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

Twins Are Gifted

 

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.”

 

 
“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?’”
 

 

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.

 

 

 

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.

 

 
“Whatever it was, the water, the lightning, the animals, the birds.  Everything’s  connected. And in that particular case it was the lightning that found a way for them.”
 
“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.”

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