In the winter months when the darkness came early and you’d sit by the open fire or by the stove, and the grandparents or your parents would tell stories – legends. And that was so entertaining. And those legends always had a moral to the story. So that was your classroom.

I did not go to school, myself. I don’t have formal education, per se. I didn’t go to university. I didn’t go to college. I didn’t go to high school. My lesson in life was from my grandparents. So it’s from all those legends I heard as a child – those were the lessons I learned. And you had to pay attention! When the story’s being told. And if it’s told to you night after night, you never tired of listening to those stories. It was really interesting. And our language is an oral language? It’s not a written language. So a lot of it was paying attention to what was told in the story. And then you were always asked at the end of the story, “What did you learn from that?” And so it was a real good teaching tool. You listened, you paid attention, and then the storyteller would explain to you at the end of the story, “This is what you learned from that story. If you’re gonna live this kind of life, this is how you’re gonna end up. If you’re gonna behave this way, these are the consequences.” So all of those things just happened! You didn’t get a quiz, or you didn’t do a written quiz. But it was just how much you absorbed and you learned. It became a very personal thing? It’s your life, it’s your way of life. It was not “You’re going to be marked on how much you learned,” “You’re gonna get eighty percent, a hundred percent,” or whatever. Or “You didn’t learn nothing!” [laughs]

And if you’re told that over and over again, that legend or that story, and then you knew your way. You knew what is inappropriate and what is not? You knew what is appropriate and what is not appropriate, just by listening to those stories and legends, you know.

So those were all part of the teachings and it was really, really important. So when we talk about the legends, such as Mink and the Wolf, and Mink and the Cloud, the Mink and – all the different things he married – the teachings were all in there. That he was lazy, he was unsettled, that he was very impulsive and never listened to his grandmother that was always forever trying to correct him. He was stubborn and set in his own ways. But look at the consequences. How he always ended up on a losing end, because he never listened. So those stories that were told, that was discipline in a nutshell in each of these stories, each of these legends: “What did you learn from that? What did the Mink –” or the “qɑyχ” as we call him – “What happened? Was that right what he did by marrying the cloud? By marrying the barnacle? Or marrying the salal bush? Or marrying the pitch?” It’s not compatible to any of these things. So this tells you, you’ve got to think before you act. Think before you do something. If the Elders tell you you’re making a mistake, you have to listen, pay attention. Look at what happens. So there’s always that reference made to qɑyχ. Look at what happened to him in this case! Look at what happened to him when the whale swallowed him because he made fun of the whale. He says, “Oh, you baldheaded, shiny-headed whale!” And even though this was just in his thoughts, the whale can read his mind. And the whale came along to his boat and swallowed him, boat and all. So this teaches you, you must respect all living things. The whale senses you, can read your mind, be respectful to the whale. And same as all other living creatures. You actually raise your hands to them when you see them. You respect all these things. Because you’re good to all these things, then they’ll be good to you.

People always took that time to give thanks. Never take things for granted. You always give thanks. Stop and think – give thanks for what you have. And don’t complain. Be humble. And we were taught a lot of that: be humble. Don’t show off. Don’t boast. Don’t be like this. And you were reprimanded very quickly if you didn’t keep in that manner: “You come here and you sit down.” And kids listened. It’s so different now. Attitudes have changed, and it’s totally different. I try to keep it alive. I know some people my age keep it alive and I think my own family are really good about, I think, doing things that way that I think I’ve brought down. My grandmother’s teachings, and lot of people her age, that taught – lived! Not so much teach, but lived. And you followed that example. It was not about teaching. And so sometimes I have a hard time with that when I hear people say, “I’m gonna teach you about this!” Our people did not teach, per se. Wasn’t a lot of lecture, but it was a lot of examples. A lot of legends and stories were talked about in the evenings, before you went to bed. Quite often, more times than not, we didn’t just go to bed without some kind of little story told. Or little legend. And that was your classroom: ’bout, what’s the moral of the story. And you had to stop and think. The moral of the story is, you do this or do that, this may just happen. And so it was done in a way that it was not structured. You didn’t sit down at this particular time and, “Okay! Now we’re going to do this!” You know? It just came together. And after dinner, after cleanup, we – just, I guess, like turning on the TV, and you’re gonna watch TV. We didn’t have those things, but we had something that I thought was really valuable. Really valuable.

Other Elders would come into our home, come for a visit. Or they’re staying, spending a few days there with us. And you’d listen to them talking. Sharing stories about their hunting or their fishing, or just their travels or the boat they’re making. The women talking about their berry picking and preserving food. Yeah. Our society was busy. A lot of learning. A lot of learning from example. I never tired of listening to legends and stories with my grandparents and other Elders, friends of my grandparents, other family members that would sit and – just exchanged – not telling so much to the children, or not directly addressing the children in their storytellin’, but they just talk about, “Oh, remember this story?” And blah, blah ... and they would go on and on about the different legends and stories and reminiscing, and you were exposed to that. You were part of that family unit. You are there in the circle, in the company of your Elders. The children were there, they listened attentively. You were disciplined in a way that was good. You sat with the Elders in a good way. You were embraced. You were included. You were not, “Go off to your room!” Unless they had something very specific that they didn’t want the children to hear, then you were separated then from that kind of discussion where it was inappropriate for children to hear. But generally it was always bringin’ the children together to listen to conversations with the Elders.

That was all part of the teachin’ to be respectful: “When people are talking, you listen. You don’t interrupt. When the adults are talkin’, you listen. Don’t be rude. Don’t get up and walk out of the room. We’re goin’ visiting at so-and-so’s house. When we get there, you sit next to me. Don’t be running around.” That’s teachin’ you boundaries in life. When you go to someone else’s house, you don’t go and explore and touch things. You got no right to do that. So children were taught that at a very young age: “You do not go and touch things that don’t belong to you. You be respectful to that house, to those people that live in the house. You don’t go and interrupt when people are talkin’. You’re gonna sit next to me.” So when we went somewhere, we always had to be close to our parent or grandparents. And that was so important to be taught at a very young age to respect other people’s property and other people’s boundary. Respect. Respect is always talked about. It was always there. Inappropriate actions were not acceptable. But it was not taught in a harsh way. If you hear it every day, then it becomes your policy in life! [laughs] I guess that’s our teachin’. It’s not written, but it’s there. It’s understood. That’s how you behave. Respect. Don’t touch anything that doesn’t belong to you. Don’t take anything that doesn’t belong to you. And be respectful. And don’t impose yourself on other people. Don’t be a nuisance. It’s a form of discipline at a very young age.