Page 83 - 1st Anthology 2011

there were no lamps or anything in those days. That’s how I worked. Then the sun would
be going down, I’d shut her down.

I made sure the kettle was full and everything was put away. Then they gave me a fresh
light to work around them. So I would make sure everything was put away right. I would
clean their tools in kerosene. In the mornings they pick them up and go up there. That’s
how I worked. I think at the time the bus was twenty five cents. I would walk up and
make sure I had my bus fare every day. That’s how I worked and my life was just work. I
tried to provide for my family, that’s it.

When I drank I tried to keep it to where I could remember what I was doing. I worked, I
had two beers afterwards and that was it. I got to where I could learn to control my
destiny. Like drink two beers and I’ll be okay. Today if you had two beers you would be
charged with impaired driving right. You got to realize those things. People don’t realize
drinking will make you dumb like not as responsible as when you’re sober and that’s what
I found out in my life. Drinking isn’t good for a person and yet you see it every day. I saw
people get into crashes because they were drunk. Death is caused by, whatever it is.
While I was working this roofing company in Vancouver, we were doing a house and the
foreman was a Christian. I told him I’m going to make a new mop. He said just use it up
and I had this funny feeling. He was using a big mop with the tar and I slipped and he
tried to grab me. If he didn’t try to grab me I probably would have landed on my feet but I
fell and landed on my shoulder. My arm is not straight and you can see it.

I was out for three days and I didn’t even know. They took me from Henie to Maple Ridge
to Royal Columbia in the United States and that’s a long ways. Three days later when I
woke up a woman helped me go to the washroom. That night, when I was sleeping, I saw
the Creator. He told me in my language, he said it’s not my time to go. I wanted to go. He
said that my family and relations needed me and to go home.

For four years I was on compensation and I didn’t know I had a broken toe. That night I
fell, I had a collar around my neck. That nurse threw the gate down. She swore at me and
told me to help myself. After that I had a hard time getting up and going to the
washroom. When I came back I couldn’t sleep anymore so I pushed the button. I asked
the nurse I want to phone my doctor. My doctor came. His name was Dr. Ing and he
signed me out.

He got that woman fired, the one that called me an Indian. She called me down and he
got her fired. Then he looked after me at his home. Two weeks later I walked all the way
to his office and I was limping and it hurt. He said you got a broken toe. He tells me I
already had a broken finger. When you’re in shock you don’t know and I had broken ribs,
and I couldn’t lift my arm past here. After all that and now I can finally lift my arm. It was
a serious fall and to this day my back bothers me.

When I saw the Creator He was dressed in a buckskin outfit and a headdress. He was
standing there, I said in my language Nato ninila. He said it’s me God, our Creator. He

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