4:  Mary's Life

My name is Lak̓anidza̱mg̱a. I am from G̱igaḵ. My dad is from G̱igaḵ. My mom is from the Heiltsuk. My (maternal) grandfather, Xa̱lx'idi, is from Ba'a's. My (paternal) granny is from G̱igaḵ, Mary. She named me. I was born in Allison Harbour on my late dad's boat. No doctor. It was snowing... it was snowing when I was born in Allison Harbour. I grew up in G̱igaḵ. I didn't have much schooling. I didn't go to residential school. I really like the place I come from, G̱igaḵ. It was quiet. We used to get lonesome (for G̱igaḵ) when we first moved to T̕sa̱lgwadi. I wanted to go home. I like it now. I like... I like the water. I don't have to pack water. We had no bathtub, just the washtub to bathe (in G̱igaḵ). It really changed the things we did when we came and moved here.

I like it now, where we came. I wasn't old yet, when we came, 18 or younger than that. We had no house when we came. Nobody had a house. There were no houses ready. We are ok now. That's it.

Ma̱lkwa̱latła̱n's: We Will Remember

4:  Mary's Life

5:  A Village Without Children

A lot of children went to Alert Bay, St. Mike's. There were just a little bit of children left at G̱igaḵ that didn't go there. I didn't really go to school.

5:  A Village Without Children

2:  Dzunuḵ̕wa and Tsa̱mga̱x̱sta Nuya̱m

The Dzunuḵ̕wa woke up from where she was on the mountain. She yawned and rubbed her eyes. She picked up her basket and walked down. She walked quite a long way and saw Tsa̱mga̱x̱sta, carving wood. She grabbed Tsa̱mga̱x̱sta and threw him in the basket. She heard lots of kids playing. She started throwing the children in the basket. Tsa̱mga̱x̱sta grabbed his knife and cut a hole in the basket. Tsa̱mga̱x̱sta fell through the hole first. Then all the kids fell through the hole. The Dzunuḵ̕wa thought it was the hemlock needles making noise as they were dropping. "Kwa̱p̓ala k̓amuma, kwa̱p̓ala k̓amuma" said the Dzunuḵ̕wa. She was walking along. She looked in her basket and there was nothing in there. It was empty. No children. The children were grateful for Tsa̱mga̱x̱sta cutting the hole so they could come out. 

Remember always to be nice and not be mean to people that look different. We are all the same. Don't make fun of people who are different. The end.

- Mary George (Henderson)

2:  Dzunuḵ̕wa and Tsa̱mga̱x̱sta Nuya̱m

6:  Trapping a Small Bird at G̱igaḵ

I used to trap birds in G̱igak, those little birds, robin. I would dig (a hole) in the dirt. I put herring eggs and bread crumbs in it. I used a basket or a box. I stood a small stick in the ground and I tied a string on it and hid. I waited for little birds to come. The bird came inside the trap. I pulled (the string). The bird was inside. Then I caught the bird. Then George Walkus' boys would come. They made the bird fly away. 

One time, I was trapping birds when it was just me and my dad in G̱igaḵ. My mom came to Ba'a's for a funeral. My dad let me keep the little robin, winter robin. My heart was really happy when he made that box to put it inside. I fed it bread crumbs. The robin got very fat and I was really happy it didn't die. It was still alive. My dad tried to tell me to let it fly away. "No," I said, "it's my little bird." One day, I went to go see it again. The little bird was just lying there. The little bird wasn't alive. I was crying for that. "See, I tried to tell you," said my dad. He didn't let me keep them anymore, little birds. I was just a little kid. 

Listen to your mom and dad. Everything they say is right.

- Mary George (Henderson)

6:  Trapping a Small Bird at G̱igaḵ

7:  Memories of Margaret Bay and G̱igaḵ

We used to stay at Margaret Bay at fishing time. All of our dads were fishing. Staying at Margaret Bay, I really liked it because there was a little store. We used to play in the net loft, swim at the floating dock, and play at the end of the wharf with our moms. Our father used to come home and give us children coupons to go to the store to buy ice cream or whatever we wanted. At the end of fishing time, we all go back home again to G̱igaḵ, canning fish time. My mom made dried fish and smoked fish. There was lots of canned fish. Then we would go to school again in the little schoolhouse. The GMG always came for church on Saturday, GMG people. It was nice at Taḵus. We were used to what we were doing. Didn't know about what TV was or anything. No TV, no store in G̱igaḵ. We used to go rowing around in the boat or swim. We used to play baseball and go to Sand Beach after the church service.

Mary George (Henderson)

7:  Memories of Margaret Bay and G̱igaḵ

8:  Black Hole at the Pond

There was a hole in the rock where they swam. The man dove in. He didn't come back. Black, the hole was black. Don't go close to there. Don't go swimming where the big hole is, a hole in the rock. 

Mary George (Henderson)

8:  Black Hole at the Pond

15:  Encounter with Ba̱k̕wa̱s

My dad used to go rowing to hunt and tow logs. He did everything, jigging. He was coming home late when it was dark. He was pulling the rowboat through the narrows, the passage for boats.  He could feel something pulling the boat (back). He lit his match. He saw the Ba̱k̕wa̱s. It was pulling the boat (back). He smelled a bad smell. The Ba̱k̕wa̱s jumped back into the forest. My father got home. His face was white. He was scared. "How come you came in late," said my granny. "I saw the Ba̱k̕wa̱s," said my dad. "Dada," I said, "wasn't it the kids fooling around?" My dad looked at me. "Do those kids jump high?" he said. I believed my dad that he saw the Ba̱k̕wa̱s. The end. 

Mary George (Henderson)

15:  Encounter with Ba̱k̕wa̱s

16:  Stink Eggs and the Hunter in the Snow

It was really snowing where the man lived. I don't remember his name. The snow came to the top of the house. It was really thick, when it does that (snows like that). They had no food, the man's tribe (who lived there). He put boards on his feet. He tied them (the boards). He hung the stink eggs from his neck. That's all the food he had left. (When he was hungry) he just smelled the stink eggs. He got a deer for his people. He helped all the people to have food. The end. 

Mary George (Henderson)

16:  Stink Eggs and the Hunter in the Snow

18:  At Namu as a Child

When we used to stay at Japtown (Namu), G̱adugwa (paternal grandmother) sent me to the store to buy strawberries. I didn't want to go. I used to be scared. I was just a child. I got to the place where the Heltsiuk people and people from U'wik'inux̱w stayed. The kids saw me and threw rocks at me. The lady came out. "Stop... don't do that," she told the children. "Don't tease her." The little boys ran away.

Mary George (Henderson)

18:  At Namu as a Child

19:  Mountain Goat Hunter

My dad used to go up the mountain to shoot the mountain goats. He liked to go hunting for food. He cleaned (skinned) the mountain goat up in the mountain. He would cut a hole and put his arm through the holes to go down (the mountain). 

I have never eaten mountain goat before. People from long ago liked to eat it. They used to storytell about Dzunuḵ̕wa, stories. The Dzunuḵ̕wa got mountain goat fat to call the children. "Come here, eat the mountain goat fat" she said to the children. She really wanted the children, Dzunuḵ̕wa.

Mary George (Henderson)

19:  Mountain Goat Hunter

An audio space for Gwat̕sala and 'Nak̕wala, languages spoken by the Gwa'sa̱la and 'Nak̕waxda'x̱w Nations.

New tracks tagged #Gwat̕sala