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As I Remember It: Teachings (Ɂəms tɑɁɑw) from the Life of a Sliammon Elder The Sliammon-language term for this label means “it is mine.” This book contains the teachings and history of the ɬaʔamɩn people as remembered and narrated by Elder Elsie Paul. The effort and care she takes in this work is important. She offers a counter-narrative to incorrect and inappropriate interpretations previously drawn by settlers. Please respect Elsie Paul’s right and responsibility to relate the history and teachings in her own words. She does so from her own perspective and does not attempt to speak for all ɬaʔamɩn people. Please attribute the stories shared in this book to Elsie Paul.

Some sections of this book are authored by other individuals and should be attributed to the appropriate person(s) as indicated. This label refers to a teaching that emerges throughout this book: “you learn from someone by example.” (The literal translation of tiʔiwš is “fast learner.”) The goal of this book is to share ɬaʔamɩn teachings and history widely with ɬaʔamɩn community members, students, and teachers at all levels, and with any other interested readers. This is Elsie’s goal in sharing ʔəms tɑʔɑw, and all of the authors hope the book serves an educational purpose. The authors ask readers to take care to use this information respectfully and in context. Material in this book may be culturally sensitive for a number of reasons. This label identifies such content by stating: “it is ours.”

ɬaʔamɩn teachings, laws, and practices that flow from them are subject to the ʔəms naʔ label because they are communally held and collectively stewarded by ɬaʔamɩn people for future generations. Much of this knowledge is captured in our legends, for example. The authors recognize that ɬaʔamɩn, Klahoose, and Homalco families have their own tellings of the legends.

Other parts of the book are labelled “ʔəms naʔ” because the ongoing nature of settler colonialism means that the histories discussed here are not part of a distant past. For close to a century, colonial laws and policies prevented community members from sharing teachings freely in their community without fear of punishment or retribution, imposing silences that remain even today. Thus this label also applies to chapters that discuss the genocidal practices that sought to interrupt the transmission of teachings and to sever ɬaʔamɩn sovereign rights to their territory.

Please treat information and photographs marked with this label with special care, especially if you plan to share them with others.

After the Fire

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Contents of this tag:
6. Health Centre
7. Makeshift Church
8. After the Fire
9. First Home
10. Remains of the Fire
11. Sliammon Sacred Heart Church
12. Delivery Truck
13. Sliammon Village Waterfront
15. Resource Depletion: The Last Year of Herring
17. Sliammon Day School In addition to attending the Sechelt Indian Residential School, Elsie Paul occasionally attended a day school in the Sliammon community in the winter months. The Sliammon day school teachers were Pat McGuinness and Mr. Gallagher. Back row: Unknown boy with hat, Katherine Blaney, Teacher Pat McGuinness, Rosaline Wilson, unknown girl, Marilyn Louie (tall in the very back behind unknown girl). Middle row: Ernie Galligos (shorter boy), Joe Paul, Agnes Paul, unknown girl. Front row (small children): Sarah Tom, Maggie Wilson, and Joe Francis (Elsie Paul’s half brother)
18. Fish Traps (1)
19. Fish Traps (2)
20. Dugouts
21. At the Beach
22. Fishing Boat
23. tiyskʷɑt (1)
24. Going to Church (1)
25. Mom at Sacred Heart
26. tʼɩšosəm The ɬaʔamɩn village of tiyskʷɑt. Buildings, from left: Frank Williams house; Bob George’s house; Sliammon Sacred Heart Church, Sam August’s house; Sam August married Teresa (tɑlɛsɑt), mother to Albert August. Keh Kay Keh (Molly Williams’s house); Molly was from Sechelt. This eventually became Johnny George and Mary George’s house. Sam Adams house; Stanley Peters and Nellies house. Joe (Chilena) and Molly Galligos house: Far right is Gilbert Francis’s house, Chi-chia’s dad. He eventually tore this down and built a new house on the site. This is shown in a later picture from the same perspective. Dance hall is behind the church. Smokehouses in foreground. Smokehouses were typically located on the beach.
27. tiyskʷɑt (2)
28. Sliammon Waterfront
29. Wedding
30. Dam Construction
31. On the Road
32. Territory
33. Give It to Them
34. Horizontal Fly over Water Point to Beach
35. Old Single Lane Bridge
36. Preparing Fish and Community Drive-Through
37. Kla Ah Men | Tla’amin | Sliammon
Contents of this tag:
Contents of this tag:
5. Boys
6. After the Fire
7. Building the King of the Sea
8. Canoe Building
10. Racing the King of the Sea
11. Dugouts
12. Boat to Westview When this photo was taken, it was quicker to get to town by boat than by foot, since people didn’t have cars yet. Peggy Harry is at the back of the group (with barrettes in her hair); Molly Timothy is on the right (with headband); Elsie Paul is in the centre (with flowers in her hair); Stella Timothy is centre right, beside Elsie; further right, holding a baby, is Agnes McGee, and in front of her is Sosen Galligos. Smokey John is on the left (wearing a hat), and lɑsɑ is in front of him.
13. Fishing Boat
14. Seiners
15. Paddle Carving
16. Pullers
18. Cod Fishing
19. Elsie Paul with King of the Sea
20. My Dog Patsy
Contents of this tag: