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As I Remember It: Teachings (Ɂəms tɑɁɑw) from the Life of a Sliammon Elder

One People

For lists, meanings, and maps of some Homalco, Klahoose, ɬaʔamin, and Island Comox place names, see Dorothy Kennedy and Randy Bouchard, Sliammon Life, Sliammon Lands (Vancouver: Talonbooks, 1983), 149–70. They explain their orthography, which differs from the one employed in this book, on pages 147–48.

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Territory
“But I’ve always felt that we are one people.”

When we talk about territory in today’s world, it’s quite different than our lands and our territory from when I was a child. ʔəms giǰɛ, ʔəms nɑʔ giǰɛ – this is our land, this is our territory. Wherever people lived. And when I say “our” people, I include Klahoose and Homalco. Klahoose being the toʔqʷ qɑymixʷ, and Homalco being ʔoʔp qɑymixʷ. “toʔqʷ” being Squirrel Cove, “ʔoʔp” being Church House. The Church House people are the Homalco people. “tuwɑ št ʔoʔp” – “We’re from Church House.” “ʔoʔp qɑymixʷ” – “We’re Church House people.” And the same as Klahoose – “We’re toʔqʷ qɑymixʷ.” So those are the terms, the language that was used for describing people that lived in those areas. So. And prior to that, I would think that was just the name of the territory, and because our people were placed there after contact, they took on the name and it stuck, that we’re the ʔoʔp or the toʔqʷ qɑymixʷ. Or we’re the ɬaʔamɩn qɑymixʷ. And “ɬaʔamɩn” being Sliammon. But that’s the name of the place, ɬaʔamɩn, that’s where I live now. In English, it’s “Sliammon” because they couldn’t write or pronounce “ɬaʔamɩn.” When I write my address down it’s “Sliammon,” otherwise I won’t get my mail, right?

So those are the changes that were made. But I think prior to that, from my understanding and from my own memories, that people travelled a lot, even after we were identified as three different people. But I’ve always felt that we are one people. pɑʔɑ št qɑymixʷ – we’re one people with Klahoose, Homalco, and the Church House people. Prior to that, the old people used to talk about how they worked together very effectively, the three communities. They were one people. They spoke the same dialect. They understood one another. So when we’re looking at overlapping territories, you know, I find that difficult – of course it’s overlapping! Because we’ve shared the land. We shared the territory. ’Cause we’re one people.
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. 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.