STORIES / Okara’shòn:’a
Walking to school
We lived close to Kateri School because we were downtown. The Lafleur family had their first store on the front street. The MCK office is there now but that was where the Lafleur’s had their butcher shop and groceries so we weren’t that far from school.
Passing it on
I think it's important that people pass on the stories and the traditions, because I'm sure families have different stories and traditions that were passed down to them. They probably just thought it was old people telling them stories, but it's important to hear those stories because there was always a moral behind it.
Brightsun Bakery
Baking was in my blood—my mother was a baker. When we were kids, we’d run down the road to deliver hot bread straight from the oven to people who had placed orders. She also made meat pies, which she’d store in an upstairs unheated room to keep them cold.
We’re not selling out
When they were building the seaway, they were moving the houses away from the construction, but my uncle said, “We’re not moving. We’re not selling out.
Old Malone Highway
"In the late 1930s and early 1940s, we didn’t have snowplows in Kahnawà:ke. There were not many cars yet, it was mostly horse and buggies that traveled our roads."
I'll be damned
Right around 9:30 I told one of the guys who I was working with, "Hey look there's a girl on the balcony over there. Bet you if I wave to her, she's going to wave back."
Died on the iron
For two years, one leg was shorter than the other. He had a hearing aid, and he had a big steel plate in his face. Whenever he would drink beer, his skin would tighten up and you would see the mark of the plate in his cheek. He was off work for five years.
Splice service technician
So, I went to Montreal to get some tools. Pliers, work boots, gloves, whatever I needed and they supplied the rest. I wasn’t the crane operator. I was what they called the “tag man” on the radio giving him signals to move the crane.
O'tónhkwa'
Back then, we used to play in this area of Kahnawà:ke called Hooks Point, where I think they have the Quebec Bridge monument.
Ohniare'kó:wa
Early the next morning I went to see my uncle, Mike Woodrow, and told him of my dream. He said not to be afraid and went to burn tobacco.
Way off-Broadway
In those days, nobody knew about Natives. No one gave a shit about us. Some Natives would go and watch, if they knew about it. They would put ads in the paper under current events for their plays.
A story with a lesson
Fishing alone, the man would reel in his net and catch more than he needed. Not being mindful, the man would choose all his favourite fish for himself and his family and chuck the rest ashore.
Yellow flower
Do you have a sense of peacefulness behind these trees? Yes, there’s a feeling of peacefulness behind these cedar trees.
Horse ranch surprise
For Lionel’s 80th birthday we went to a horse ranch; It was called Ridin-Hy. He figured that it was only supposed to be him and I, with our daughter, Natalie, and her husband, Tim.
Paris, France
One day, the phone rang. A woman was scouting for two children to be in a movie, and she liked the picture of Katsitsanoron that was at the Cultural Center.
Can't throw me out
I finished high school in 1966 at Bishop Whelan in Lachine. My mother gave me two weeks to find myself a job or something. It was a Wednesday when I was packing my clothes. I figured I would go and join the service because everyone was joining the Marines at the time.
They would have killed me
During the Siege of Kanehsatà:ke in 1990, it was a very bad situation in Kahnawà:ke. People were starving. My wife had to go to Dorval by boat to get vegetables. We didn’t even have gasoline. There were some people who smuggled gas in and sold it at a stand by the side of the road.
Wood burning stove and candies
As kids, we’re all sitting around the stove and then he’d tell us stories. Grandpa’s stories. That was such real fun. Then, remember? There were days at the end of the week that daddy paid us each five cents and we’d go to the village and go to Chene store.
