irene hyman - back in the day...
Back in the day, it was so nice, people used to help each other out without getting paid or anything. It was always lending a hand. There was no paying anyone to help you out with something you wanted help with. If someone wanted to give away something it was just given away to the people for helping them out.
I remember my grandfather, he used to farm in the fields, his name was Solomon. People would come gather to help him out even the women, they would come cook. They all lend a hand, they came to cook a big feast, because they loved one another, they did not get paid for doing that. They wanted to help. After that’s all been done, they would all go home. Now today, it is all about money when you ask for help.
Our land too, was so beautiful long ago. It was also fun back in the day. At treaty days, people used to go pitch up their canvas tents every where to camp for the night, they had a lot of fun, like dancing, there was no alcohol used back then, it was not even on our reserve, our people were very healthy. And when the men go hunting, they share the wild meat, they give them out to people. They were not cheap with anything. Even when they used to build their own houses, once they hear that someone is building a house, they all gather up to that house and help out that person.
I remember when my father built his house, my uncle showed up and helped my father built his house all around until the house was completed, he helped my father out a lot. When it was time for my uncle to leave, my father gave him one of his horses, as a thank-you for helping out.
There was also a lot of visiting back in the day, even if they had to walk. No matter the season or weather, they would still go visit one another. Now today, there is no visiting at all, it seems like when people try visit, they’re always in a hurry to leave.
Kinship, how we are related to people. In this reserve, everyone is related to each other in a certain way. A lot of then I call my uncles, my aunties, I try to acknowledge my relatives as I did growing up. One time my sister-in-law came to ask me how er were related to this one family because her daughter was dating this young man, I told her how we were related to that family we were close family. Those young people ended their relationship because of the close family kinship. It used to be so respected, our kinship, how we were related to others, and now today people are staying with their first cousins (brother/sisters). Like my uncle’s children, I call them my brothers and sisters, and they call me the same thing. They call me “big sister” because I’m the oldest. This other family, our roots go way back, they call me big sister. Now today these young people today, they do not know how they are related to one another. This kind of way is lost today, it’s broken, kinship. It is so difficult; you can’t even tell the young people on how they are related to one another. They don’t understand the virtue of kinship, but they don’t understand it. They were not taught this growing-up. Nobody taught them this kinship.
My Parents were very hard workers too. I am too, a very hard worker, I remember long ago when I was a young girl at 14 years old, when the school- year was done. In the summertime, July-August, they were these old couple in Debden, that I was sent to go help them around their house, to take care of them, to serve them. And the next Summer. I was about 15 years old when I had to take care of with these three young children, they were girls, the oldest was 5 and the youngest one was 3 years old. All summer I had to take care of these three children, because the parents were sick and had to leave somewhere else all summer.
I also used to work with these two men, they had lot of respect for me. Not once did they disrespect. There was a lot of respect back then, especially towards those strong-willed people who had been helping out towards others. There was a lot of gratitude too. Today we don’t see that. When a person helps someone once, it seems like that person wants your help even more, take advantage of you, instead of being Thankful and trying to reverse that, to help you out as well.
I went to school in Duck-lake, St. Micheals Residential School for 5 and a half years. But I did not lose my Cree language. And after I was raised in a traditional way, I am Christian now, I don’t judge any other ways, I still respect the traditional ways. Where I work, I tell my co-workers how I was raised, what I was told and how it used to be back in the days. I tell them this because I want to and for them to know. I respect all religion as long as they respect what I believe.
One time, my dad’s cousin, his roots were right there from the Masuskapoe side, but he took the Williams name. But they had a different Cree name before he switched to Williams this one, I don’t remember. My grandpa was James Peekeekoot. I am related to this side. It goes back when these Elders were baptized, they were given their white names there. Like my grandpa, he had a Cree name, which I don’t remember, he was given the name “Solomon- Masuskapoe. Even my great grandpa was named Masuskapoe. This is where all these white names were given out, and this is where kinship got broken. How we are related to one another. Because of all these Chistian names, they all got mixed up. Like Peekeekoots. Just because they don’t have the same last name doesn’t mean they weren’t siblings. My uncle used to tell me this, about these 5 siblings, one was at a battle and lost his life there. The one that was killed I don’t remember his name, the other siblings were Masuskapoe, Ahenakew, Ahtahkakoop (Starblanket) and Peekeekoot.
I also have French roots on my Masuskapoe side, also Rabbitskin. Along time ago, those white people who used to travel by canoe, would make fur trading posts, this is where I got some French roots from my mother and father’s side. My mother was Cecelia, and my small grandfather’s name was Paul Rabbitskin. His Cree name was “Small person’, and my grandmother’s name is Angelic. I don’t remember her Cree name. But I heard they had separated, my grandparents. My mother had had two siblings, a sister and a brother, but her brother had died from a hunting accident. So, it was only my mother and her sister growing up. Margaret was my mother’s sister’s name she married and moved with her husband. Then there’s my mother, her mother and then there was nothing but women, Alice, Isabelle, Dora, and Bella. Now today there’s only one living woman, my auntie. My father’s side, there is John Rabbitskin, Robert, John George, and Margaret. Both my mother and father’s side, I had a lot of family. My grandmother had a lot of children back then. She was 50 years old and she still birthed children.
My father used to tell me about kinship.
Where we used to live, we walked 5 miles to school. But we had to do our chores before we left for school, it was very early too. No matter the weather outside we still had to do our chores and walk to school. There was no such thing as school closures. It used to be freezing cold, we used to hear the trees crack from the frigid cold winter days.
I used to live by the Victoire road. There was a house on top the hill, down the hill is where we used to far from that road. My grandmother and other relatives used to stop in and visit us, sometimes they would camp a few days. This is what I meant, along time ago, people used to visit each other and love one another, when they’d visit they camped for days. I used to have lot of old pictures from long ago, and someone had stolen them. I still have my grandparent’s picture though and my father’s.
I went to Residential school for 5 and half years, David went for 4 and half years and Frank went one and half year I think. It was a Sunday we came to visit here and we were not allowed to go back to Duck lake.
My father used to be how we call today, a bus driver, he used to use an open sleigh in the winter time. We had a lot of fun, when we would get cold riding on the sleigh we would jump off and run along side the sleigh to keep warm then jump back on. Then they had built a Kaboose there was little woodburner inside there, where we used to warm up. We wouldn’t be running outside anymore to warm up, it was so toasty warm inside the kaboose. The open sleigh and the wagon with horses were the first buses. He used to pick up kids in far distances too. My father’s name was Thomas Masuskapoe (Tommy). I was 16 years old when I had to finish school, my father had to make me quit school to work. Only Frank had finish school but he had to move to Prince Albert. But us, we had to work. Whenever we leave Duck lake we would only live in the reserve for awhile and then move to go work for white people. We would work on fields all day long, pick up rocks, and all sorts of other labour work. We didn’t have welfare back then, no child tax, nothing, we always had to work to make money. But it was wonderful days back then. I always call them the good old days. It was good we had no worries, we used to leave our belongings behind and no one would bother them, they’d still be there when we get back. Today now, we have to lock up everything.
At funerals, it was so respected, we used to sit on the floor not on chairs. There were no children allowed too at all. I was 16 years old when my father took me to a wake service for the first time. But I didn’t go there for the wake, I went there to help out, to work. All night my father would sit there. We cooked all night and made tea for the people until the funeral day.
My mom was catholic, and my father was Anglican. There used to be grave yard clean up every year, people would come gather here and work here. We used to have the women cook too, put blankets on the ground and eat. Each family would sit by their loved ones. Even by the church by the river, the horses were tied up there and they would be fed too. The families would then move to other families and visit each other while they eat.
The women were so respected because women are the child bearers, and they go through the hardships of giving birth and sometimes losses. That’s why back then women were highly respected. There used to be no doctors just the mid-wives. There was also a lot of dances, but there was alcohol involved now and people would get into fights in the middle of the dance floor (laughter) but they would get kicked out of the hall and then the dance will continue. There was no band too, we had our own musicians that would take turns playing some tunes like violins, guitar’s, and pianos. Now today you have to pay a lot of money to get a band to come play for a dance. It was so fun. People used to walk to dances whenever there’s a dance somewhere else.
This one time I had found a coin in my cake, which means that the person who bites into a coin must make the next dance. I had told my mother, that I had bitten into a quarter and I needed to make a dance. She says to me, well you are not making a dance here so off you go. I went to my grandmother’s house next and I told her the same thing, she had a big house. I told her I my mother didn’t want to make a dance. So she says you will make one here. (laughter) so I made one there. A lot of people came there because her house was big. There was a little room in that house where they were in while the dance was happening. We had a fun night that night dancing. There was no alcohol back then too. When people try bring in alcohol they get kicked out.
Like the Sundances long ago, the Elders would know when a woman was on there moon time. I had seen this done where an Elder came out of the lodge towards this young lady who came to watch the dancers, and he told her you must leave immediately. The Elders used to just tell them to leave. They weren’t shy. Elders used to discipline the young people back then now today they do not really do that. If when someone disciplines your child, the parent of that child will come defensive and stick up for their child. That is going to be their fault when these kids grow up without discipline. The parents stop disciplining their own children, they let then do whatever they please. Back in the days, the whole village raised your child, discipline. Now today there is nothing like that. I raised my children with discipline and today they all work and have jobs. My grand daughters I had raised too, I had raised them with discipline. I have great grand children that go to school here, and when they do not listen, I’m the first to know because I work near by. I’d tell them to come to my house after school so I can have a talk with them, its not giving them heck too, it’s telling them, correcting them. I want to teach them how to live with virtues for them to be a better person. But for them they call it, getting heck, they are in trouble and arguments.
There was this one old man named Solmens, he used to tell legend stories. I remember my father used to go get him just so we can listen to his stories. He lived on top the hill. We sit there all night as he told stories until we’d fall asleep. I can not remember these stories as I was so young. Today now, we had lost these ways too, legend stories. No body knows them that much. The schools don’t use the Elders that much to try learn these stories. Now that is broken too. These kids were not told, they are now just beginning to learn. Our traditional teachings are vanishing slowly, too many white man’s stories.
There are strong Anglican here, they had contemned Traditional ways. There’s this one Anglican minister who had threw out medicine bags back then. That was Hynes. I was told this, but I had never seen it.
A lot of young people are lost today. I tell them about our creator, our God, who sees and know everything, He knows when you steal. I tell them to love one another, not to hate. It’s difficult to talk to the young people today. They don’t respect their bodies, their lives, like the ones that are finishing school grade 12, I tell them to keep going in life. Do not give up. I tell them you need to prepare what is in your future. It is going to a hard future; you need to keep going. Even our land base, some of the teenagers are disguised in touching wild meat to cut. I see it in their faces. I tell them not to do that. This way is our traditional ways. We were not raised with microwaved food, that’s not even real food. Also, that is why a lot of people are sick today because of the white man food. This traditional food is way healthier. These wild animals eat organic foods. The meat we buy at the stores, we don’t know what these animals were injected with, and we have to eat them. This is what I tell the young people. But at times, they laugh and seem like they do not want to believe you.
My father used to have all sort of farm animals back then. We also used to make our own butter, cottage cheese, cream, and other stuff. There was me, David, Frank, and George. It was all healthy foods.
I remember my grandfather, he used to farm in the fields, his name was Solomon. People would come gather to help him out even the women, they would come cook. They all lend a hand, they came to cook a big feast, because they loved one another, they did not get paid for doing that. They wanted to help. After that’s all been done, they would all go home. Now today, it is all about money when you ask for help.
Our land too, was so beautiful long ago. It was also fun back in the day. At treaty days, people used to go pitch up their canvas tents every where to camp for the night, they had a lot of fun, like dancing, there was no alcohol used back then, it was not even on our reserve, our people were very healthy. And when the men go hunting, they share the wild meat, they give them out to people. They were not cheap with anything. Even when they used to build their own houses, once they hear that someone is building a house, they all gather up to that house and help out that person.
I remember when my father built his house, my uncle showed up and helped my father built his house all around until the house was completed, he helped my father out a lot. When it was time for my uncle to leave, my father gave him one of his horses, as a thank-you for helping out.
There was also a lot of visiting back in the day, even if they had to walk. No matter the season or weather, they would still go visit one another. Now today, there is no visiting at all, it seems like when people try visit, they’re always in a hurry to leave.
Kinship, how we are related to people. In this reserve, everyone is related to each other in a certain way. A lot of then I call my uncles, my aunties, I try to acknowledge my relatives as I did growing up. One time my sister-in-law came to ask me how er were related to this one family because her daughter was dating this young man, I told her how we were related to that family we were close family. Those young people ended their relationship because of the close family kinship. It used to be so respected, our kinship, how we were related to others, and now today people are staying with their first cousins (brother/sisters). Like my uncle’s children, I call them my brothers and sisters, and they call me the same thing. They call me “big sister” because I’m the oldest. This other family, our roots go way back, they call me big sister. Now today these young people today, they do not know how they are related to one another. This kind of way is lost today, it’s broken, kinship. It is so difficult; you can’t even tell the young people on how they are related to one another. They don’t understand the virtue of kinship, but they don’t understand it. They were not taught this growing-up. Nobody taught them this kinship.
My Parents were very hard workers too. I am too, a very hard worker, I remember long ago when I was a young girl at 14 years old, when the school- year was done. In the summertime, July-August, they were these old couple in Debden, that I was sent to go help them around their house, to take care of them, to serve them. And the next Summer. I was about 15 years old when I had to take care of with these three young children, they were girls, the oldest was 5 and the youngest one was 3 years old. All summer I had to take care of these three children, because the parents were sick and had to leave somewhere else all summer.
I also used to work with these two men, they had lot of respect for me. Not once did they disrespect. There was a lot of respect back then, especially towards those strong-willed people who had been helping out towards others. There was a lot of gratitude too. Today we don’t see that. When a person helps someone once, it seems like that person wants your help even more, take advantage of you, instead of being Thankful and trying to reverse that, to help you out as well.
I went to school in Duck-lake, St. Micheals Residential School for 5 and a half years. But I did not lose my Cree language. And after I was raised in a traditional way, I am Christian now, I don’t judge any other ways, I still respect the traditional ways. Where I work, I tell my co-workers how I was raised, what I was told and how it used to be back in the days. I tell them this because I want to and for them to know. I respect all religion as long as they respect what I believe.
One time, my dad’s cousin, his roots were right there from the Masuskapoe side, but he took the Williams name. But they had a different Cree name before he switched to Williams this one, I don’t remember. My grandpa was James Peekeekoot. I am related to this side. It goes back when these Elders were baptized, they were given their white names there. Like my grandpa, he had a Cree name, which I don’t remember, he was given the name “Solomon- Masuskapoe. Even my great grandpa was named Masuskapoe. This is where all these white names were given out, and this is where kinship got broken. How we are related to one another. Because of all these Chistian names, they all got mixed up. Like Peekeekoots. Just because they don’t have the same last name doesn’t mean they weren’t siblings. My uncle used to tell me this, about these 5 siblings, one was at a battle and lost his life there. The one that was killed I don’t remember his name, the other siblings were Masuskapoe, Ahenakew, Ahtahkakoop (Starblanket) and Peekeekoot.
I also have French roots on my Masuskapoe side, also Rabbitskin. Along time ago, those white people who used to travel by canoe, would make fur trading posts, this is where I got some French roots from my mother and father’s side. My mother was Cecelia, and my small grandfather’s name was Paul Rabbitskin. His Cree name was “Small person’, and my grandmother’s name is Angelic. I don’t remember her Cree name. But I heard they had separated, my grandparents. My mother had had two siblings, a sister and a brother, but her brother had died from a hunting accident. So, it was only my mother and her sister growing up. Margaret was my mother’s sister’s name she married and moved with her husband. Then there’s my mother, her mother and then there was nothing but women, Alice, Isabelle, Dora, and Bella. Now today there’s only one living woman, my auntie. My father’s side, there is John Rabbitskin, Robert, John George, and Margaret. Both my mother and father’s side, I had a lot of family. My grandmother had a lot of children back then. She was 50 years old and she still birthed children.
My father used to tell me about kinship.
Where we used to live, we walked 5 miles to school. But we had to do our chores before we left for school, it was very early too. No matter the weather outside we still had to do our chores and walk to school. There was no such thing as school closures. It used to be freezing cold, we used to hear the trees crack from the frigid cold winter days.
I used to live by the Victoire road. There was a house on top the hill, down the hill is where we used to far from that road. My grandmother and other relatives used to stop in and visit us, sometimes they would camp a few days. This is what I meant, along time ago, people used to visit each other and love one another, when they’d visit they camped for days. I used to have lot of old pictures from long ago, and someone had stolen them. I still have my grandparent’s picture though and my father’s.
I went to Residential school for 5 and half years, David went for 4 and half years and Frank went one and half year I think. It was a Sunday we came to visit here and we were not allowed to go back to Duck lake.
My father used to be how we call today, a bus driver, he used to use an open sleigh in the winter time. We had a lot of fun, when we would get cold riding on the sleigh we would jump off and run along side the sleigh to keep warm then jump back on. Then they had built a Kaboose there was little woodburner inside there, where we used to warm up. We wouldn’t be running outside anymore to warm up, it was so toasty warm inside the kaboose. The open sleigh and the wagon with horses were the first buses. He used to pick up kids in far distances too. My father’s name was Thomas Masuskapoe (Tommy). I was 16 years old when I had to finish school, my father had to make me quit school to work. Only Frank had finish school but he had to move to Prince Albert. But us, we had to work. Whenever we leave Duck lake we would only live in the reserve for awhile and then move to go work for white people. We would work on fields all day long, pick up rocks, and all sorts of other labour work. We didn’t have welfare back then, no child tax, nothing, we always had to work to make money. But it was wonderful days back then. I always call them the good old days. It was good we had no worries, we used to leave our belongings behind and no one would bother them, they’d still be there when we get back. Today now, we have to lock up everything.
At funerals, it was so respected, we used to sit on the floor not on chairs. There were no children allowed too at all. I was 16 years old when my father took me to a wake service for the first time. But I didn’t go there for the wake, I went there to help out, to work. All night my father would sit there. We cooked all night and made tea for the people until the funeral day.
My mom was catholic, and my father was Anglican. There used to be grave yard clean up every year, people would come gather here and work here. We used to have the women cook too, put blankets on the ground and eat. Each family would sit by their loved ones. Even by the church by the river, the horses were tied up there and they would be fed too. The families would then move to other families and visit each other while they eat.
The women were so respected because women are the child bearers, and they go through the hardships of giving birth and sometimes losses. That’s why back then women were highly respected. There used to be no doctors just the mid-wives. There was also a lot of dances, but there was alcohol involved now and people would get into fights in the middle of the dance floor (laughter) but they would get kicked out of the hall and then the dance will continue. There was no band too, we had our own musicians that would take turns playing some tunes like violins, guitar’s, and pianos. Now today you have to pay a lot of money to get a band to come play for a dance. It was so fun. People used to walk to dances whenever there’s a dance somewhere else.
This one time I had found a coin in my cake, which means that the person who bites into a coin must make the next dance. I had told my mother, that I had bitten into a quarter and I needed to make a dance. She says to me, well you are not making a dance here so off you go. I went to my grandmother’s house next and I told her the same thing, she had a big house. I told her I my mother didn’t want to make a dance. So she says you will make one here. (laughter) so I made one there. A lot of people came there because her house was big. There was a little room in that house where they were in while the dance was happening. We had a fun night that night dancing. There was no alcohol back then too. When people try bring in alcohol they get kicked out.
Like the Sundances long ago, the Elders would know when a woman was on there moon time. I had seen this done where an Elder came out of the lodge towards this young lady who came to watch the dancers, and he told her you must leave immediately. The Elders used to just tell them to leave. They weren’t shy. Elders used to discipline the young people back then now today they do not really do that. If when someone disciplines your child, the parent of that child will come defensive and stick up for their child. That is going to be their fault when these kids grow up without discipline. The parents stop disciplining their own children, they let then do whatever they please. Back in the days, the whole village raised your child, discipline. Now today there is nothing like that. I raised my children with discipline and today they all work and have jobs. My grand daughters I had raised too, I had raised them with discipline. I have great grand children that go to school here, and when they do not listen, I’m the first to know because I work near by. I’d tell them to come to my house after school so I can have a talk with them, its not giving them heck too, it’s telling them, correcting them. I want to teach them how to live with virtues for them to be a better person. But for them they call it, getting heck, they are in trouble and arguments.
There was this one old man named Solmens, he used to tell legend stories. I remember my father used to go get him just so we can listen to his stories. He lived on top the hill. We sit there all night as he told stories until we’d fall asleep. I can not remember these stories as I was so young. Today now, we had lost these ways too, legend stories. No body knows them that much. The schools don’t use the Elders that much to try learn these stories. Now that is broken too. These kids were not told, they are now just beginning to learn. Our traditional teachings are vanishing slowly, too many white man’s stories.
There are strong Anglican here, they had contemned Traditional ways. There’s this one Anglican minister who had threw out medicine bags back then. That was Hynes. I was told this, but I had never seen it.
A lot of young people are lost today. I tell them about our creator, our God, who sees and know everything, He knows when you steal. I tell them to love one another, not to hate. It’s difficult to talk to the young people today. They don’t respect their bodies, their lives, like the ones that are finishing school grade 12, I tell them to keep going in life. Do not give up. I tell them you need to prepare what is in your future. It is going to a hard future; you need to keep going. Even our land base, some of the teenagers are disguised in touching wild meat to cut. I see it in their faces. I tell them not to do that. This way is our traditional ways. We were not raised with microwaved food, that’s not even real food. Also, that is why a lot of people are sick today because of the white man food. This traditional food is way healthier. These wild animals eat organic foods. The meat we buy at the stores, we don’t know what these animals were injected with, and we have to eat them. This is what I tell the young people. But at times, they laugh and seem like they do not want to believe you.
My father used to have all sort of farm animals back then. We also used to make our own butter, cottage cheese, cream, and other stuff. There was me, David, Frank, and George. It was all healthy foods.