Page 66 - 1st Anthology 2011

Katie is doing fine. She’s 99 years old now but you know the body goes down in old age.
She doesn’t get up much or walk around and she uses a chair like this to get around. A

chair like this she goes to the washroom goes to the kitchen on it. Most of the time she’s
in bed. She wants to stay in bed. A lot of times she goes to sleep right away. So I think a
lot of people have to understand the aging process on a person. They sleep a lot. Hearing
is hard and eyes too, but for her age I think she’s doing well. They thought she was going
to go about two or three weeks ago, they were all there. I went over there cause I was a
practicum nursing. I went there I felt her heart and her pulse. The pulse tells you heart
beat, so that showed it was strong. I figured she’s going to be alright. She’s still here.

Siyisgaz, Hiy Hiy. I think it’s real neat to speak Indian. I picked up Cree when I went to
boarding school with Cree kids. I used to always hear Cree every day. Finally I picked it
up. The language program should do similar things.

This woman just went out because she speaks their language. So she invites people and
they make a circle and she taught them, verbally. You don’t have to do theory just verbal.
That’s how I picked up the language real quick I used to hear it everyday and when I came
here. In Saskatchewan their reserve is losing their language too.

I understand Cree pretty good, and I speak my own language good. I want to learn
Tsuut’ina. I don’t know the wild animals I know the common, domestic animals.

Another thing about respecting other human beings, your father-in-law or son-in-law you
can’t look at them. You have to talk to them with eye contact, you can’t look at them. You
have to be shy of them. I guess it’s not good communication practice. That’s the way the
Indians were. Your father-in-law you are not supposed to talk to him. In my case my son-

in-law. That was a practice and I think a lot of it is lost. Like what I know here on this
reserve. I just about fell over when my father-in-law would just come up and talk to me. I
knew that was the practice.

Another thing I see lost in the culture is, that there’s not many that dance with the outfits
the ladies and the men. I noticed that last year. I’m kind of observing when I go to a
community functions or anywhere. I observe things I’m keen on; like I made a lot of
observations at that swearing in.

I’m going to have to advise you people to take responsibility to put those events up. I
noted that two years ago at the swearing in I think when they had the Chief and Council
pow wow. There were hardly any women or men that dressed up to represent us as a
tribe. There’s beginning to be less and less.

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