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

My Dog Patsy

“That’s my dog. I look after my dog!”

Patsy was my little dog. I got Patsy as just a puppy, and I was so fond of her. And it was time to go up to Rivers Inlet. And I was quite young then – gosh, I don’t know how old I was – maybe I was about seven or eight. And I had to sneak her on the steamboat under my shirt, ’cause she was just a puppy. I was so afraid they weren’t going to let me take her, if anyone saw me taking her into the boat, steamboat. So I managed to get her – snuck her aboard.

This elderly lady didn’t care for my puppy: “Gets into everything! Leave it outside!”

Oh, I didn’t want to leave her outside! So it started to pour rain, and I was so worried about my puppy. So I got out the door, and I went and sat right up against the building and I was holding my puppy. I think I must have been crying, real sad, holding on to my dog. She came out, and she looked, and she said, “Okay, get in here. You can bring her in, but make sure you hold on to her. She gets into everything.” [chuckles]

So me and my puppy are called back into the house and sitting there, I’m all soaking wet, so is my dog. [laughs] So while we’re there, the puppy got bigger, and of course it grew. We were there for about four weeks, five weeks. And we came back home, and they let me take her onto the steamboat. Managed to get her on.

And we got back here in the community, and they used to kill the dogs here. The police would come and shoot the dogs when there got to be too many dogs in the community. So they were coming anyway to shoot all the dogs. And I couldn’t convince anyone that, you know, “That’s my dog. I look after my dog!” I had to go tie the dog myself to a post. And so the police wouldn’t chase the dogs all over, we all had to have our dogs tied to a post down towards the beach. And the police would come and just shoot them off, pick them off – shoot them. Oh, I was so upset about my Patsy. I loved that dog! And I don’t know who took care of the remains. Probably the parents or the grandparents took care of the remains. I don’t know what happened after that. But they came and shot my dog.

The things we had to endure. Yeah. Yeah, it’s a wonder I’m still sane, if I am – I don’t know. [laughs] Traumatized for life!

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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
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Contents of this tag:
Contents of this tag:
23. Christmas Blankets
24. Elders and Cedar Roots
25. Elsie at Deep Bay
27. Cutting Fish
29. Wedding Day
30. Elders and Friends
31. Elsie and Glen (2)
32. Assessing the Catch
33. Elsie and Glen (1)
34. Elsie and Stella
35. Christmas (1)
36. Mother’s Day, 1980
37. Elders' Gathering
38. At the Elders Lodge Elsie Paul with ɬaʔamɩn Elders when she was running the Elders’ program. Front row, from left: Elsie Paul, Henry Bob, Katherine Blaney, Mary Harry, Rose Louie (behind Mary), Joe Paul Sr. (behind Rose), Willie Bob, Calvin Harry. Back row, from left: Louise Bob, Marie Hackett (behind), Nora Wilson, Annie Dominick, Dave Dominick, Agnes McGee, Rose Peddie, Peta Francis (Okee Dokee), Johnny George, Charlie Charlie, Peggy Harry.
39. Having a Laugh
40. Working Out
42. Retirement
43. Bride and Groom
44. Joining Council
45. Baby Glen
46. mɑksɛmɑ’s Cabin in toχʷnɑč (Okeover)
47. Graduation (1)
48. Preparing an Offering
49. First Home
50. Prince William
51. Party at Elsie Paul’s House
52. Visiting with Annie and Norman Gallagher
53. Elsie at Steveston in the Late 1940s
54. Friends (1)
55. The Ladies
56. The Children at Home
57. Elsie at Home
58. Sliammon Village Waterfront
59. Language Work Linguist Honoré Watanabe stands behind ɬaʔamɩn Elders at the Elders Lodge. Elsie was caretaker and lived at the Elders Lodge for many years. From left: Marion Harry, Mary George, and Elsie Paul. Honoré worked extensively with these three women over more than two decades, living with Elsie during his time in Sliammon. Marion was Elsie’s “little sister” at residential school and worked with Honoré to transcribe and translate the selections in Sliammon language included in this publication.
60. Collaborators
61. A Day in Town
62. Elsie and Teresa at the Cannery
63. 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.
64. Elsie and Cathy (1)
65. Elsie, Agnes, and Children
66. Elsie and Cathy (2)
67. Party Time
68. On the Town
69. Newlyweds
70. Wearing Slacks
72. Repatriation
73. Going to Church (1)
74. Settlers’ Camp (1)
75. Dedicated Work Partners
78. Siblings Elsie Paul with her siblings at her brother Barney’s house in the early ’80s. Standing, from left: Teddy Francis (Elsie’s brother), Leo Francis (Elsie’s brother), Lillian Francis (Elsie’s niece, Barney Francis’s daughter), Elsie Paul, Doreen Hopkins (Elsie’s sister), Charlene Francis (Elsie’s niece), Jason Francis (Elsie’s nephew), Greg Francis (inch, Elsie’s nephew). Seated, from left: Aunt Agnes McGee, Rita Francis (Elsie’s sister), Nancy Phillips (Elsie’s sister), Vangie Francis (Elsie’s niece), Elizabeth Blaney (Elsie’s sister), Lily Timothy (Elsie’s mother).
79. A Visit with Auntie Katherine
81. Christmas with the Girls
82. Baby Marlane
83. Traditional Prayer Songs
88. Honorary Doctorate
89. Helping Ma
90. Going to Church (2)
91. Childhood Friends
92. Paul Family
94. Elsie Paul with King of the Sea
96. Important Medicine
98. Author Group (7)
99. The Shield
100. Friends (2)
101. Beautiful Baskets
102. Pals
103. Author Group (8)
105. Author Group (5)
106. Rowing with mɑksɛmɑ
107. Author Group (4)
108. Author Group (6)
109. Life History of This Project
111. Territory
112. Becoming Strong
113. Give It to Them
114. Sharing the Book (5)
115. Sharing the Book (2)
116. tʼᶿɛwqʼ (pronunciation)
117. Living with the Land
118. Cleansing
119. Sharing the Book (3)
122. Community Activities
123. Contact Happened
124. Designated Area
125. Sharing the Book (4)
126. Old-Timers and Hard Work
127. You Thank It
129. Gifted People
130. Watch Your Children
131. When It’s Your Time
132. We Were Already Here
133. Part of Our Survival
134. Root Digging
135. He Got His Spirit Back
136. Grieving
137. Recovery
138. tɑʔɑw
139. The Young Girl and Eleven Puppies (English)
140. Author Group (3)
141. Lonely and Homesick
142. Her Name Was Jane
143. New Year’s Dance
144. The Young Girl and Eleven Puppies (Sliammon)
145. Author Group (2)
146. The Chinese Restaurant
148. My Dog Patsy
149. Times of Transition
150. Homebrew
151. Problems Handed down from History
152. Thank the Creator
153. Police Patrol (2)
154. Collecting Branches
155. Police Patrol (1)
156. Author Group (1)
161. New Baby
162. Paul Family Photo
163. The Police Were Standing by the Bed
164. Showcasing This Book
165. Naming Ceremony
166. Preparing Fish and Community Drive-Through
Contents of this tag:
Contents of this tag:
2. My Dog Patsy
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
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Elsie at Deep Bay 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. 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.
My Dog Patsy 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. 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. 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.
Losing Patsy