When I first started spending time in the area of Little Spirit Island
I knew nothing about it. Then, my late brother Zenon and I had occasion to
pass by the island. I knew nothing about it and did not realize that I should
not point at it. As we came around the bend, all I noticed was the water, and
I pointed at something with my finger in the direction of the island.
Immediately, my brother told me, “You should not point.” “How come?” I asked.
We were already halfway there, at the crossing. We were not travelling fast
because we had a heavy load. He just replied, “Boy! You should not have
pointed.”

Well, it was not very long before the wind really started to blow. Holy
smokes! The waves were very rough, and it was still a long way to shore.
“There, that’s what I told you,” he said. “You pointed for no good reason.”
Then he got scared and we almost went under like this. We were nearly
swamped.

“Go with the wind at our backs, just sideways, like this,” I told him.
“That’s the way. Don’t go against the wind. Drive along the side.” At least
the wind was blowing in the right direction. He followed my advice because he
was really scared. I guided him, and we eventually made it to shore.
“Boy! That’s what I told you,” he said. “You pointed for no good
reason.” I said, “I did not know any better. You should have told me before
we came here. I did not know anything about it, and you knew
it would be like this. I would not have pointed if I had
known.” “Just don’t point again,” he said when we came back.
“I am not ever going to point again,” I said to him. Was he
ever happy when we made it to shore! We were happy that we had
not perished in the water.

Another time, when we travelled over there, I had no wish to point. I
had had one close call and was frightened. “I will not point again,” I
thought. That thing is real. It is dangerous. I am always scared whenever I
travel over there. Only an experienced person should do it. When the wind
blows, it is very tricky, you know. You need to be experienced to survive. I
fear for the people who fish over there, afraid that they will drown, even
though they are experienced. But I was inexperienced when I had my close
call.

You know, one time, too, my wife and I got stranded over there. We had
not brought blankets and could not get back home. We were stuck there all
night in August, just when it was starting to get cold. I was very concerned
that she would get chilled, and so we kept a fire going on the leeward shore
all night. It was a long night, and the wind was still blowing at daybreak.
“Boy, I don’t know what to do,” I said to her. “And you would not be able to
help drag the boat to the other side. We drove the boat around to the lee
shore, but the wind did not subside all day. It was getting dark again when
I finally told her, “I will challenge it, and maybe we won’t sink.”
I started the motor. Holy smokes, the waves were huge! I drove like
this. It was not far around the bend, but the waves were wicked. We had to
try to make it home anyway, because we did not even have a blanket to stay
overnight. We would have had to sit up all night again. Finally, we made it
back. We managed because we had an aluminum boat. Even so, water kept coming
in. As long as we did not get blown over, though, we would be okay.

It was a harrowing experience, and I was concerned the whole time that
my wife would get chilled. She was often sick, and we were just the two of us
there. Our friends across the water did not have a boat to come and look for
us. We had come to get something that we had forgotten, and we had the only
boat. Yes, that place is really difficult. I had two close calls there
myself.

The other time was when I was fishing over on the other side near
Moosehorn. I had just lifted my net when my partner said, “Let’s go.” The
wind picked up suddenly, and we nearly went under because we had all the nets
in the boat. We were moving camp, you know. We could not travel fast and got
caught in the wind. We nearly sank. So, that’s yet another time I had a close
call over there. In fact, I am afraid to stay over there, because I have had
at least two close calls.

That’s all.