Robert: You were going to tell a story about something?

Rosie: Yes, the story about how we used to make things out of hide.
First, we prepared the hide on a stretcher, to make it into leather
that we could use. I made all sorts of things for my children out of
the leather, for example, mittens and footwear. For my husband and
myself I made all our footwear. We never got any from the store, except
for rubbers (rubber overshoes). They were available there. We pulled
them over our footwear whenever it rained, but only then. When it was
sunny, we just wore the moccasins. Every fall we prepared hides and
from them made things for our children.

Robert: You say everything you made was out of hide?

Rosie: Yes.

Robert: So, did you make other things out of hide, too?

Rosie: Yes. A jacket and pants, these things we made in the winter. The
working men wore them, and we made footwear, too, this high (mukluks),
and they were made out of leather, too, but no cloth was used. In the
fall, we set out to go to where we had our winter camp. The men made
winter cabins and beds there.

Robert: What kind of houses did they build?

Rosie: Oh, you know, those log cabins.

Robert: Tipis?

Rosie: Little houses, cabins, they were. They were made out of trees,
just like these here, all next to each other. That’s how they used to
build our winter cabins. They made beds, too, using logs. They cut
boards out of the logs and squared them. When they finished the beds,
we took straw, dried grass, and stuffed it inside sacks, and these
became our mattresses. The cold did not get through. One bed was made
for my children, and they all slept together in it, and one for my
husband and me. And, oh yes, we made blankets with duck feathers. We
stuffed the down inside duvets to make quilts.
We had to make everything on our own. Nothing was ready-made, not
even children’s clothing. Material for making pants was available, but
we had to make them, the pants.

Robert: Was there a store then?

Rosie: Yes, there was already a store. I recall seeing the store. It was
there, but it did not have many things in it. We mostly made our own
things, for example, with this yarn, rolled up for knitting, you know?
There was almost no clothing ready to wear, and we had to make our own
shirts. When I wanted to have something for myself, like this jacket,
I made it. Only these sweaters were ready-made, like this one, that we
purchased and took with us to winter camp. Picture this!
All winter we stayed there, and I stuffed the straw. We never
crushed the mattresses, and the beds were extremely warm.

Robert: At the time the story took place, Granny, how old were you? I
know that you were already married because you mentioned your children,
right? How old do you think you were at the time?

Rosie: At that time? I was maybe twenty years old when I got married. I
was certainly not a child when I was married! [laughter] I got married
when I was twenty, and that’s when I started to have children. I was
maybe thirty years old when was working on all these things for my
children so that they would be dressed this way. We made patterns, too.
Right away a woman would come running to me with something for her to
cut, like footwear, mitts or pants. Then I made patterns for her and
the others, for the young women, you know, who were just starting out
and did not yet know how to do things. We were starting to teach them.

Robert: You mention young women. Do you remember when you were a young
woman yourself, when you were taught, too? Can you tell us a little bit
about it?

Rosie: It was the only way I had to learn. Our parents brought us up and
showed us how. They showed us the way, and when we were on our own
later we did things the way they had taught us, even how to prepare
hides. My mother taught me how to make them while I was still living at
home with my parents. I was skilled at everything I made before I left
my parents’ home, and that is how I knew about life. And young women
came to me, then, for me to cut them patterns for footwear, mitts,
pants, and all sorts of other things. That’s what my mother had taught
me, too. To this day, I have this knowledge.
Many times people will ask me to teach them how to live a good
life. It pays for a person to listen to his parents. He will live long
if he heeds his parents when he is growing up. I know how to do right.
You should know what your parents teach you, and you should follow the
path they show you. That is how I learned everything. For instance, I
said that for winter camp we had to make everything for ourselves. Your
grandfather, too, made a bed by splitting the logs, cut out of trees.
No ready-made boards were used.

Robert: Whenever you went out to winter camp, where did you usually
go to live?

Rosie: Everywhere, you know. We even used to go to overwinter at “Our
Grandfather’s” or Old Man’s Bay, as it was called. Maybe you know the
place. That’s where we used to go to stay in the late autumn. When
Midnight Mass approached, we used to head back home. Sometimes when we
overwintered we did not come home. Loon Lake is one place where we
stayed, and also McKnight Lake, ‘Trout Lake’, as it was called. Oh, and
your grandmother Marie Louise’s land, that’s also where we spent the
winter twice while my daughter Margaret was small. I had only four
children at the time. And, let’s see, we also stayed at Loon Lake when
I had three children, my son who died, Margaret and Harry. At one time
I lost one son. I had four children at the time I am talking about. You
know these kinds of footwear? When you put them on, rabbit furs were
used for socks, so that people’s feet would not freeze. The cold could
not get through. I usually had those. Myself, I used to sew the rabbit
furs around the jackets so that they stretched out, even when we moved
camp, because it was very cold long ago, not like now, when it’s warm.
And that’s what we used, these rabbit furs. We even made blankets with
them. They used to be strung up just like a rope, and they were laced
together. Whenever I made a blanket, it was a really good-sized one.

Robert: At the time, what did you use to travel around with?

Rosie: Dogs, of course. Nothing else! [laughter] Certainly no
snowmobile, eh? [more laughter] Only dogs. We raised them, too, about
four of them. Your grandfather used to have good dogs, so we took them,
and I raised them. These were the ones that he used whenever we moved
camp. We used to move over there to—let me think—Lynn Lake, way over
there to the lakes. We started back home at spring break-up. Just
imagine! We stayed all winter, and in the spring until trapping season
was over. Then we came home, when I already had my sons Jerome and
John, and Celestine. Those were the small ones at the time. That’s
where we used to spend the winter then, and we used only dogs, two
sleds.

Robert: Do you know what years we are talking about? [At this point, a
few repetitive, nonessential words in the recording are skipped.]

Rosie: I don’t know, because I did not speak English and did not attend
school. My mother taught me only practical things. It was the school of
practical experience that I went to!

Robert: You never attended a school?

Rosie: No, not once. My brothers and sisters all went, but I never did
because I was the only one left to take care of my mother as soon as I
was old enough. I even took care of my brothers and sisters after they
were born. It was my job. I am the oldest sister, and so I tended them.
That’s why I did not have any problems when I had my own child to care
for. I had been taught how to handle children, and what to go and make.
My mother had taught me everything.

Robert: When were you at Pukatawagan as a young woman? How many people do
you think were here then?

Rosie: Oh, there were lots of them, lots of old people, people who are
old now. But there are not many of us left. Your grandfather was John
Sinclair, right? Your grandfather, your uncle, and Hyacinth “Jewish.”
Those people have been here a long time, and your grandmother Suzette,
who is the same age and whom I used to work with, caring for our
parents.

Robert: Suzette Francois?

Rosie: Yes, that one; she’s the one I used to [work with]. You know,
when I got up in the morning, I never used to drink tea. Later on when
I was living with your grandfather, that’s when I drank tea more, more
or less for the sugar.

Robert: Does this mean that you worked very hard?

Rosie: That’s right! I did not use many things because not much was
available. I ate first, helping myself to a cup of water, and then I
got dressed and went outside, where I cut wood across the ice over
there. [laughter] We used one sled and dog, and he used one sled and
dog, too.

Robert: Those were the good old days!

Rosie: Just imagine! We used to dress just the way I am
dressed now.

Robert: Just like women?

Rosie: And nothing but! It was only recently that women started wearing
these clothes on the outside. [laughter] I always wore them inside. My
mother told me to make socks for myself so I would not get cold in
here, and that’s all, and moosehide footwear. Just imagine, we walked
around in deep snow, wearing only those. We made a fire eventually.
When I got cold, that’s when I went to warm myself up.

Robert: What did this area look like then, compared to today?

Rosie: It was different. There was very dense bush, and there was a
little trail that looked not at all like right now. Now it has been
cleared, and even across the water there was dense bush. Nothing had
been cut. There was no cleared land. The trees were huge, and today,
over at the Point, maybe two trees were still standing when I moved
over here by the shoreline. And maybe now there is not even one left.

Robert: Right here. [Rosie is reaching for her tea.]

Rosie: Yes, this is my tea.

[Rosie takes a sip of tea. End of recording.]

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