their past. Wapukek Quaopou. White Caribou—a good name for a chief.