Page 76 - 1st Anthology 2011

We had to teach the people and the children clean up after themselves. I thought that
children have to pick up after themselves; that’s what I was taught. I tell them these
things. One on one if I have to talk to them. You have to be strict with them.

If they went on the ice with no skates that’s dangerous. I told them don’t you know you
can get hurt. This one kid went running down there with a hockey stick. He borrowed
one and I had to run down there. There was a big team that came on to the ice and he
was shooting at the goalie and he had no helmet. I had to run there and take it away from
him and tell him to get out of there.

I had to tell him, I talked to him later on. I told him did you know if you get hit by a puck
you can get paralyzed for life. I showed him these things and now today’s he’s different.
It’s things like that you have to explain because children don’t understand some things.
They try to do things that are restricted from but you have to teach them each and every
day. You know that’s the way I look at things each and every day you have to teach.

My purpose each and every day is to teach something, like a little thing. If someone asks
what’s a word in our language I’ll say it if I know it. Like what it means and the meaning. I
try to circle around it and come up with the best version and that’s what I like because
some people ask me, what does this word mean and I tell them.

I try to teach my grandchildren one word at a time like naya it means get up, and sidina
means hurry, words like that. They are real simple, but the Dene language is a hard
language. It is, but you have to teach it carefully like ʔichiish is eat and sidina means
hurry up. But yet you have to be careful like gujaala that means are you okay. Gujaaila
means do it in a good way, magunajid means dangerous or be careful. Things like that
you have to teach. I’m teaching every word till they know what it means. That’s the only
way you can teach the language. What the real meaning of the word is. When we talk
English it’s like we’re talking backwards. I guess you know that yourself, because when
you speak English you’re talking backwards.

Each and every day I appreciate life and that’s what I love about staying on my reserve.
You got to teach everybody to learn about your ways because we’re all uniquely different.
We have to realize those things. We’re all unique in our own ways. God gave each and
every one of us a gift to teach one another one word or whatever. People don’t
understand these things. They have to realize that if we were all the same we’d do all the
same things at the same time.

My dad walked up to me when I was twelve and told me he was my real dad. I knew who
he was. He told me he was my dad. I had an idea, I knew. I had that idea because I was
told by other people. Some of the people I went to school with. I do look like my dad. In
the resemblance way and he told me don’t ever let anyone tell you you’re not my son.
People will try to deny you. That’s what he told me.

That’s when I found out about things. People started telling me who my mother was. My
real mom was Olive Onespot and she married in the city. My dad always lived on the

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