Fine Day interview

[Prairyearth]

I found these documents from the Regina university in their archives. I have not read them all yet. Some of the stories, especially from earlier periods are interesting to say the least. I have shared an example below. Many of these can be read by going to:
http://dspace.cc.uregina.ca/dspace/handle/...26/browse-title

and browsing through the documents.

Hudson's Bay Co. is mentioned through out these stories.

Prairy
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DOCUMENT NAME/INFORMANT: FINE DAY #10
INFORMANT'S ADDRESS: SWEET GRASS RESERVE
SASKATCHEWAN
INTERVIEW LOCATION: SWEET GRASS RESERVE
SASKATCHEWAN
TRIBE/NATION: CREE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
DATE OF INTERVIEW: AUGUST 21, 1934
INTERVIEWER: DR. D.G. MANDELBAUM
INTERPRETER: JOE TANNER
TRANSCRIBER: HEATHER YAWORSKI
SOURCE: DR. D.G. MANDELBAUM
DEPT. OF ANTHROPOLOGY
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA,
BERKELEY
TAPE NUMBER: IH-DM.49
DISK: TRANSCRIPT DISC #137
PAGES: 7
RESTRICTIONS: 1. THEY WILL BE MADE
AVAILABLE ONLY TO GRADUATE STUDENTS WHO HAVE SECURED PERMISSION
TO DO SO FROM THEIR FACULTY ADVISORS. OFFICERS OF THE LIBRARY
OR OF THE CENTER WILL JUDGE AS TO A POTENTIAL USER'S
QUALIFICATIONS. 2. THOSE WHO CONSULT THE NOTES SHOULD AGREE
TO MAKE PROPER ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF THE USE OF THESE SOURCES IN
ANY PUBLICATIONS. IT WOULD ALSO BE A COURTESY TO INFORM ME OF
SUCH USE.
HIGHLIGHTS:
- Describes the preparation and preservation of food.
- Describes the making of weapons.
Ka-tcakise-ikanipa-nik -- Maple Sugar.
Every spring we used to come up here to make maple sugar, even
if we were far south on the prairie. It was the women's job
but the men helped. A short slanting notch was cut in the
trunk of the tree about a foot from the ground. It was done by
placing a knife against the tree and striking the blade. Below
this cut another one was made. It was shorter and horizontal.
In this a stick was placed so that the sap ran down the
slanting cut onto the stick. From there it dripped into
vessels made out of whole buffalo horns or birch bark, which
were set on the ground.
The sap was collected from the cups and spilled into a
container made out of a rawhide propped up with sticks. A big
fire was built and the sap boiled over it in a big kettle.
When it was boiled down it is transferred to another kettle
which is placed on warm ashes. A two-foot wooden paddle is
used to stir this mixture. The stirring is kept up until the
syrup is of the proper consistency. The test for this is
putting some of it on snow -- if it stays on top it is ready.
Then birch boxes are greased with frozen fat and the syrup put
in these. These boxes are of the baking pan type. The kettle
is then scraped and the scrapings form a kind of brown sugar
called pisawihkahiguu. This is put in a buffalo or cow bladder
and this in turn put in a rawhide bag. It is kept that way all
summer. The syrup hardens and is given to the children. The
scrapings are sprinkled over meat. This was the only condiment
we had in the old days. We had no salt. Now I like salt and
can't get along without it.
Askiwahgenuk -- Indian carrot. Grows in swampy places. In
spring they have a sweet sap and that is the only time when
they are good to eat. The women gather them, wash them in warm
water and then boil them. They dissolve into a thick bouillon.
Into this are put pieces of grease and buffalo willow berries.
Sometimes little red berries that grow on the kinikimik plant
are mixed in instead of the white berries.
There is another plant that looks just like the Indian carrot
but it is poisonous. Its roots are bigger. Four of us, all
cousins, dug them up once and ate them. We got stiff. They
gave us warm water and we vomited. They caught the vomit,
added some warm water and placed us[?] in the kettle. Then we
were all right. If you eat these, they grow inside of you
unless these measures are taken.
Fish:
Prepared by splitting them open and setting on stake alongside
the fire. If the fish are fat the insides are not thrown away
but are rendered to get the grease. Before opening, the fish
may be scraped, but when they are not scraped they hold
together better and do not fall to pieces when toasted. Fish
are also boiled. They are also dried and kept all summer. The
stacks are sliced, dried, cooked, pounded, prepared into
pemmican.
Mits-kan -- Fish Trap. In old days it was called so but this
is somehow an obscure word and it now is known as asko-nau.
When the leaves reach a pretty good size in the spring the fish
go down the river and that is when the traps are built. New
ones would be made every year for the ice carries the old ones
away.
Caches:
In the winter sometimes three or four deer are killed. If the
carcasses cannot be taken in, they are skinned, the meat
wrapped in the hides. Snow is piled over and a tripod it set
up on which a cloth (to scare the animals), ac-touwa-n, is
hung.
Sometimes a platform is built on a tree and the meat piled on
and covered over. A hat or some object is suspended over it to
flap in the wind and scare the birds. This is called
wawa-stahatcigan.
I asked Fine Day about hunting observances, such as the hanging
up of a moose bell or deer antlers after a kill. But he denied
any knowledge of these among the River people, saying that he
had only heard of its being done up north. No bone discarding.
When a bear is located they speak to it and promise it a feast
of berries if they kill it at which he will partake. If the
bear is killed the feast is given. The berries are held up and
the hunter says, "This is what I promised you." The Bear Dance
was not given after the killing of a bear. I remember that I
saw an old cipiwiyiuw long ago kill a bear in his den. He
spread the bear out with its head toward the sun (south). He
smoked a pipe, talked, offered the pipe to the bear. But in my
day this was not done.
There is no special way of hunting bears. But I have heard
that they used to sing and make medicine before they went out
to hunt. I myself got lots of bear with steel traps.
Muskwaciwawin -- Bear Dance.
A feast was made in the big tipi, wewahtahogan. (See original
for diagram.) Then all that belong to the dance go out and sit
in a semicircle. The old women have their hair done up into
horns, their eyes blackened around, and bear hides tied around
their necks. The men are naked except for a breechclout. They
have a gun and a buffalo powder horn slung over one shoulder.
They all sit in a kneeling, doubled-over posture. The headman
stands up and talks to kicimanito. Then the drums beat and the
dancers start. They unfold their arms, prop themselves up.
They look from side to side clumsily, just like bears, bobbing
in time to the music. Everybody laughs because it is funny to
see them imitating bears. They start another song and the
dancers stand up and dance. They do not laugh but still keep
looking around and imitating bears. They do not dance in rows
or in any order but are all mixed up. Then one of them loads
his gun with powder and shoots just as if he were hunting a
bear. All the dancers scatter and run away. Some of them
climb up on trees or travois just as bears would do. Then
another song is started, and they start to dance again.
Old Chicken's grandfather used to make this dance but when he
died no one carried it on. He used to raise little bear cubs
and when they were big let them go. This was on account of the
dance but they were not really used in the dance. When a Bear
Dance was given the cubs would be brought and the boys would
tease them.
Only those that belonged to the dance ate in the tipi. But
anybody could join in the dancing. A person belonged to the
dance after they had promised to give one or to give something
away at the dance pending the recovery of a sick relative or
the successful return from a war trip. After you once gave the
dance you could eat in the tipi.
We used to hunt moose and elk and lynx in these hills. There
was a lot of game here in the old days and we killed a lot for
food and clothing. We would throw away much of the carcass
except the muzzle (of moose), meat and hide. But we depended
mostly on the buffalo. This was because anybody could kill
buffalo but it took a good hunter to get moose or elk.
I never hunted caribou or saw one but I often saw and followed
their tracks in the muskegs. When I was in the country of the
Stonies who live near the Rocky Mountains, they taught me how
to kill mountain sheep. You have to get above them. They
never watch above, only below.
Martens always were very easy to get. Just set a trap with
fish bait. Or, if you track it, you just follow the trail fast
and sing loud. The marten gets scared, goes up a tree, and you
have him.
When I hunted moose or elk or any big game up north I always
had a gun. But I know that other men my age used to hunt moose
and elk with bows and arrows. I did run down and kill many
buffalo with the bow and arrow.
In my young days there might be only four muzzleloaders in a
big camp of Cree. The Sotos always had more guns than the
Cree. Among the Cree themselves the Prairie people had fewest
guns and the House people most. The Blackfeet had more guns
than the Cree which they got from the south and from the
Hudson's Bay Company.
Before my time guns were very costly. There were only two
Hudson's Bay stores, one at Winnipeg and one at Rocky Mountain
House. A man would have to travel far and have many furs to
get a gun. When an Indian did get one he wouldn't give it away
or sell it. They didn't know how to fix the guns if they broke
and after a few years the guns would be made into scrapers or
fleshers for hides. When I was a young man guns were more
plentiful but a young fellow would have none and would have to
borrow one. On raids those who had guns took them along but I
have seen men go armed only with bows and arrows. I myself did
this on my first trip. When buffalo were hunted on foot,
arrows were used.
Before a man goes out on a raid sometimes he may promise a gun
to the Great Spirit. He makes a sweetgrass smudge, holds up a
pipe, promises gun on return and specifies where it will be
left. Only this man may use a gun so promised. Upon return
the gun may be used until the time specified. This is not done
for success in hunting.
At the time specified, the man goes to a tree and stands toward
the sun at noon. He holds the gun up and says, "You heard me
when I asked you to have good luck on my trip. Anyone can take
this gun and borrow it but he must leave something for its use.
He will then have good luck. When he returns he must hang it
up again. I ask you to help us."
Then he cocks the hammer, passes a saganapi under it and lowers
the hammer. Thus fastened, the gun is hung up.
This gun may be borrowed for fighting purposes only by the
original giver or by someone else. When the gun is taken
something else is hung up as payment. When the gun is
returned, as it must be, the payment is not taken back but
left.
Abandonment of aged:
I never have seen old people left behind but I heard that they
did it a long time ago. My mother's father used to tell me
about finding two old people dead in a tipi, having been left
behind with a little water and provisions. He used to name the
old people thus found. I heard the Cipiwiyiniwuk talk about
this too. Horses were very scarce in those days and they
couldn't carry everybody.
I heard that an infant would be tied to a horse and the horse
let loose so that its powa-guu would be strong. This was done
mostly among the Blackfeet and Gros Ventre. I didn't see it
done. Poor people used to do it.

read more of the story from:
http://dspace.cc.uregina.ca/dspace/bitstre.../1/IH-DM.49.pdf

.....

[Prairyearth]

Oh my, I forgot to ad something. DO NOT pick wild carrots without being accompanied by one who knows the difference between plants. I believe the "Look alike" plant that is spoken of in the above dialogue is poison hemlock or some know it as Queen Annes Lace.

When small and first growing these plants look very similar. As Hemlock matures, if I remember correctly, it gets small purple spots on the stems and it can grow quite tall toward mid to late summer. DO NOT eat any part of Hemlock plants, they are very poisonous.

Now, back to planting the garden before the rains come in a day or so....
Prairy