Turtle Talk

From the Cheboygan Tribune:

Recently Ce-naw-de-quay (Andrea) and I attended a gathering sponsored by the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Mt. Pleasant, of which I am a member. It brought together many new members. They were here to see and learn how to make baskets, like our ancestors did long ago.

The meeting brought together many people from all over Michigan, all gathering to learn how to make baskets. Many never made a basket before. People of all ages were there.

As I looked around and saw all the people working on their baskets, it brought back many memories of long ago when I was a young boy and later on a young man. I visited many Indian homes in my work.

I remember going into some homes where the smell of sweet grass hit you in the face when the door was opened. What a welcome that was. Many homes had no electric or gas stoves, only a wood stove upon which to cook. It brought back memories of my childhood. My mother prepared meals on such a stove, and when the stove was too hot, she would just move the kettle over to where it would just simmer. There it would finish its cooking. There were no knobs or dials to turn down the heat. All one did was slide the kettle over to where the stove wasn’t as hot.

That same stove had an oven and one had to learn how to regulate the heat by opening the door a little to let some of the heat out. Above the cooking area was what was called a warming oven, where the food could be put to keep it warm until everything was ready for the meal.

My job was to keep the wood box full and later I learned how to keep the fire so the stove would be hot enough to cook upon. I learned at an early age which wood burned the hottest and lasted longer. How to keep fire was a learned thing. Mom would say a few choice words to me if the fire wasn’t hot enough.

Water was heated by a reservoir that was located at one end of the stove and usually the water would be warm, being heated by an air space that was above the oven and on the sides. Another job was to make sure there was enough water in it, so warm water was available.

On Mondays it usually was wash day and water was heated on the cook stove in a big galvanized tub. Water was carried from the river, instead of the well. The river was about 200 feet from the house. I carried two pails at a time. It seemed as though that tub never filled up.

That happened every Monday morning. You could tell by the neighbor women, who would be hanging the wash on the lines to dry. There were no dryers back then, only the natural resources of the wind and Brother Sun, who supplied the warmth and the wind to blow through the clothes to make them dry. When the wash was brought in, there was a freshness that only the wind and sun could make. All knew that with the help of the Great Spirit, this was possible. That was back when there weren’t any of the modern conveniences we have today.

The gathering of the tribal members was well attended and we can thank the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribal Council for allotting the finances for such things as this for some of its members.

It lets us know who are members of the tribe and, above all, lets us make new friends and talk of the days gone by. It is like being freshened all over again. It is the wish of the Great Spirit who made all the things on this Mother Earth for all to enjoy.

With that I say walk in peace.