Life History: Highlighted Stories

Theme: Childhood memories on the land

1. Grandmother Mary: medicine woman and healing

Emily’s maternal grandmother, Mary, was known for her healing and midwifery abilities. Emily remarks that when people knew that their wives and daughters were pregnant, they would make sure to know where Mary would be at that time, so that she could help in delivering their babies. Emily also recalls an instance in her childhood when an Inuit man at Richmond Gulf had shot himself in the foot and went to Mary for healing. She ministered to him and cleaned his wound with seal blubber; few months later, by Christmas, Emily remembered seeing him “walking around fine,” and without a limp.

2. Uncle Isaac, honouring Emily

On one occasion, Emily and her parents visited uncle Isaac and aunt Phyllis (before her siblings were born, as Emily recalls) in their small home. While aunt Phyllis was cooking fish on a stick over the stove, uncle Isaac worried that they did not have anything in which to dip the fish. He then found a container of bear grease, which was still oil at the time, and placed it in front of Emily who was sitting between her parents. Through the act of placing the can of oil before Emily, who was coincidentally sitting in the middle, uncle Isaac was addressing her directly and (albeit half-jokingly) honouring his niece as her parents smiled. 

3. Mother breastfeeding Elizabeth during a winter storm

This memory came to Emily when she was visiting her mother at the hospital and contemplating her mother’s hardship after her strokes. She recalls having had a very specific memory of her childhood at that time: a few weeks after Elizabeth had been born, shortly after Christmas, Emily, George and their mother (who carried Elizabeth on her back in a mumkipaps) were travelling on a frozen lake during a windy, snowy day. In the middle of the trek, their mother stopped to sit and breastfeed Elizabeth, nursing her daughter away from the wind. Emily recalls that Elizabeth must have been between two to three weeks old, because their mother was still bleeding from childbirth and had blood on her snowshoes. Emily remembers thinking about her mother’s condition while in the hospital, and comparing this hardship to the memory of the woman who made these sacrifices, like breastfeeding in the middle of a winter storm, for her children – not just Elizabeth, but Emily and George as well.

4. Father returns to family after two years

After a two year stay in the sanitorium to treat tuberculosis, Emily’s father returned to his family. Emily, then a child, did not recognize her father and was “stiff” when he tried to hug her, seeing him as “this man with a cowboy hat.” She remembers that her father may have been crying during their reunion. Moreover, during her father’s absence, Emily’s mother became pregnant with Joseph (Emily’s younger brother). She describes her mother as “on the defensive,” not knowing how her husband would act or react when finding out about her pregnancy.

5. Boat ride and aid from Inuit, after Ronnie’s birth

Ann, Emily’s mother, was pregnant with Ronnie while the family was travelling to Richmond Gulf by foot and canoe. After they had landed at the second point, when her husband had gone hunting and she was fixing the tent, Ann began to have contractions. Emily and her siblings were sent to get their aunt in Whapmagoostui to help with the delivery, but their father returned from hunting just in time to deliver Ronnie. After Ronnie had been delivered, they continued their journey to Richmond Gulf (under cold and windy weather conditions) and were picked up in the Bay by “some Inuit people” who helped them reach the Gulf. Emily recalls having severe motion sickness from the boat ride due to the wind and rough waters.

Theme: Hunting, fishing, or trapping stories

1. Hunting bears

Emily remembers the hunting trips that her father and uncles would take during their time in the bush. She recalls that they caught many otter, caribou, porcupine and ptarmigan, but that her father was never able to catch or hunt a bear. When commenting on this as a child, she was told that sometimes, if there is a certain game that a person cannot get or hunt in their life, it is because they may be from the same clan and are meant to protect them. She says half-jokingly, “you don’t kill your cousin!”

Theme: Life in the village/settlement

1. Expectations and etiquette

Emily remembers that as a child, she was not allowed to bother her father while he ate, since he would usually eat dinner after having returned from hunting, while she and her siblings would have already eaten by that time. She recalls an instance when she approached her father as he was eating dinner, hoping to have some of the fatty area behind the fish eye. While she was chastised by her mother for doing so, her father saw her inching up to him and knew what she wanted, so he fed her pieces of fish even though she had already eaten. 

2. “Hospital at measles time”

Emily is reminded about a time in her childhood when she and George contracted measles and were hospitalized, along with many others affected by the illness. She describes being afraid of not being able to go back home. One of her most vivid memories about this time is of sharing a hospital room with her brother; she remembers that George would play around and leave the room in his hospital gown, to which the nurses would respond “stay in your bed!” Shortly after, the siblings were able to leave the hospital, albeit still sick, and move in with their grandfather. 

3. Fur and caribou decline

Emily notes that after the establishment of settlement houses, many families were choosing to live in the settlement due to the establishment of a clinic, having acquired jobs in the village, or due to the fur and caribou decline that made it less profitable for families to live in the bush. While many families were able to bolster their family allowances and welfare with “traditional hunting,” others began to rely increasingly on the permanent store’s food supplies. 

Theme: Various schools

1. Feeling homesick

Emily describes the first time she left for Shingwauk Residential School in Sault Saint Marie, for a permanent stay, when she was fourteen years old. She felt “sick and hungry,” as well as very alone. She knew her cousin David, who was also at the residential school, but did not see him often since he was in an older grade. She describes the new foods that she tried during her first days at the residential school, but mentions that she was so homesick, she was unable to eat.

2. Expo 67

Emily recalls that she was one of the selected students to visit Expo 67 in Montreal, during her time at Shingwauk Residential School. After travelling to Montreal by bus, Emily and her peers were able to visit Expo, play arcade games, and try new foods. She also remarks that in the time prior to visiting Expo, she was chosen by the school’s headmaster to work as a cleaner in the house of a local family; her wages gave her the opportunity to save up for Expo 67.

3. Homestay #1 and Moving into Homestay #2

Emily explains that during the first two years at residential school, students were expected to live in the school’s residences and housing. After these years, and if students returned for grade nine, they were required to live with local families. Emily had two experiences during her homestays. In her first home, she felt uncomfortable due to a young boy (the family’s son), who would make suggestive comments and acts toward her. She was then moved to another home in which she felt “very comfortable” and welcomed.

Theme: Teen years

1. First teenagers to live in the settlement and Curfew

Emily notes that she was amongst the first generation of teenagers to live in the settlement, while those before her had lived on, and from, the land. In another instance (see “curfew”), also related to the theme of teenage life in a settlement, she describes her parents’ experiences in dealing with teenagers, and how their behaviours had changed when living in the village. She mentions that she and her friends would gather, make plans, “sneak off” and then arrive home late, and that it was difficult for her parents’ “peace of mind” because this had never happened when living in the bush.

2. ‘Hanging out’ at the rec hall and walking home alone at night

Emily describes the dances they would have at the rec hall in the settlement, which would often end well after midnight. She recalls an instance in which she attended a dance at the rec hall and she had initially planned to stay with a friend, but this plan did not work out; she had to walk home alone at night. Led only by moonlight, Emily remembers being very afraid to walk alone across the river and woods (her route home from the rec hall), due to strangers or wolves that she may have encountered. She eventually made it home safely but promised herself never to do it again.

3. Marriage proposal #1

When Emily was fourteen years old, a marriage was proposed to her parents. Her mother was against this union, arguing that her daughter was too young. The proposal was then declined, and Emily went off to residential school in the following months.

4. Marriage proposal #2

When Emily was seventeen years old, her parents received another marriage proposal that was initially accepted. However, Emily was unhappy with the agreement, which her mother had once again noticed, since Emily was visibly upset and crying often. She did not wish to rebel against her parents but did not want to marry. The day before the wedding was to take place (the banns had already been read), Emily approached Bishop Lawrence of the Church and told him that she did not wish to marry; the wedding was then called off.

5. First job, cleaning a house

During her time at residential school (and in order to save up for Expo 67), Emily took a job with a family who was looking for a girl to clean house. Chosen by the principal, she cleaned for a South Asian doctor and his family - her tasks were to wash the floors, clean, vacuum, and wash the dishes. The family would feed her for supper (she notes eating curry with rice), and eventually raised her wages from $4 to $4.50.

Theme: Friends

1. Jane

Jane was one of Emily’s closest friends from the times of their childhood in the bush. Emily recalls that Jane had been her “constant friend” throughout her life, and that they shared a bond like siblings, even if they did not see each other very often. She also mentions that there is a warm feeling in knowing that they are in the same town, even though they may not communicate often. It is valuable to note that Jane is Emily’s most often mentioned friend throughout the life history interviews, from the time of her childhood until adulthood.

Theme: Foods

1. Oranges and apples

Apples and oranges were the two main foods noted by Emily that were distributed by the “army people” outside of the clinic. The army people would walk around the village handing these out, and Emily notes that she had tried her first orange through them. While speaking about these fruits, she also differentiates between the foods that she had consumed before arriving in the village (“we only had bannock”) and afterward (“like the eggs, potatoes, and oranges, apples”).

Theme: Illnesses

1. Measles: Prevention

Emily describes that after a measles outburst, the “army people” and doctor became very interested in preventing another epidemic. They began talking about hygiene and keeping the home clean, including discussing how to clean a tent frame. Emily remarks that the “whole town with the Inuit people” had measles, and that many from her own town, including herself and her brother George, had contracted the disease.

Theme: Army clinic, nursing station, and hospitals

1. Sanatorium

The sanatorium was a place where people went to for long-term treatment of TB. She describes that her father had been there for two years being treated for tuberculosis as well as other family or friends (for an example, see pages 25-26).

Theme: Federal Army and Quebec Government – Construction and infrastructure

1. Settlement houses

Once the settlement had been constructed in Whapmagoostui, people were assigned houses. Emily describes it as a “wooden house” with two bedrooms, a stove, with plywood floors and walls and a canvas roof. She also describes the layout of the settlement houses, which were in an “L-shape,” and of the village.

Theme: Play and playing

1. Sliding on sleighs and toboggans

Emily remembers her parents’ sleigh and toboggan, which they would at times let the children (Emily, George, and Elizabeth) use for playing. The siblings used it to slide down a hill during the winter. She also recalls that other, older, men in their twenties and thirties would slide as well, and race while weaving down the hill. She recalls thinking that they had invented snowboarding.

2. Elizabeth’s ‘broken leg’

In one instance of sliding down the hill, Emily, Elizabeth and George crashed their mother’s sleigh into a tree and Elizabeth was injured. She claimed to have ‘broken her leg’ (which was evidently untrue to her siblings, seeing as she could walk), which caused them a fit of laughter. After limping home, their mother bandaged Elizabeth’s leg “to amuse her,” and her father sympathised with his daughter’s pain while exchanging knowing and amused glances with his wife.

Theme: ‘Permanent’ vs. ‘Transitory’ living

1. Transition from life in “the bush” to life in the settlement

Emily remarks on the idea of living in one place permanently as opposed to living in the bush. She mentions that she does not like the term ‘surviving’ on the land, since it was not ‘survival’ but a way of life, and that living in a town can also be considered ‘survival’. She also notes the experiences of being a teenager in a settlement rather than in the bush, and the differences in dress, foods, and lifestyle that this entailed.