WEBVTT 00:00:10.385 --> 00:00:12.262 My name is Lucy. 00:00:12.262 --> 00:00:15.432 Lucy Rupert and I’m from here in Whapmagoostui. 00:00:15.432 --> 00:00:19.644 I’m going to discuss what is being started here, preparing food. 00:00:19.644 --> 00:00:21.604 This is for the food to be well taken care of. 00:00:21.938 --> 00:00:27.819 And how to take care of food when there is an abundance that is killed, 00:00:27.819 --> 00:00:30.155 and how to prevent it from spoiling, 00:00:30.155 --> 00:00:34.868 and how to not ruin it for consumption. 00:00:34.868 --> 00:00:42.208 The Cree in the past were great at caring for food when they killed a lot. 00:00:42.208 --> 00:00:46.296 It didn’t spoil at all. 00:00:46.296 --> 00:00:54.262 I often heard stories of how it was done, even though I wasn’t around at the time. 00:00:54.262 --> 00:01:02.771 From the time I was a child, to growing up, it was always done the same way. 00:01:02.771 --> 00:01:07.859 They didn’t have anything to freeze their food back then. 00:01:07.859 --> 00:01:11.863 Only when it was cold. 00:01:12.447 --> 00:01:20.997 You never heard of any food going to waste even if they had killed a lot. 00:01:21.581 --> 00:01:33.468 When they killed game, people worked on it as soon as they could, and they would dry it. 00:01:33.676 --> 00:01:35.386 Because they always had an open fire. 00:01:35.386 --> 00:01:39.641 They didn’t use things like this stove here. 00:01:39.641 --> 00:01:44.395 So they would hang it up during the summer in a teepee. 00:01:44.395 --> 00:01:47.607 They had the same lodge even when it was cold. 00:01:48.316 --> 00:01:53.613 So that was the way they did it. They had the same lodges in the summer. 00:01:54.447 --> 00:02:01.913 They would make it so they could hang their food whenever they wanted or needed to. 00:02:01.913 --> 00:02:08.086 They would make it ideal for hanging food. 00:02:09.003 --> 00:02:16.052 And they would flip it so it would dry on both sides. 00:02:16.719 --> 00:02:19.848 They would make it really nice to hang food. 00:02:21.516 --> 00:02:30.066 When they would dry it the way the wanted to, they would then take it down. 00:02:30.525 --> 00:02:33.653 It would be completely dry. 00:02:33.653 --> 00:02:41.661 They would pile them on top of each other, like this. 00:02:42.620 --> 00:02:50.753 And rocks like that, but thinner, were used for food storage indoors. 00:02:50.753 --> 00:02:55.758 They would use them as weights to thin the food. 00:02:56.301 --> 00:03:01.973 They would use heavier rocks to thin it even more. 00:03:02.724 --> 00:03:12.609 And birch, they must know what birch is, they used that to make carrying bags. 00:03:13.276 --> 00:03:25.121 And they used roots made into rope. 00:03:26.164 --> 00:03:35.757 So they would place the birch down and stitch it together with roots. 00:03:36.341 --> 00:03:44.265 It was big enough, and that’s where they would store the food and pack it. 00:03:44.265 --> 00:03:54.734 After it was wrapped and stored, they would tie it with more roots, 00:03:55.985 --> 00:03:59.405 and it would be a carrying bag. 00:04:00.031 --> 00:04:04.535 And they would make something outside, a cache. 00:04:04.535 --> 00:04:11.876 Sometimes they would hang it there when they finished preparing the food. 00:04:11.876 --> 00:04:15.630 They didn’t spoil at all because they would be cold. 00:04:16.673 --> 00:04:30.103 When they stored it at length, they would take their bags and check if the food was ok. 00:04:31.813 --> 00:04:36.943 Even if they were partially spoiled, they would unwrap their bags, 00:04:36.943 --> 00:04:39.362 and they would hang it. 00:04:40.196 --> 00:04:45.827 And that was known as “aa taakitshaawaanuuch”. 00:04:45.827 --> 00:04:48.037 That’s how it was called. 00:04:49.038 --> 00:04:54.210 When they did that, then the food was fine for another moment. 00:04:55.211 --> 00:05:00.216 So they were able to eat it without it being spoiled. 00:05:00.800 --> 00:05:05.471 So that was how it was done for all kinds of food. 00:05:05.847 --> 00:05:07.432 It was cared for. 00:05:07.432 --> 00:05:10.059 Birch was used to pack it. 00:05:10.059 --> 00:05:13.187 There was none of this kind of stuff. 00:05:14.188 --> 00:05:21.321 When they wanted to hang the food after it was cut to do so, 00:05:21.321 --> 00:05:25.325 it was known as “wiikwaawaanuu”. 00:05:25.325 --> 00:05:32.540 When they would hang it up: “wiikwaawaanuu”. 00:05:34.042 --> 00:05:38.004 They made it all very nice when they hung their food. 00:05:38.713 --> 00:05:47.680 When people had a lot of food, I’ve seen it, but I haven’t seen it being made. 00:05:47.680 --> 00:05:54.687 I saw one that had been made about the size of this here. 00:05:55.271 --> 00:05:59.317 They had dug a space, a very large space. 00:05:59.317 --> 00:06:04.655 But I didn’t see what it looked like inside because it had been done a long time ago. 00:06:05.406 --> 00:06:12.288 Flat rocks were placed on stop. 00:06:13.164 --> 00:06:19.003 That must have been where they put the food and other things. 00:06:19.003 --> 00:06:23.549 They must have used it for flattening. 00:06:23.549 --> 00:06:29.055 The word that was used was “puunshtitikunanuu”. 00:06:29.055 --> 00:06:34.560 For when someone leaves their food like that for the winter. 00:06:35.019 --> 00:06:43.694 When people stored their food like that, it didn’t spoil in any way, in the dug out space. 00:06:43.694 --> 00:06:45.571 It was stored. 00:06:46.572 --> 00:06:51.577 The only word I heard that was used for that was “puunshtitikunanuu”. 00:06:52.036 --> 00:06:56.207 That’s what contributes to the positive upbringing of someone as they grow older. 00:06:56.207 --> 00:07:06.801 They would always remember the hope and expecting of rewards if they did things with respect. 00:07:07.718 --> 00:07:14.809 There are many things that I haven’t forgotten at all because I had many grandmothers in the past. 00:07:14.809 --> 00:07:19.814 Not just me, we all had many grandmothers, those of us of the same age. 00:07:20.356 --> 00:07:30.199 You will use that knowledge often, the one that helps raise you, the culture. 00:07:30.199 --> 00:07:33.953 That’s what they told us. 00:07:33.953 --> 00:07:35.455 You will live long. 00:07:35.455 --> 00:07:43.754 They also said that even after they are long gone, we will still use the Cree culture. 00:07:43.754 --> 00:07:49.010 It’s important to research the Cree culture. 00:07:49.510 --> 00:07:56.851 Everything that we are given, none of it is unimportant. 00:07:56.851 --> 00:08:00.563 For those of us here on earth, none of it is useless, it is all important. 00:08:01.105 --> 00:08:01.856 That’s what they told us. 00:08:01.856 --> 00:08:05.151 Even if you are doing the smallest task, it is still important. 00:08:05.151 --> 00:08:14.118 And you don’t want to do it the wrong way, it must be done the right way when you clean it. 00:08:14.619 --> 00:08:15.786 That’s what they told us. 00:08:18.372 --> 00:08:22.502 The way I’m cleaning it right now is how I clean a ptarmigan, 00:08:23.669 --> 00:08:29.217 everything was seen equally, no matter the size. 00:08:29.217 --> 00:08:35.097 Even if there was only one fish or ptarmigan to clean. 00:08:35.097 --> 00:08:42.480 Everything large and small were seen equally. 00:08:42.480 --> 00:08:45.858 You made sure to do it properly. 00:08:45.858 --> 00:08:49.779 For the person who’s cleaning it to show that they have a great respect for it, 00:08:49.779 --> 00:08:53.157 even if they are cleaning the smallest thing. 00:08:53.699 --> 00:08:57.328 It’s what was required of someone who was cleaning game. 00:08:58.120 --> 00:09:04.252 They was no room for ill preparation. 00:09:04.710 --> 00:09:08.548 They were to respect everything that they worked on, 00:09:08.548 --> 00:09:10.550 whatever they saw, 00:09:10.550 --> 00:09:12.134 even if it was small. 00:09:12.677 --> 00:09:23.646 It was for anything that contributed to life, to respect anything that was living. 00:09:24.355 --> 00:09:30.069 It’s very important to clean food. 00:09:30.736 --> 00:09:34.574 It’s very important to clean food. There is no room for disrespect. 00:09:35.241 --> 00:09:40.329 All food large and small was treated the same. 00:09:40.788 --> 00:09:44.041 That is what is expected. 00:09:45.668 --> 00:09:48.546 That’s one thing I’ve never forgotten. 00:09:49.046 --> 00:09:54.510 When I clean ptarmigan or fish, even if it’s just one, 00:09:56.178 --> 00:10:01.392 I do everything meticulously. 00:10:01.392 --> 00:10:09.108 And sometimes with fish, just like everything that is killed, 00:10:10.067 --> 00:10:19.201 sometimes it isn’t as it should be when it’s killed. 00:10:20.494 --> 00:10:23.873 Sometimes it is very skinny. 00:10:23.873 --> 00:10:28.836 Sometimes it was wounded beforehand. 00:10:29.503 --> 00:10:34.842 Flying creatures, they also eat ptarmigan to feed themselves. 00:10:35.593 --> 00:10:42.224 Sometimes they wounded the ptarmigan, and couldn’t catch it. 00:10:42.224 --> 00:10:53.486 When it’s wounded, it can’t eat properly so it’s thin. 00:10:56.322 --> 00:11:07.833 When they are like that, when people were hungry, it wasn’t to be eaten because it was skinny. 00:11:08.042 --> 00:11:14.548 It was known that it would not nourish the person well if it looked like that. 00:11:15.049 --> 00:11:20.012 If it looked sickly because it was previously wounded. 00:11:21.305 --> 00:11:29.980 So what the person cleaning it was expected to do is still clean it properly. 00:11:31.315 --> 00:11:42.410 So what was done, when it wasn’t good to eat, it wasn’t eaten. 00:11:42.410 --> 00:11:45.621 It was still cleaned. 00:11:45.621 --> 00:11:55.965 The elders at the time said in their teachings, that when you eat something that looks like that, 00:11:55.965 --> 00:12:07.017 when it isn’t supposed to be eaten but is still eaten even though it’s been wounded, 00:12:07.017 --> 00:12:10.855 is because it is sickly. 00:12:11.313 --> 00:12:22.199 It is known that when someone is sick, when they are sick for a long time, 00:12:22.199 --> 00:12:34.920 their health deteriorates and the sickness spreads through their body. 00:12:36.338 --> 00:12:47.725 So that’s what was said, that you didn’t eat something that looked like that. 00:12:48.726 --> 00:12:54.857 It was just put in the fire. That’s what the elders knew. 00:12:55.816 --> 00:13:02.031 When it was cleaned, they made sure it burned well. 00:13:02.031 --> 00:13:09.163 It was put in the fire, and it would disappear. 00:13:09.955 --> 00:13:14.293 It wouldn’t be eaten. 00:13:15.419 --> 00:13:21.634 I’ve seen that and heard those teachings from elders in the past. 00:13:23.636 --> 00:13:26.430 I always remember the things I’d heard, 00:13:27.598 --> 00:13:35.773 and what intentions people had when they saw something, 00:13:37.274 --> 00:13:39.944 and what an elder thought, 00:13:41.946 --> 00:13:55.334 when it came to killing wounded animals. 00:13:58.379 --> 00:14:04.343 As long as I’ve lived, the way I was raised, 00:14:05.135 --> 00:14:15.771 the way things are being done today, I didn’t see that in my youth. 00:14:16.605 --> 00:14:22.736 I never saw my mother do it that way either. 00:14:23.904 --> 00:14:30.160 Today, people wear gloves when cleaning food. 00:14:31.287 --> 00:14:37.543 We never used such things. 00:14:40.713 --> 00:14:44.800 I don’t wear anything on my hands while I do this. 00:14:45.843 --> 00:14:54.143 When someone cleans something, even if it’s big game, 00:14:55.519 --> 00:15:02.443 or when a man goes hunting such as caribou, 00:15:03.235 --> 00:15:06.405 no matter the size of the kill, 00:15:06.405 --> 00:15:12.369 he didn’t use anything to butcher the caribou. 00:15:13.245 --> 00:15:19.251 Everyone did that when they cleaned food. 00:15:19.251 --> 00:15:26.467 They didn’t wear gloves to do so. 00:15:28.636 --> 00:15:45.736 So in the past, which isn’t used as much these days, the philosophy was respect. 00:15:45.736 --> 00:15:53.494 Now we’re thinking more non-native than Cree. 00:15:53.494 --> 00:15:58.499 I hear an elder say that 00:15:58.499 --> 00:16:19.061 since we’ve leaned towards the non-native way of doing things and thinking that way, 00:16:19.061 --> 00:16:28.153 we see less of the traditional Cree way, 00:16:28.153 --> 00:16:33.283 because they’re prioritizing the non-native way. 00:16:34.702 --> 00:16:37.997 That’s the way the elders view it. 00:16:39.081 --> 00:16:49.758 The way it is being done is not the way it was done, traditionally. 00:16:49.758 --> 00:16:53.762 There were many things that people did. 00:16:53.762 --> 00:17:01.729 Nothing was inefficient when the Cree did something. 00:17:04.273 --> 00:17:07.026 That’s the way I see it. 00:17:12.364 --> 00:17:27.880 When you cut the head, it would be placed by the stove.. 00:17:29.465 --> 00:17:34.136 It was never thrown away. 00:17:34.720 --> 00:17:40.684 Today, I see it often that people cut off the ptarmigan head, 00:17:40.684 --> 00:17:43.020 because people aren’t starving. 00:17:45.105 --> 00:17:49.068 So it’ll be like this. 00:17:49.068 --> 00:17:52.988 I don’t to do it improperly. 00:17:52.988 --> 00:18:00.746 I can take the head off anyway when it’s cooked. 00:18:09.379 --> 00:18:22.935 In the past, I sometimes tried, as my grandchildren asked, to use gloves when I cleaned fish too. 00:18:22.935 --> 00:18:29.358 It didn’t benefit me at all. 00:18:29.358 --> 00:18:33.737 It didn’t work for me with other food too. 00:18:33.737 --> 00:18:40.452 It’s like I couldn’t recognize the knife as I held it. 00:18:43.247 --> 00:18:49.628 That’s probably because I never did it that way when cleaning food. 00:18:51.922 --> 00:19:00.139 So I’m much more adept with how I started, 00:19:00.139 --> 00:19:05.853 without wearing anything on my hands. 00:19:12.317 --> 00:19:28.167 People think it’s delicious, for those who like salt, including myself, to add salt. 00:19:28.167 --> 00:19:31.628 I like salt a lot. 00:19:35.591 --> 00:19:45.225 I was told not to eat a lot of salt, but I don’t remember who told me that. 00:19:46.310 --> 00:19:52.274 If only they knew how I liked to cook food. 00:20:03.619 --> 00:20:07.372 So a person would think their cooking was good. 00:20:07.372 --> 00:20:13.295 When you are taught something, it helps you throughout life. 00:20:13.295 --> 00:20:21.220 The care is obvious when you prepare food because food is sacred.