STORIES / Okara’shòn:’a
Ancestral to modern living
"It would be ideal to try to get that back. So, everyone eats the same, together, if you want to call it one dish one spoon law. So, if there’s anyone who is struggling to eat, the community helps."
Don’t consider it scary
I used to sleep with my aunt, who was a teenager at the time. Sometimes she would try to scare me, she liked to tease me. She would come in with her coat over her head late at night. I knew it was her but would scream anyways.
Being with your people
I told my wife, “We’re going to go home now. It’s time the girls got home and grew up knowing who they are.”
My toys turned to wood
We got there later, in ‘37. We then moved to Nevins Street. We weren’t there long either. Finally, my aunt found a spot at 415 Pacific Street and became the super of the building. And as a super, it was rent free for us. So we lived all those years there rent free.
A child’s question
The thing is, all these children and young people asking these questions don’t speak the language. It’s not their fault. And if they go to ceremony, it’s all being done in the language that they don’t understand, so how do you expect them to know? It’s very stupid.
Puzzles at The Elders’ Lodge
Claire Diabo always did puzzles there, and I looked at the puzzles next to her. I saw a nice one and said, “Oh, I like that. I like that puzzle!”
What happens when we are boozing
They throw back one drink after another and you can see the body begin to sag and if they insist on more, their heads will bounce off the bar. That’s when the lower beings come in.
Myth: “We Can’t Find Indigenous candidates.”
Some employers believe hiring an Indigenous (Native, Metis or Inuit) worker is not worth the hassle because of the unknowns. But this is the wrong way to look at a population that is growing fast, more educated than ever, and eager to tackle many different jobs, if given a chance.
Same hurts and issues
London was with the Oneida people and the Delaware. Hamilton and Brantford were with Six Nations and the Ojibwe people living in that particular area. Toronto was everybody across the country from the Mi’kmaq all the way down to the other end.
Shooting the flag
The older guys used to make a fire at the base of the tree, and they had some kind of ceremony. The men would shoot with shotguns until the tree broke because it was on a pole. It was maybe 10 or 12 feet in the air or a little bit higher.
She knew what she wanted
She broke off the engagement and stayed here in Montreal. She seen something on TV about adoption and thought to herself, “Oh, well let’s see about that,” because she just wanted to be a mom.
Little Caughnawaga
There was a lot of ironwork in New York City. That’s why there were so many Mohawk families throughout Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island.
How things change
Right here, on our community, our small, little reserve. Why couldn’t it have happened someplace else? Because the government thought they could do what they want with it. So, they put a seaway through, they put bridges through, they put highways through.
The way man thinks
On the Earth, we make the Earth small by thinking that the Earth has no power to regenerate and heal Herself. She’s already in the process of doing that.
Promises made in heaven
He’s very introverted and always has been. He wasn’t the type of kid that liked to be rough and tough. It set him apart from the rest.
Beginnings in the Longhouse
I had absolutely no inkling of the Longhouse or that it even existed. My mother didn’t make any effort to educate me about it because of the conflicts that were going on between the Longhouse and Band Council at the time.
Get that boy to a powwow
We drove there on a Friday, slept over and went to the powwow on Saturday morning. Grand entry was at 1:00 pm so we got there early. He wanted to get dressed right away. I said, “Kawerashatste, we got a 2 hour wait,” but no he wanted to get dressed.
Taking work home
"Yes, you bring the people back home with you, the kids back home with you. It’s sometimes very difficult."
My own fear
Luckily for me, my children love me so it doesn’t matter what I do. I suppose it does matter but they’ll never judge me or be upset with me. I’ve never had backlash from anybody.