WEBVTT 00:00:11.428 --> 00:00:17.684 We have five children together, we have two sons and three daughters, 00:00:18.601 --> 00:00:21.938 we also raised our grandson. 00:00:23.106 --> 00:00:32.198 We always helped them whenever they wanted to know something 00:00:32.574 --> 00:00:40.165 and we would take them to the bush to learn about the Cree life. 00:00:41.583 --> 00:00:50.091 Whenever they were in the bush with us, they’d see how many things. 00:00:51.092 --> 00:00:59.893 We also lived with our parents in the bush so that they could learn about the Cree lifestyle. 00:01:00.268 --> 00:01:04.272 We always took them to the bush 00:01:04.856 --> 00:01:16.117 because we didn’t want them to get into trouble or abuse harmful things here. 00:01:17.410 --> 00:01:27.629 It's good that we took them to the bush, they learned that they could find healing out there. 00:01:28.671 --> 00:01:35.970 We would always go in the bush with them and do different things out there. 00:01:36.721 --> 00:01:41.226 They would always come with us and learn the other things, like hunting. 00:01:41.226 --> 00:01:43.144 And heal them. 00:01:43.144 --> 00:01:48.441 And find healing through Cree medicine. 00:01:49.234 --> 00:01:57.951 My children's grandfather made an ointment to treat their wounds whenever they got hurt, 00:01:57.951 --> 00:02:01.579 like getting a cut. 00:02:01.579 --> 00:02:07.460 It made them not forget about it. 00:02:08.837 --> 00:02:19.097 Whenever raising children, I think we should include the Cree lifestyle. 00:02:19.722 --> 00:02:27.814 To make the kids remember about the healthy experiences lived on the land. 00:02:29.023 --> 00:02:35.864 We know what's happening now; 00:02:35.864 --> 00:02:48.293 our people follow different paths while studying in larger cities down south. 00:02:49.169 --> 00:02:54.340 As a result, they're unable to know about the Cree lifestyle. 00:02:55.008 --> 00:02:59.220 As a result, they're more familiar with the culture from down south 00:02:59.220 --> 00:03:05.560 and don't know about their own culture and lifestyle from iiyiyiu aschii. 00:03:05.935 --> 00:03:12.025 It's something they should prioritize because we are Crees. 00:03:12.859 --> 00:03:17.447 We have the land that could sustain us. 00:03:17.447 --> 00:03:33.004 Maybe we can all learn about it in the future so that the kids know themselves. 00:03:33.421 --> 00:03:44.098 In the future, I expect the kids to be taught in the bush and learn about the Cree lifestyle. 00:03:44.098 --> 00:03:47.769 It's something that will help them in their lives. 00:03:49.020 --> 00:03:58.321 When my kids were young and small, they liked it when we took them to the bush. 00:03:59.072 --> 00:04:11.918 When they'd finish school, all of my children and my husband would be in the bush. 00:04:12.418 --> 00:04:22.136 Once they finished with their studies, we would all leave by boat out on the lake. 00:04:22.595 --> 00:04:28.226 We had our tent over there. 00:04:29.727 --> 00:04:39.612 My children would go swimming, and they'd join us whenever we'd set up the gill net or collect the fish. 00:04:39.612 --> 00:04:44.575 We always went with them. 00:04:44.951 --> 00:04:58.965 Each time we collected our fish catch, I would fix them, and we'd eat them together. 00:04:58.965 --> 00:05:05.263 Their grandparents were there, including their aunt. 00:05:05.805 --> 00:05:15.606 We lived together, and we were all happy. That's what we did. 00:05:16.274 --> 00:05:23.072 All of them had summer jobs once they finished with their studies 00:05:23.823 --> 00:05:26.993 and bought themselves what they needed. 00:05:26.993 --> 00:05:32.915 They bought things they wanted and kept the things in good condition. 00:05:32.915 --> 00:05:36.961 They used their own money to buy things. 00:05:38.379 --> 00:05:46.846 All of us lived together in one home. 00:05:47.889 --> 00:05:56.189 All of our children helped pay for our cabin, and they helped us out with the rent. 00:05:57.315 --> 00:06:02.820 In that time we weren't behind on the house rent. 00:06:02.820 --> 00:06:08.826 Everyone helped out. We all worked as a team. 00:06:08.826 --> 00:06:10.953 That's what we did. 00:06:11.537 --> 00:06:16.542 All my children completed their studies here in Waswanipi. 00:06:17.210 --> 00:06:23.758 My eldest son works for the Cree Health Board. 00:06:24.425 --> 00:06:32.392 My daughter Emma works as a teacher. 00:06:32.392 --> 00:06:35.686 My eldest son's name is Jason. 00:06:36.854 --> 00:06:48.074 My other son Michael is a Cree Language teacher for high school students. 00:06:49.242 --> 00:06:54.580 My son Michael used to be the youth chief. 00:06:55.415 --> 00:07:04.841 He went back to higher education and now teaches at the school in the Cree language. 00:07:05.633 --> 00:07:14.392 My daughter Crystal went to study computers, 00:07:15.268 --> 00:07:24.527 and now she prioritizes raising her children at her home. 00:07:25.278 --> 00:07:30.366 She's a stay-at-home mom. 00:07:30.992 --> 00:07:43.463 My youngest daughter Melanie pursued her studies for seven years in Thunder Bay. 00:07:44.547 --> 00:07:50.761 She came back home for a year, and while looking for a job, 00:07:51.387 --> 00:07:55.475 she became a youth chief. 00:07:55.808 --> 00:08:05.818 I'm happy to say that all my children managed on their own. 00:08:05.818 --> 00:08:14.869 We didn't teach them a whole lot, but all of them managed on their own. 00:08:16.078 --> 00:08:25.588 We also have grandchildren, and I can say that my parenting will never end. 00:08:26.464 --> 00:08:33.137 We continue to do so even when we are grandparents. 00:08:33.971 --> 00:08:43.481 We still parent our grandchildren and let them know what they could do in their lives, 00:08:43.481 --> 00:08:52.740 to respect people and not to argue with older people. 00:08:53.449 --> 00:09:04.043 We sometimes talk to our grandchildren and tell them what they are doing wrong in their lives. 00:09:05.211 --> 00:09:10.216 We talk to our grandchildren. 00:09:10.216 --> 00:09:19.559 They listen and follow what we say to them. We still do that where we talk to them. 00:09:19.559 --> 00:09:21.894 We pass down the teachings to our grandchildren. 00:09:21.894 --> 00:09:29.151 We're able to talk to our grandchildren and tell them not to hide anything, 00:09:30.319 --> 00:09:34.824 we're able to talk about what they are going through. 00:09:34.824 --> 00:09:39.036 I like doing that where I'm able to talk to my grandchildren. 00:09:39.662 --> 00:09:46.794 He too will talk about what he does over at the school. 00:09:47.211 --> 00:09:54.302 You have to keep in mind that people experience different things in their lives. 00:09:54.302 --> 00:10:02.852 A youth could go through something that affects them in life. 00:10:02.852 --> 00:10:11.402 You could help the youth by letting them know how to view a problem. 00:10:11.861 --> 00:10:18.242 When I was in my youth, I too went through alcoholism. 00:10:19.327 --> 00:10:29.045 In my lifetime, when I was younger, I went through traumas. 00:10:29.045 --> 00:10:37.345 I couldn't tell anyone about the traumas because there wasn't anyone out there that I could talk to 00:10:37.345 --> 00:10:39.597 and I would drink all the time. 00:10:41.140 --> 00:10:47.063 Eventually, I knew where to find help, and it was to be out on the land. 00:10:47.063 --> 00:10:54.820 I lived with my uncle, who didn't drink, maybe he did a long time ago, 00:10:54.820 --> 00:11:09.418 but while I lived with him in the bush, he didn't and it's where I became sober. 00:11:09.794 --> 00:11:12.672 Having lived with my uncle in the bush, 00:11:12.672 --> 00:11:23.140 he'd always tell me that drinking alcohol isn't good and that if a person continues to do so, 00:11:23.140 --> 00:11:30.439 they can lose everything and that they won't have any ownership on anything. 00:11:30.439 --> 00:11:34.360 He said that to me because he didn't want to drink alcohol. 00:11:34.360 --> 00:11:42.410 What he said to me helped me, and I listened to him. 00:11:43.994 --> 00:11:51.168 My grandchildren are going through the same thing I went through. They have traumas in life. 00:11:51.168 --> 00:12:02.138 I cannot blame them for it, but I can tell them where I found help, and it was living out on the land. 00:12:02.513 --> 00:12:12.523 It helped me by keeping myself away from towns where I would drink. 00:12:12.523 --> 00:12:19.363 If we take the youth out on the land, 00:12:21.866 --> 00:12:29.290 I think it will make them think and see how beautiful it is to be out there. 00:12:30.499 --> 00:12:36.255 It's the only way I know how to help the kids. 00:12:36.881 --> 00:12:47.808 When I was talking to youth, they said to me that being in the bush is boring. 00:12:48.726 --> 00:12:53.230 I said to them, "wow! I don't think what you're saying is true. 00:12:54.523 --> 00:13:02.239 For me, there is always something to do or work on.” 00:13:03.240 --> 00:13:10.372 The youth says to me, "that's true, you know what to do. 00:13:10.372 --> 00:13:14.251 I don't know what to do when I'm over there." 00:13:14.710 --> 00:13:19.590 I said, "if you stayed a little longer, you'd know what to do," 00:13:19.590 --> 00:13:23.803 and he responded by saying, "I'll try to." 00:13:24.553 --> 00:13:32.853 I told him, "try it out. It'll help you in life.” 00:13:32.853 --> 00:13:36.357 “If you follow this path and listen to the Elders” 00:13:36.357 --> 00:13:43.531 “or to a person who helped you live out on the land, you won't lose anything in life.” 00:13:44.615 --> 00:13:50.538 The youth told me that he would try doing that. 00:13:51.413 --> 00:14:04.260 If kids seek out something good for them, I think it will help them. 00:14:05.803 --> 00:14:13.769 Drugs and alcohol only ruin lives. 00:14:15.062 --> 00:14:28.909 When you, the youth, are going through life's challenges, go to an Elder. 00:14:28.909 --> 00:14:35.833 What can happen is that the Elder can understand your situation. 00:14:37.001 --> 00:14:45.467 They can share with you what helped them in their lives. 00:14:45.467 --> 00:14:49.889 An Elder can tell the youth how they can view the situation. 00:14:51.348 --> 00:14:54.268 We also kept the youth. 00:14:54.935 --> 00:15:05.487 They'd bring the youth into our home and tell us to keep them. That was our job. 00:15:06.238 --> 00:15:17.917 My husband also worked in the school, and there, he would talk to the kids. 00:15:18.918 --> 00:15:24.089 Sometimes he was hired to speak to the children at the school. 00:15:24.590 --> 00:15:26.592 He's asked to do so. 00:15:26.592 --> 00:15:32.806 Even though he has already retired, he goes to the school to talk to the kids. 00:15:33.599 --> 00:15:47.863 I want to say that the youth should listen to their parents, your grandfather and grandmother. 00:15:48.405 --> 00:15:56.705 Listen to them whenever they talk to you and tell them what you're going through 00:15:57.706 --> 00:16:00.751 because these are the people who love you. 00:16:01.585 --> 00:16:07.299 Tell them straightforwardly what you're going through in your life. 00:16:07.675 --> 00:16:14.932 Your parents and other Elders can help you.