WEBVTT 00:00:10.802 --> 00:00:15.306 I’m Abel Swallow and I’m going to tell a story. 00:00:15.432 --> 00:00:25.942 When people, including us, used to canoe towards Oskelaneo, 00:00:27.110 --> 00:00:36.119 I saw my late dad bring with him something that I wasn’t able to recognize. 00:00:37.037 --> 00:00:48.923 I didn’t think much of it as we brought with us other stuff, but it was neatly tied. 00:00:49.591 --> 00:00:52.886 I didn’t know what it was. 00:00:52.886 --> 00:01:02.062 Once we canoed, we soon reached Albenal Lake. 00:01:02.645 --> 00:01:09.152 He didn’t untie it and it was left like that. 00:01:09.694 --> 00:01:17.202 We continue on with our canoeing, this time heading to the bush. 00:01:18.536 --> 00:01:22.707 He left it untied when he went onto the canoe. 00:01:23.416 --> 00:01:32.675 I was small and I would be the one carrying it because it weighed very light. 00:01:33.968 --> 00:01:50.443 We reached our trapline, where my dad wanted to hunt during winter. 00:01:52.529 --> 00:02:03.123 He said, “Once the camp is set up, then we're going to our canoes and go hunting.” 00:02:03.123 --> 00:02:13.049 Eventually we’d have to. 00:02:13.800 --> 00:02:24.602 He brought out the same box and it was still untied. 00:02:25.854 --> 00:02:32.610 Before he started to hunt, not too far off camp we canoed. 00:02:33.570 --> 00:02:44.539 He chopped down two trees. 00:02:44.539 --> 00:02:59.012 The next morning, he stood the trees not too far off from each other. 00:03:01.014 --> 00:03:10.315 He then digs inside his bag, pulling out a small pouch, 00:03:10.315 --> 00:03:17.739 he opens it and pulls out a ceremonial cord (string). 00:03:18.573 --> 00:03:27.707 My dad told my mom to bring him a tanned caribou hide that she’d always bring. 00:03:28.208 --> 00:03:31.002 She’d always had one with her. 00:03:31.002 --> 00:03:35.757 Then he asks me to bring him the box that was neatly tied. 00:03:36.341 --> 00:03:42.555 While I go for the bag, he loosens the ceremonial cord (rope). 00:03:42.555 --> 00:03:59.822 I brought it to him inside the tent and this would be the first time I’d see what’s inside. 00:04:00.406 --> 00:04:03.910 He first places the tanned caribou hide beside him, 00:04:05.119 --> 00:04:10.875 unties the box and inside it was a suit. 00:04:11.793 --> 00:04:18.007 He places it on the caribou hide and folds it in and takes it outside. 00:04:18.508 --> 00:04:22.262 He goes towards the ceremonial cord (rope) that’s tied to the two trees 00:04:22.262 --> 00:04:27.684 and hangs the tanned caribou hide that my mom always had with her. 00:04:28.309 --> 00:04:37.694 He hangs his suit on the ceremonial cord (rope) like so 00:04:37.694 --> 00:05:08.433 and this meant that he offered it for his hunt and that he would wear it. 00:05:10.685 --> 00:05:14.564 It was hung there for a while. 00:05:14.564 --> 00:05:23.072 Eventually he told me that we were going to canoe and head towards a mountain closeby. 00:05:23.072 --> 00:05:27.368 I was happy that we were going hunting. 00:05:29.162 --> 00:05:33.583 He tells me to bring his suit. 00:05:34.500 --> 00:05:38.796 The caribou hide was still hanging on the ceremonial cord (rope) 00:05:38.796 --> 00:05:44.886 and I brought it to him as I headed to the shore. 00:05:44.886 --> 00:05:47.513 I placed it inside my bag. 00:05:47.513 --> 00:05:52.935 I didn’t really know why this was done, 00:05:54.562 --> 00:06:07.367 but he says to me to get it out and that I’ll need it to hang between the centre line of the canoe. 00:06:07.367 --> 00:06:14.165 It eventually became apparent to me that the suit was meant for hunting. 00:06:14.165 --> 00:06:22.048 We got in the canoe and headed towards our destination, it wasn’t that far, we reached it. 00:06:23.132 --> 00:06:30.139 He told me we’d be getting off there and heading toward the mountain 00:06:31.307 --> 00:06:34.936 and I knew we were looking for a bear. 00:06:36.312 --> 00:06:46.280 He told me that we’ll make a fire first and eat. 00:06:46.906 --> 00:06:56.082 We did just that and once we finished using the fire, we started walking up towards the mountain. 00:06:56.082 --> 00:07:06.050 He told me he’d leave his suit and hang it nearby once we would head back to the canoe. 00:07:06.676 --> 00:07:24.569 So we walked. He changes into his new coat. It's the first time it's worn. 00:07:24.569 --> 00:07:35.872 He tells me to place the old coat in the bag I’m carrying. 00:07:35.872 --> 00:07:46.757 He said, “I might leave the old coat and wear the new one.” 00:07:47.425 --> 00:07:56.350 I thought about this and why he wanted to bring in the old one up the mountain. 00:07:56.350 --> 00:07:58.978 At the time I didn’t understand the reason why. 00:07:58.978 --> 00:08:03.733 We climb up, reaching the top of the mountain, I didn’t see any bear activity. 00:08:03.733 --> 00:08:06.277 The area around the area looked very nice. 00:08:06.277 --> 00:08:14.160 I continued looking around and I saw something black. 00:08:14.785 --> 00:08:20.583 It starts moving and I sees that it’s a bear, as I saw one before. 00:08:20.583 --> 00:08:24.337 I surprised him as I quietly say, “Dad, there’s a bear over there.” 00:08:24.337 --> 00:08:28.883 He sees it and says, 00:08:30.885 --> 00:08:38.935 “It must be here then, it’s going to be easier for us to pick it up.” 00:08:39.560 --> 00:08:43.606 He says to me to stay where I am. 00:08:45.149 --> 00:08:54.242 He changes into his new suit, walks downhill towards the bear and says to me, 00:08:55.243 --> 00:09:01.874 “Once you hear my gunshot, then you come down and watch what I do.” 00:09:01.874 --> 00:09:08.339 I watch him walking away and he isn’t too far off, very slowly I go towards him. 00:09:09.340 --> 00:09:14.345 From where I am, I still see the bear because it might have been berry picking. 00:09:14.345 --> 00:09:22.562 Once he’s near the bear, I see him getting ready to shoot. 00:09:23.312 --> 00:09:33.864 I hear a gunshot, I see him and then I don’t see him for a second. 00:09:34.323 --> 00:09:44.292 I ran down the hill to him and hurried. 00:09:46.586 --> 00:09:51.549 Once I was nearby, he didn’t wear his blazer. 00:09:53.426 --> 00:09:57.471 I asked him where the bear was, he answered it was laying over there. 00:09:57.471 --> 00:10:07.023 As I reach towards the bear, I see and notice the blazer covering it’s chest area. 00:10:07.023 --> 00:10:16.073 I realized then what was done and the reasoning behind it. 00:10:16.073 --> 00:10:24.415 It was because it (the suit) was offered for the hunt. 00:10:25.708 --> 00:10:29.503 He gutted the bear and it was fat. 00:10:29.503 --> 00:10:34.050 As we headed back to the canoe, he told me, 00:10:35.092 --> 00:10:44.602 “Before going up, I’ll be leaving my suit right here and this is my lesson to you about the suit.” 00:10:44.602 --> 00:10:56.405 From there I understood why this was done and that it was meant for hunting. 00:10:56.739 --> 00:11:08.709 Hunting while wearing a suit was seen as an offering by the elders. 00:11:08.709 --> 00:11:13.673 It wasn’t meant for showing off. 00:11:15.800 --> 00:11:20.971 We lived there throughout the winter and he left his suit in the same location, 00:11:20.971 --> 00:11:26.394 he canoed twice a day to pick it up and drop it off. 00:11:26.394 --> 00:11:29.772 He would always do that when he had to wear it. 00:11:31.899 --> 00:11:36.737 He killed three animals (bears) while wearing it. 00:11:39.407 --> 00:11:54.630 The last time he had a kill, he brought it back, wrapped it up and didn’t wear it again. 00:11:56.173 --> 00:12:11.063 The suits were used for this, it was meant to be worn for the hunt. 00:12:11.063 --> 00:12:24.118 However for the elders, it wasn’t the only thing that needed to be worn when going hunting. 00:12:24.660 --> 00:12:29.081 I’ll talk a little bit about what I went through. 00:12:29.081 --> 00:12:34.545 Before we headed back to the bush, at the store over here, 00:12:34.545 --> 00:12:39.925 I saw one of the suits and I thought, “I should buy one and use it for hunting.” 00:12:39.925 --> 00:12:47.141 I wanted to buy it because it looked just like my late dad’s. 00:12:47.641 --> 00:12:51.854 I thought, once I go hunting I’ll wear it. 00:12:51.854 --> 00:12:56.066 I bought it and haven't worn it yet. 00:12:56.609 --> 00:13:07.995 We got to our trapline and I thought that I’d go look for a bear. 00:13:10.331 --> 00:13:15.544 I thought of wearing the suit like my dad used to. 00:13:15.544 --> 00:13:28.724 I wore it and it looked just like my late dads and thought about what he would do as well. 00:13:28.724 --> 00:13:36.148 I left and did how it was done when looking for a bear. 00:13:36.148 --> 00:13:40.903 I reached a small slope, I walked over it. 00:13:40.903 --> 00:13:48.077 Before reaching a hill leading to the mountain, I see a bear. 00:13:48.077 --> 00:13:51.539 It isn’t far away at all, it’s very close by. 00:13:51.539 --> 00:13:56.836 I slowly and quietly put in the ammo so it couldn’t hear me. 00:13:56.836 --> 00:14:01.757 It was only the distance from over there, from across the road. 00:14:02.258 --> 00:14:11.433 It stood up then I shot it. I killed the bear and then gutted it. 00:14:12.184 --> 00:14:20.234 I wore my shirt over my blazer and thought about what my late dad used to do. 00:14:20.234 --> 00:14:26.699 I took it off and placed it on its chest. 00:14:27.867 --> 00:14:33.205 That was the only time I’ve seen a bear during our stay. 00:14:35.624 --> 00:14:38.794 This is how the story ends. 00:14:40.004 --> 00:14:49.597 The story that I was telling should be something our children should know about and do the same. 00:14:50.848 --> 00:14:56.896 It’s something I learned to do when I went hunting and it was from my late dad. 00:14:56.896 --> 00:15:05.279 I learned about hunting from him and wore a suit like he used to. 00:15:06.530 --> 00:15:15.456 I would use his hunting skills whenever I could. 00:15:15.998 --> 00:15:29.053 We should use the hunting skills that our fathers have taught us. 00:15:31.221 --> 00:15:38.604 Everyone should practice what their dads did even when they have passed on. 00:15:38.604 --> 00:15:44.652 You should keep with you how your dads hunted. 00:15:45.986 --> 00:15:48.822 That’s all for now, that’s what I wanted to say.