Books can’t teach like Elders

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Emilie Corbiere

Recently, I had the wonderful opportunity to attend a workshop in Parry Sound at the G’zaagin Art Gallery.

An Elder by the name of Audrey Pawis was coming to teach us how to make sweetgrass, birch bark and porcupine quill brooches. Audrey hails from Wausauksing First Nation and her daughter Tracy owns the art gallery.

It was a gloomy Saturday afternoon but inside the air was buzzing with excitement because the seven of us participants couldn’t wait to get started. After a few hours, it felt like sitting around the kitchen table with your mom, aunties and grandma, drinking tea, making crafts and doing beadwork. With my own mother having passed many moons ago, it was great to sit and listen to Audrey’s stories about her own life and how she had learned from her mother and grandmother.

We are running out of time to hear all of our Elders stories and learn the old ways. A group of Elders in Toronto passed on some teachings through digital media, which I believe can be found at the Spadina and Bloor Public Library. This was an initiative of The Native Canadian Centre. I suppose this is one way to ensure that the teachings don’t get lost or forgotten.

It’s difficult for us so-called “urban Indians” because access to Elders can be hard. I drove for four hours to attend that workshop and the gas was not cheap, but I felt this is what I needed to do to hone my craft. I am no amateur when it comes to doing beadwork and other crafts, but even at my age, it’s still fun to learn something new.

I especially enjoyed Audrey’s stories of how and when birch bark is collected, when to pick the sweetgrass and how to harvest the porcupine quills, for those brave enough to try. She also told us, “don’t forget to lay down your semaa whenever you take anything from the land”. I’m pretty good when it comes to following directions in a book, but there is no book that I know of that can teach the way an Elder can.

So if you are a young person and you still have your grandparents around, instead of looking to Google for your answers, go and ask them. You just might be surprised at what they know and what you can learn. Baa maa pii.