WEBVTT 00:00:10.093 --> 00:00:12.679 My name is Hattie Wapachee. 00:00:12.679 --> 00:00:16.558 Before I was married it was Hattie Mark. 00:00:17.350 --> 00:00:24.691 I always lived out on the land and I never attended residential school. 00:00:25.108 --> 00:00:31.531 When a moose was killed, I’ve seen all of it being prepared 00:00:31.531 --> 00:00:36.786 and I remember how to fix the moose hide. 00:00:37.704 --> 00:00:48.048 Once a moose was brought over, the moose hide would be fixed soon after. 00:00:48.048 --> 00:01:00.852 The first time I’ve seen a moose hide being fixed was by my mother, 00:01:00.852 --> 00:01:10.987 she first fleshed it using this scraper here called a moose bone scraper 00:01:10.987 --> 00:01:13.698 and it was held like so. 00:01:16.076 --> 00:01:23.541 Under the hide was a pole and it would fleshed off like so. 00:01:24.793 --> 00:01:34.886 Once completed, a knife dehair the hide. 00:01:35.595 --> 00:01:47.107 Knives were used back then, but these days I use this to dehair a hide, it’s easier for me. 00:01:47.982 --> 00:02:00.078 Once all the fur was removed this bone scraper was used on the moose hide, 00:02:00.078 --> 00:02:08.503 the hide would be placed on a tougher and smoother tree to do scraping 00:02:08.628 --> 00:02:12.423 and still, this would come from the bush. 00:02:13.049 --> 00:02:18.763 This one here would be sharpened. 00:02:18.763 --> 00:02:25.520 If done correctly, the moose hide would look good. 00:02:25.520 --> 00:02:36.239 The skinning of the moose that was done by men was good because they’d never cut it. 00:02:37.031 --> 00:02:47.375 Once the membrane was scraped off from the hide, they’d use this scraper outside while it was frozen. 00:02:48.042 --> 00:02:54.632 These ones aren't long enough, there are others that are longer. 00:02:54.632 --> 00:03:03.266 This one here is used for scraping anywhere and it was always sharpened. 00:03:04.100 --> 00:03:07.812 The moose hide would be stretched outdoors, 00:03:08.646 --> 00:03:18.781 this would be used and would be done by someone who knows not to over scrape it. 00:03:18.781 --> 00:03:26.623 Back then, the elderly women located where the hide was thickest and scraped it more in that area. 00:03:27.290 --> 00:03:35.632 They’d scrape a lot more where the membrane was, around the sides, that’s how they did it. 00:03:40.386 --> 00:03:45.308 My mother not only stretched the hide once, 00:03:45.308 --> 00:03:52.607 sometimes she’d warm it up and stretch it more where it was thicker. 00:03:53.316 --> 00:04:01.115 She’d again stretch and scrape the moose hide because she’d have to even it out. 00:04:02.367 --> 00:04:06.871 Sometimes she’d over scrape the moose hide. 00:04:06.871 --> 00:04:14.671 It does happen when someone fixes a moose hide, they over scrape it. 00:04:14.671 --> 00:04:20.510 I do it too, but I try my best not to. 00:04:22.220 --> 00:04:30.395 It felt good once the scraping was done. 00:04:30.395 --> 00:04:39.696 Until all the blood was scraped off, then the hide would be soaked again. 00:04:42.156 --> 00:04:46.995 When twisting the hide for stretching, 00:04:46.995 --> 00:04:58.756 a soap bar would be broken down into smaller pieces and mixed with fat. 00:05:00.466 --> 00:05:13.271 Once the stretching of the hide completed, the mixture would be spread on it, making it soft. 00:05:14.564 --> 00:05:19.569 The hide is oiled and smoked. 00:05:20.903 --> 00:05:27.952 It’s hung over a nice smoke and using your hands, 00:05:29.120 --> 00:05:37.128 you stretch out the hardened parts, softening it with the oil. 00:05:37.503 --> 00:05:43.176 Some parts tend to shrink and from time to time need to be stretched. 00:05:43.176 --> 00:05:49.140 When you do this way, the hide softens. 00:05:49.515 --> 00:05:57.273 It was difficult when I helped my mom because the moose hide wouldn’t dry as quickly, 00:05:57.273 --> 00:06:07.533 she tended to work on it for a long time, sometimes throughout the day. 00:06:07.533 --> 00:06:12.372 She’d do everything to the hide, but it still didn’t soften. 00:06:12.372 --> 00:06:20.922 She’d again soak it using the yellow soapbar. 00:06:20.922 --> 00:06:33.893 She’d soak it all night until morning, hang it and twist it. 00:06:35.019 --> 00:06:49.283 Once it was dry, I helped her by twisting it and stretching it together. 00:06:49.283 --> 00:06:57.166 We did this so that it wouldn’t become thick. 00:06:57.166 --> 00:07:09.429 The moose hide was still too thick and again we soaked it in soapy water. 00:07:10.263 --> 00:07:23.317 These days I don’t soak the moose hide as much, maybe I only soak it 3 times then it softens up. 00:07:23.317 --> 00:07:30.408 I can’t really do it on my own anymore because I’m losing my strength, so my children help me out. 00:07:31.367 --> 00:07:37.373 That’s how I saw my mother fix moose hide. 00:07:37.373 --> 00:07:42.336 Once it dried up and softened, she’d then sew it closed. 00:07:43.129 --> 00:07:47.592 Then she’d go get dead wood. 00:07:47.592 --> 00:08:00.646 I would go with her to look for dead wood and she’d tell me which ones I should be looking for. 00:08:01.355 --> 00:08:07.695 There’s 2 types of wood that are used, 00:08:08.863 --> 00:08:16.454 tamarack and blackspruce. 00:08:17.038 --> 00:08:28.382 These days I know there are 3 types of wood that are used for smoking moose hide, 00:08:28.382 --> 00:08:33.888 the third one is balsam fir. 00:08:34.347 --> 00:08:57.036 These days I use balsam fir to smoke the moose hide, I do the same from watching others. I get a better understanding in fixing moosehide, because the person (mother) who I used to copy isn’t around anymore. 00:08:57.161 --> 00:08:59.580 I now follow others, 00:08:59.580 --> 00:09:04.627 I go to a person and I ask, "how come the moose hide is like this?" or "why is it like that?" 00:09:04.627 --> 00:09:07.547 Or I tell them, "how can I fix this moose hide that isn’t too good?" 00:09:07.547 --> 00:09:11.467 Someone responded to me to flip it over, 00:09:11.467 --> 00:09:17.974 that the neck area is at the bottom and it’s hip area is at the top. 00:09:18.099 --> 00:09:22.144 I did just that and the moosehide became better. 00:09:22.144 --> 00:09:27.942 Even at my age, I still learn from others. 00:09:27.942 --> 00:09:36.325 If we want to learn more about moosehide, it’s what we should be doing. 00:09:37.159 --> 00:09:43.416 Once she finished smoking the moose hide, then she would use it. 00:09:43.416 --> 00:09:49.255 I wasn’t really given a piece of moose hide because they did that to children. 00:09:49.255 --> 00:09:55.845 Footwear or newly made mittens were for the hunters. 00:09:55.845 --> 00:10:03.644 Even when the kids outgrew their footwear, it was adjusted and given to the hunters. 00:10:04.520 --> 00:10:14.280 Once I was able to make things, I was asked to make footwear. 00:10:15.865 --> 00:10:19.535 I saw it happen a long time ago. 00:10:19.535 --> 00:10:26.000 Back then, we didn’t have the things we now use and everyone had to make their things 00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:29.420 like this tool for stretching something. 00:10:30.463 --> 00:10:36.802 We didn’t have this, but my mom would use an axe handle and attach a scraper on it, 00:10:36.802 --> 00:10:41.182 all she had to do is sharpen it. 00:10:41.974 --> 00:10:50.274 Just like this one here, these days there are many things that are really good for scraping. 00:10:50.441 --> 00:10:57.114 When I first used this scraper, I would use something just like this. 00:10:57.114 --> 00:11:02.411 Back then I thought it worked very well and I always buy this scraper. 00:11:02.411 --> 00:11:08.042 It’s something that a white man made and today even Cree people make these kinds of scrapers. 00:11:08.751 --> 00:11:14.090 They’re very good and look similar to that of the white man. 00:11:14.090 --> 00:11:19.595 More Crees are copying what white people are doing. 00:11:20.513 --> 00:11:28.145 Back then, I saw that a lot of work was done from people when they’d fix their moose hide. 00:11:29.146 --> 00:11:37.571 I remember there wasn’t an abundance of moose where I was raised, because the terrain is different. 00:11:37.571 --> 00:11:45.830 Over here in this area, it’s more mountainous and there are more moose. 00:11:45.830 --> 00:11:53.587 I grew up across the lake, there’s not a lot of mountains around, they are located further away. 00:11:53.587 --> 00:11:58.175 When a moose was killed too far, 00:11:58.801 --> 00:12:09.270 we the girls would help out once the moose was carved up, we’d bring it back to the camp. 00:12:09.270 --> 00:12:12.064 Everyone helped bring the moose back to the camp. 00:12:14.900 --> 00:12:18.279 When I was young I saw this happen. 00:12:18.779 --> 00:12:22.408 We have had to sleep overnight, once the moose was carved. 00:12:22.408 --> 00:12:29.874 I remember once, a moose was killed too far off camp, we had to sleep out there. 00:12:31.667 --> 00:12:35.588 It wasn’t until the following morning where we would bring the moose to our camp. 00:12:36.130 --> 00:12:39.759 I taught one of my sons to fix a moose hide. 00:12:39.759 --> 00:12:47.224 He finished fixing a whole moose hide and he really impressed me. 00:12:47.224 --> 00:12:51.437 I can show you how his moosehide looks, he worked on it. 00:12:51.771 --> 00:12:58.527 My son didn’t smoke it, but he did complete the stretching of the moose hide 00:12:58.527 --> 00:13:02.740 and I expect people to come and learn how to do it. 00:13:03.491 --> 00:13:06.410 Because I can’t fix moosehide anymore. 00:13:07.286 --> 00:13:17.087 People can come by if they want to learn how to fix moose hide, it doesn’t have to be my children to come by and ask for help. 00:13:18.339 --> 00:13:23.219 There are already others who know how to fix moose hide, 00:13:24.303 --> 00:13:28.432 because they saw their parents fix it so they learned how to do it. 00:13:30.434 --> 00:13:41.695 I also learned from doing that, I’d always watch my mother fix a moose hide. 00:13:42.655 --> 00:13:50.913 Eventually I had to do it on my own, with the help of my husband, he helped in a lot of things. 00:13:51.121 --> 00:13:57.127 My son Timothy was the one that really worked on fixing the moose hide. 00:13:57.670 --> 00:14:04.301 I gave others moose hide for them to learn, but they haven’t finished theirs just yet. 00:14:06.470 --> 00:14:10.808 It’s a good feeling to know how to fix a moose hide, 00:14:10.808 --> 00:14:19.817 everyone is capable of doing this and anyone can learn how to do it. 00:14:21.861 --> 00:14:29.451 Others are now talking about using a stretching machine from down south that’s used for cow hides. 00:14:30.160 --> 00:14:38.127 Cow hides don’t feel the same, just like the moose hides that are sent over there. 00:14:38.878 --> 00:14:43.716 What feels better are moose hides fixed by a Cree person. 00:14:43.966 --> 00:14:51.640 I’ve heard of someone sending a moose hide over there and it turned out looking just like a cow hide. 00:14:51.932 --> 00:14:57.062 The place where they sent their moose hide fixed it the same way cowhide is fixed. 00:14:57.688 --> 00:15:02.151 When they completed fixing the hide, 00:15:02.151 --> 00:15:08.741 they cut it way too much and the moose hide turned out too small. 00:15:09.366 --> 00:15:12.369 Cow and caribou hides aren’t good for outside work, 00:15:12.369 --> 00:15:16.790 you can’t really use them for walking outdoors during winter. 00:15:16.790 --> 00:15:21.962 It’s either too slippery or easily becomes wet. 00:15:23.172 --> 00:15:32.723 Moose hide doesn’t do that, it doesn’t become wet or slippery once you walk around. 00:15:34.099 --> 00:15:40.689 I expect that Cree traditions are held on to. 00:15:41.774 --> 00:15:47.196 The Cree learned by themselves to make very good things 00:15:48.405 --> 00:15:53.118 and we shouldn’t really use machines 00:15:53.869 --> 00:15:58.457 because it’s better if it’s made by hand. 00:15:59.416 --> 00:16:05.172 I expect people to give their moose hides instead of throwing them away 00:16:05.172 --> 00:16:09.134 and also to come by and learn how to fix them. 00:16:09.718 --> 00:16:15.516 When I first saw a moose hide being thrown away in a dump, it was cut in four pieces. 00:16:15.516 --> 00:16:18.060 I was very sad. 00:16:18.060 --> 00:16:25.651 During that time, my hands were very itchy so I couldn’t take the moose hide. 00:16:25.651 --> 00:16:30.280 The white people were butchering moose around that area. 00:16:30.489 --> 00:16:35.035 It’s how they cut up moose, they cut it in four pieces. 00:16:35.744 --> 00:16:40.582 It’s very sad to see moose hide like that, where they’re thrown away. 00:16:40.582 --> 00:16:46.588 Because we’re still around to teach others on how to fix it. 00:16:46.588 --> 00:16:51.927 If they come by and want to learn how to fix moose hide, I have my moose hide. 00:16:53.095 --> 00:16:59.643 You don’t have to be good at it, because when you are teaching someone, 00:16:59.643 --> 00:17:05.065 that person can become much better in the future. 00:17:05.065 --> 00:17:12.448 I expect it to happen, that the youth learn how to fix moose hides. 00:17:14.450 --> 00:17:17.453 For myself, I can’t even talk to my own grandchildren. 00:17:17.453 --> 00:17:24.209 It’s either they can’t understand me or they can’t communicate with me. 00:17:24.209 --> 00:17:27.004 I feel sad about that. 00:17:27.004 --> 00:17:31.175 In their own homes they're spoken in English all the time 00:17:31.175 --> 00:17:36.305 and it’s the reason why they lose their Cree language. 00:17:36.305 --> 00:17:38.932 Maybe it’s for the best for them. 00:17:39.767 --> 00:17:48.108 My older grandchildren, when they were younger, were able to talk Cree, more than the younger ones. 00:17:48.108 --> 00:17:51.028 They’re losing their Cree language. 00:17:51.028 --> 00:17:57.076 That's why many younger children are losing their Cree culture, 00:17:57.076 --> 00:18:00.204 because they lose their Cree language. 00:18:00.788 --> 00:18:04.666 Even when people try to teach them, they cannot understand. 00:18:05.125 --> 00:18:10.130 They could still understand if we try harder. 00:18:10.130 --> 00:18:12.758 It’s true they’re always in school, if not they’re playing hockey. 00:18:12.758 --> 00:18:15.761 That’s what keeps them busy too, hockey. 00:18:15.761 --> 00:18:24.561 Once they finish the day in school, they watch TV, play with their toys 00:18:24.561 --> 00:18:26.605 and this affects them a lot. 00:18:27.022 --> 00:18:31.276 When I was young, those things weren’t even around. 00:18:31.276 --> 00:18:35.864 I learned to remember what I learned from my mother, 00:18:35.864 --> 00:18:43.247 I copied what she did for fixing animals or weaving snowshoes. 00:18:43.831 --> 00:18:51.547 I wasn’t really distracted on anything, like TV. 00:18:52.256 --> 00:18:56.051 I didn’t even have a toy when I was in the bush. 00:18:57.344 --> 00:19:05.310 My mother made me a doll to play around with and that was my doll. 00:19:06.812 --> 00:19:11.483 A doll was never bought just for me, because we were poor. 00:19:12.484 --> 00:19:20.159 I understood why they couldn’t buy anything for me and that’s what I experienced. 00:19:22.035 --> 00:19:29.293 These days, kids are buying so many toys that they play with them only for a short time. 00:19:31.962 --> 00:19:37.885 Many of us aren’t in the bush that much and that's why the kids don't know Cree culture. 00:19:38.343 --> 00:19:42.556 Parents don’t really take them out in the bush. 00:19:43.098 --> 00:19:48.854 Sometimes, I really want to be in the bush hoping to be there throughout winter, 00:19:48.854 --> 00:19:56.028 but that never happens because my children work very hard and their children are… 00:19:57.696 --> 00:20:02.743 I do miss it, what it was like before. 00:20:02.743 --> 00:20:16.006 Even though we struggled, when we ran out of food, when we couldn’t eat because there was no kill. 00:20:16.006 --> 00:20:22.179 I still enjoyed being out there and recalling the experience. 00:20:22.804 --> 00:20:26.850 I remember how good the food tasted. 00:20:26.850 --> 00:20:34.066 These days, it doesn’t taste the same, even when the kill came from the bush. 00:20:34.066 --> 00:20:39.529 Compared to how the food tasted before, the animals now taste different, that’s how it is. 00:20:42.282 --> 00:20:45.827 It can be because too much land is destroyed. 00:20:46.370 --> 00:20:56.755 You know what else I’ve seen on TV, it’s the moose that has ticks on it’s fur. 00:20:56.755 --> 00:21:09.142 I really felt sorry when I saw the moose, it was all bare on it’s side because of the ticks. 00:21:09.142 --> 00:21:16.275 Sometimes a moose hide that looks like that is given to me. 00:21:16.275 --> 00:21:21.530 The bugs are in the skin, they’re called lice. 00:21:21.530 --> 00:21:24.825 Sometimes it burrows through the skin and even one time, 00:21:24.825 --> 00:21:31.790 there was a hole made from the bug about this big, it exposed it’s flesh. 00:21:32.249 --> 00:21:36.962 I felt very sad when I saw it on TV, 00:21:36.962 --> 00:21:41.717 I can’t imagine what it goes through as it can’t do anything to help itself. 00:21:41.717 --> 00:21:46.096 I wonder what it does once it’s cold. 00:21:46.847 --> 00:21:56.648 It’s very sad what's happening in the world these days, because different things kill them. 00:21:57.441 --> 00:22:07.951 I believe that we can’t really fix the problem now, because it’s out of our control. 00:22:07.951 --> 00:22:10.078 It’s even written in the bible. 00:22:10.537 --> 00:22:17.085 It is written that in the end of times. 00:22:18.045 --> 00:22:22.424 But we have to try not to destroy more things that we use, 00:22:22.424 --> 00:22:26.887 it’s too much destruction for all the animals. 00:22:27.262 --> 00:22:34.144 All these animals have really helped us because God gave us survival from them, 00:22:34.144 --> 00:22:36.355 so we could have food to eat. 00:22:36.355 --> 00:22:40.442 Now the animals are becoming sick. 00:22:45.072 --> 00:22:49.576 These are the teachings that I can recall.