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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.

Community

I think about the teachin’ of the old people. How our people lived and they were very civilized. They had all the tools. They had all the teachin’s. Their lifestyle, their self-government – our communities were well organized. Our people were taught things: how to look after yourself, how to take care of your children, how to respect nature, how to respect your neighbours. Treat other people as you would have them treat you. Turn the other cheek. All of those kinds of things! Not to take on other people’s issues and become bitter about other people’s issues.

And I think, if I can compare that to the Ten Commandments, the Ten Commandments say, “Thou shalt not this. Thou shalt not that,” and all of those “Thou shalts.” And I’m thinking, we had all these things in place already. It was only done differently in that it was, you know, “This is how you treat other people. This is how you look after the resources. This is how you look after the environment. This is how you look after your community. This is how you look after your children. This is how you respect the Elders.” All those teachin’s were in place.

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