STORIES / Okara’shòn:’a
Go on for miles
We had a few horses, a few cows, some chickens, and pigs. In the fall just before Christmas, they would butcher a pig and a chicken for a big supper.
Where I feel at home
The Pines or Onen’tó:kon, has always been a sacred place and one of refuge for the generations of my grandparents who sought peace in the Pines when the Sulpicians were harassing and brutalizing the people. They wanted us all to leave for Wáhta, but in the end, we have won because we are still here and we’re not going anywhere.
detach with love
I would have a lot of quiet talks with my mother on her back deck by the pool. My birth mother helped me a lot. She told me my father’s name and helped my children and I get status. I remember we went to some office, she spoke Mohawk for about five minutes, and within a month I had my status.
The only thing Indian was the students
My grandparents raised all six of us. I was six months old when my father passed away. I was told that the Indian Agency came into the house here and tried to take my brothers away. My grandparents told them to leave. If they would have succeeded, maybe today I wouldn’t have any nieces or nephews around. Who knows what would’ve happened.
Best driver
Some said I was the best driver, but I never put myself out there saying I’m the best, better than my friends. I firmly believe that the best one is the Creator, not the one who boasts about it.
You’ll never hear me shooting my mouth off, claiming that I’m better than anyone else.
I could drive anything
I quit driving trucks because I was fed up with it. From there, I transitioned to school bus driving. I did that for 17 years. That’s where I took my pension, in 2008. I said to myself, I think it’s about time.
Religion divided us
I started going to high school in Lachine in 1959. In those days Chateauguay practically didn’t exist. We all shopped in Lachine, went to school in Lachine. We hung out over there and knew all the places.
We used to take those fancy coach buses with the high seats because we didn’t have school buses from Kahnawake yet. We felt so high class.
Still Kanien’kehá:kA
It was very confusing, but through teachings I’ve learned that I am a sacred being, Creator recognizes me, and I can be accepted in both realms. Once I came to that realization, the thundercloud was no longer threatening.
Adopted during the Sixties Scoop
I have vivid memories of being a toddler in foster care. I was originally adopted by a family, but then was sent back to foster care until my adoptive mother, Pauline adopted me. My mom was a single, non-Indigenous women, yet she had Ojibwe ancestry from Walpole Island through her grandmother.
Threading the Needle
In the winter months, the old ladies would come to our house. I don't know if they were really old ladies. But to me, they were old. There would be a lamp set in the middle of the table and a whole bunch of them would do beadwork.
Ice Storm
During winter months, some community members would haul goods by horse and sleigh down the main street (or the front street as we knew it back then). There were thick ice ruts in the street, and it became extremely hazardous for horses, more so for people trying to walk on the thick ice.
Learning about literature
When I was about five or so, dad would read a series of illustrated stories from the Montreal Star with me that told of a small community that lived within the shelter of a rose bush. The series was called The Teenie Weenies. Several months ago, I was telling my son how I had enjoyed those stories; he looked them up online, and found me, for this Christmas, an original Teenie Weenie book published in 1944.
Princess White Deer
Esther travelled the world with her uncles. There were three of them, three brothers: James, John, and George. James was her father and John was my grandfather. George didn’t have any kids. They also had a sister.
Powwow scene
I turned around, and it was Pierce Brosnan. I took a deep breath and said, 'Relax. He's just a person like everybody else.' I said, 'It looks pretty good. I thought you were going to be in that scene. How come you're out here?’
Protestant and catholic
My mother went to catholic school, but she did not want the nuns to teach us, so she sent us to protestant school. Protestant school was like today's public school. My cousin and I were the same age and lived in the same neighborhood, so we walked to school together. She was going to the catholic school and I was attending the protestant one. One time, she crossed the street and told me that she could not walk with me because I was protestant.
Given to me
there are some students from the school that will come, sit, listen and write down the words they need translated. Sometimes there's three or four of them sitting there and they’re writing down questions to ask and I help them as best as I can.
Big problem in Manhattan
My son and I had a talk on the way home that day about the sand running out of your hourglass. That event really drove home that you should never take life for granted because you just never know what can happen.
The baddest boy
Once when I was younger I was playing hockey every day after school and asked my father, “Baba, can you buy me new skates?” He said, “Just keep on doing what you’re doing, going to get the milk on the farm, going to get the water, and maybe one day you’ll get it.”
Fishing trip
My husband would go fishing all the time. I went with him once and told him, “Don’t ever ask me to go with you again.” Because it didn’t work out when we went, we got stuck.