Page 60 - 1st Anthology 2011

the ration. So that’s a thing that can be reviewed and considered as food, and some
people don’t like bologna. They’re well off and they throw them away in garbage bins.

That’s not right. People are starving across the ocean. So people have to appreciate what’s
given to you. So that’s something that can be reviewed again and maybe start over. I don’t
know who wouldn't appreciate dry meat.

Well the word respect, you look at it in the dictionary the definition, the other word is
honor. So we have to honor elders. You say respect I’m saying you know it was a practice
that should be continued. Like I said, one day you’ll be elders too and that practice should
continue. There’s not that many elders that take part. So we say, respect elders.

Katie has a lot of stories like I said through her grandmother and through her grandfather
she said, that was Dick Starlight Sr. Dick Starlight’s father. The old man she’d say for Dick
Starlight Sr. So from those stories they were passed down verbally, well they just tell
stories okay. They tell you stories and she was told those stories when people use to
camp. When they lived by Blackfoot Crossing. I tried to live in Blackfoot Crossing before
we came here, long ago.

More of the people lived down east on this side. There wasn’t that many on the west side.
The majority lived on the east side, for one thing. The two churches were located on the
east side. The old Indian agent use to be down there by the church. Where Wendy
BigPlume lives. I think that’s the Indian Agent’s house. There are buildings down there,
that school was already down when I came here because that was the school Katie
attended. Most of the people were on this side, and the army lease was over there. You
don’t dare go that way, because the army was there.

I use to get scared, you know those big army tanks. I used to see it coming on Six Mile
Coulee road, and boy I would take off I would get scared. I thought the war was coming.
I’ll always remember that, I was younger then. Buttons was small then. I was just walking
on the road, checking out for Seneca roots. I went across the road and I see that big tank
coming and oh did I ever take off. Well it’s frightening when you’re not use to having big
machines like that around every day. It frightens me.

Well from what I understand they haven’t completely cleaned up the land. That’s why

they don’t want to build houses there. They did some clearance. I don’t know how well
they cleaned the land of bombs. They say that there is still stuff over there.

I would like to see houses built along the reserve boundary. So that way people can’t take
our land. According to the Indian Act open space between the city and us, they can use it.
If it’s not being used. That’s just an idea that I have. Eventually with the population
growth, there will be more people needing houses. They should have build houses there,

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