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Medicine Stories: The strength of an Elder, and the determination of the Dene; a legacy

SA国际影视传媒淚n the old days, if there was a family that was living in one location - like rabbit skin - there would be four or five families living there. And the old hunters would be hiking out there hunting their stocky moose, and sometimes in the fall time they would shoot three or four moose, all hanging around together, and they would get them all, OK?
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Sunrise over Sombe KSA国际影视传媒檈 - taken August 9. Cassandra Blondin-Burt/NNSL photo

SA国际影视传媒淚n the old days, if there was a family that was living in one location - like rabbit skin - there would be four or five families living there. And the old hunters would be hiking out there hunting their stocky moose, and sometimes in the fall time they would shoot three or four moose, all hanging around together, and they would get them all, OK?

SA国际影视传媒淎nd, so, what would happen then is that - the hunter - he would go in there and he would, actually, he would skin the moose, make stages, hang the meat - itSA国际影视传媒檚 about a two or three day job. And once heSA国际影视传媒檚 done that he takes a small pack and he walks all the way back to the community. It might even take all day to get back there. And then he gets to the community and he informs the community SA国际影视传媒淗ey, I shot these four moose, letSA国际影视传媒檚 go.SA国际影视传媒 And in those day we were nomadic people, so we those big pack sacs, and their dogs with packs - so, everybody would then be SA国际影视传媒淵ep, tomorrow morning weSA国际影视传媒檒l go!SA国际影视传媒 So, everybody gets pack sacs and the dogs are hauling, and everybody packs on this old trail - even out to edezjie - and they would walk all day through muskeg and beaver pond and hard ground and then they would get to the spot. And, of course, in those days too, there were no rubber boots, it was all moccasins, right? So their hiking and even kids are carrying little pack sacks. The women are carrying pack sacks and bedrolls. WeSA国际影视传媒檙e talking at least ten or twelve people that will actually head to site, and they would stay there for, you know, maybe two, three nights, cutting up all the meat - making sure the meat is well smoked. And they would eat all the marrow bones, eh? Off course, they would get in there and eat all the marrow out of the bone. And some of the meat they would turn into dry meat. And then theySA国际影视传媒檇 pack it.

SA国际影视传媒淎nd, anyways, there would be maybe four big hides sitting there, and this elder lady - she came from Fort Liard, and she lived with uncle Mustard Baptiste, and she was already over sixty years old, and she came along with them, there, too. And my dad said she got to the site and, of course, she started preparing a couple of these hides - taking the hair off, fleshing it - but this one big bull moose hide, she wanted to keep it as it was, she wanted to take it.

SA国际影视传媒淪o, anyways, she had this special pack sack, mountain pack sack. The thing must have been at least four feet wide and four feet high and quite a pack sack. Anyways, my dad says he was watching her and she went to that big bull moose hide and she had the hide up and then she rolled that whole hide in - it was already folded and everything - she rolled the whole thing into that big pack sack, with the hair and everything. And weSA国际影视传媒檙e talking about a little elder lady, you know with the dress and the little handkerchief, and you know calloused, tough hands - and sheSA国际影视传媒檚 wrestling with this big pack sack.

SA国际影视传媒淎nd everybody took off, they already got their packs full. A lot of them are gone, the dogs are gone. And weSA国际影视传媒檙e waiting, weSA国际影视传媒檙e waiting for this elder to get her pack sack, and the thing was this big high pack sack, and weSA国际影视传媒檙e just watching her saying to each other SA国际影视传媒渉ow theSA国际影视传媒A国际影视传媒 but you can tell she was tougher than nails, eh?

SA国际影视传媒淎nd so she gets to the pack sack, eh, and she has this traditional shoulder strap and so she just gets under this pack sack and calls over to us and says SA国际影视传媒渉ey boys, get over here and give me a hand.SA国际影视传媒

SA国际影视传媒淪o we grab the bottom of that pack sack and then she nudges herself forward and we lifted the pack - and it was heavy - and she stood up, and she was leaning forward a bit, you know, and she re-adjusted her self, and took a walking stick in her hand and BAM she was gone.

SA国际影视传媒淢y dad and I got our things together, and we chased after her and we didnSA国际影视传媒檛 catch up to her. We didnSA国际影视传媒檛 catch up to her! By the time evening came she was already at the river, and she had already gone across and was coming back to pack more meat back by coming across the creek.

SA国际影视传媒淪he didnSA国际影视传媒檛 even stop once,SA国际影视传媒 they said.

SA国际影视传媒淪he just took that pack sack and b-lined it straight from the kill site to the rabbit skin river.

And now that is determination, and the will to accomplish, and the whole thing of being proud to be Dene.SA国际影视传媒





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