As I Remember It: Teachings (Ɂəms tɑɁɑw) from the Life of a Sliammon ElderMain MenuTerritoryPeople of the LandColonialismResilience in the Face of Racism and ConflictCommunityLiving TogetherWellnessCaring for Body, Mind, and SpiritThe Sliammon LanguageHow We CommunicateOur ProcessMaking This BookFeatures and ResourcesWays to Use This BookAbout This BookUBC PressAs I Remember It - Peer Review Copy – Pub. March 29, 20192019-03-29T07:55:01-07:00As I Remember It - Peer Review Copy – Pub. March 22, 20192019-03-22T13:09:31-07:00
Healer
12019-05-27T18:44:03-07:00Anonymous73plain2019-09-04T16:07:03-07:00AnonymousThe healer resided at toqʷɑnən in Theodosia Inlet and therefore was known as “toqʷɑnən pɛlɩks.” Elsie Paul shares another story about him and his healing work in “He Got His Spirit Back.” The anthropologist Homer Barnett presents a discussion of twins that is generalized across the Coast Salish peoples, but it is clear that he acquired some of his information on the special way in which twins were regarded from his ɬaʔamɩn informant Chief Tom (Elsie’s great-uncle). Homer G. Barnett, The Coast Salish of British Columbia (Eugene: University of Oregon Press, 1955), 135-36, 139-40.
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12018-05-11T19:59:11-07:00Twins Are Gifted47image_header2021-12-23T19:49:29-08:00
“Because they were twins – our people have always believed that twins carry good energy. They are gifted. They come with gifts.”
This healer, him and his twin brother, they could really read each other so well, they could feel, they could sense what the other one was doing. Because twins are very sensitive to each other. They share the same feelings. And because people travelled and camped quite a lot, the other brother went over to the other side of Texada Island. They were fishin’ out there and a storm came up. So they decided just to camp there, on the far side of Texada, decided just to stay put and wait out the storm. And they had been gone for a couple of nights, and the mother got really worried. She was becomin’ very concerned – it’s been two days, maybe three days, and he hasn’t come back from his trip. There’s him and this other man that had gone on this trip. So she said to her son, to Felix, said, “Why are you not worried about your brother? You should be doing something. He’s been gone for several days and you should be worried. You should be concerned. You should find him – go and find him.” “Oh,” he says, “oh, I’ll meditate on it.” And he did. He went out to his fire, lit his fire and called upon the energy, the spirits around him, and reached out to his brother. Looked for him: “Where are you?” When he came out of his trance he said to his mother, “Oh, I found him. He’s okay. He’s camped way over there, outside of Texada Island, or that island over there. That’s where he’s at.”
And when the brother came back home, he told his story of how his brother found him over there. He said while they were camped, he seen a lightning way at the point – point of, like, Blubber Bay end there. He seen a lightning there. It just flashed there and there was thunder. And then it came closer to where they were. And then it came very close to where they were. Three times that hit. And it was gone. So he said to his travelling companion, “That was my brother. He’s looking for me. Now he’s gone. He’s found us.” So that was his story when he came back.
“You do not belittle the work that the worker does, the healer does. Respect that healer. Honour what he does. Believe in it. Only then will good things happen.”
And to me I don’t doubt that that happened. That was the story that was always told in our family. So workin’ with things, like, workin’ with nature, that they were able to use the resources – that nature was the resources of the people. So to me, that’s a very special story. It doesn’t happen if you are not a believer. And that’s what we were always told: “You have to believe. You have to honour. You have to be serious. It’s not a laughing matter. You do not belittle the work that the worker does, the healer does. Respect that healer. Honour what he does. Believe in it. Only then will good things happen. Or only then will you hear what is the truth.” And these are proven facts as far as I’m concerned. That because people believed, and they went into it believing, and getting the answer they were looking for. They were rare. They were gifted people. They were very gifted people. Like in this incident with the two brothers. Because they were twins – our people have always believed that twins carry good energy. They are gifted. They come with gifts. So in this case, it was proven that they were gifted.
