More from Mary Thomas In her own words

Page 28 I've got memories of way back when I was little. I mostly grew up with my grandfather... and his wife, and I have some beautiful memories. In 84 years of learning experience I can see a big difference. Today we talk about our health, what should we be doing... We have to change a big system, but how do we do this is a big question. First of all, that we have to recognize that our environment is really deteriorating, and our medicine, are getting less and less, and that's a part that I worry about. And water especially, we are running out of water. Why is it today that we have to buy water to drink, when all the water around us is polluted. It's very dangerous today how we are living. And another thing that worries me is our whole system is failing our children. There future doesn't look very good. The school system is failing, the law itself, the governments are failing...and all because of we put too much on the money issue. We do not recognize the value of our people. When you think back, a long time ago, we did not need to build school houses. We did not need to build hospitals. And most of all there was no such a thing as jails with our society. And I questioned that, I said 'what did our people do that there was no law breakers?' When you think of it, it all boils down to the values of our culture, the morals. You look at the diseases that are happening today, those diseases were unheard of. That was brought over by the non-Native people... and then we have the disease that pertains to no morals, no values. Now everybody's afraid of this so-called HIV. That was unheard of. I guess it all boils down to our people, our spirituality. Our spirituality was based on the understanding that we are a part of the land. We are not superior; we are just a strand in it. If we don't look after the gifts of Mother Nature, we're the ones that are going to suffer. And I can see that's the direction that we are headed for... None of the big money makers understand where we are coming from... say the logging companies as an example of what I'm talking about the spirituality. When our people go into the woods to collect our medicine or our edibles, we always offer a prayer of thanksgiving. I can remember my grandmother, my mother, when they went up to a tree or bushes to collect the medicine, she would talk to it as if it were a human being. 'I didn't come here to damage you. I come here because the Creator put you here that I help myself to survive. I'm taking from you some medicine.' And they would give an offering. But you take the logging company, I tell them, you bring your big bulldozers onto a mountainside and you don't even give a prayer of thanksgiving. You just go in there and bulldoze everything out that you don't need, that is of no value, money value. You just bulldoze everything out. What about the bear's den, the coyote, the deer grazing, right down to little squirrels, right down to little insects that have a right to live in there. They have no regard for anything, and their almighty dollar is their god. The more money they make, the happier. So everything is looking very grim. And when we look back to our people, when they lived by those values they were a healthier bunch of people. I can remember the happy days when I was little girl, when my parents would go out on the lake in canoes, and outdoor camping all summer. There would be fishing and hunting, and gathering berries, drying it for the winter use. It was so peaceful compared to today. It's just not like what it used to be and we're suffering for it now. The role of the parents when we question why there was no jails. Why wasn't there any need for jails? Because there was no law-breakers. And how did they prevent that? It was because of the family circle. A girl was taught from an early age her role in the family as a woman. When she grew up you became a woman and her body is a giver of life and you value that body. You don't go around flauting it to every Tom, Dick or Harry. You look after your body. You make sure that you're pure. And there are many things that they had to do, especially when they started menstruating. They were expected by the Elders to swim morning and night. Keep their bodies clean. They were given medicine to clean their inside out, so when they became young mothers, the children would be strong, healthy children. And when you think of it, you know, the things we ate were different. We ate healthy foods. So when a young woman starts bearing children, if her body is healthy and pure, her children are going to be born healthy and strong and pure like herself. And the woman always was, especially the grandmothers. I can see that now, when my children need to discipline their children, I have to really control myself not to butt in, because as a grandmother I love my grandchildren so dearly that I tend to get a little bit over-protective. But I know discipline is good for them. So I have to fight very hard to stay out of the picture.... I make sure I disappear. But that's the role of the grandmother. If you give children a lot of love every morning,...my granddaughter gets up, I tell her, 'I love you.' Just before I go to bed, 'goodnight babe, I love you.' And when a child grows up knowing that they are loved, they begin to feel good inside... And the grandfathers were the same. I remember my grandfather when he was alive... he used to grab a hold of us and discipline us, tell us what they expected of us when we grew up. George Manuel was my cousin. Him and I grew up mostly together. We were always being left with our grandparents... and grandpa would help us, and talk to us, discipline us, and he was always telling us things that were a no-no, and telling us things that we should be doing. But in a kind, gentle way. And I can just picture him sitting there with his drum in the evening. He would be drumming and singing away... we would sit beside grandma and she would massge our heads and our backs. What a nice feeling to end the day, to know you're loved. Today we don't have that kind of time to give our children. And I think that's why they've taken to the white man's way. Their models today are the movie stars. That TV takes the biggest part of their time at home, and their role models are the movie stars, and you know what kind of people they are. All nothing but sex and money, and that's no role model for growing children. The role for the woman was something that was really valued. And the medicines we ate, I guess the biggest part of the food we ate that we took from the ground, all had antibiotic in it. And when you are eating that in your daily diet your immune system stays in tact. You're healthy. Very seldom you lay down, 'Oh, I'm sick...' The only thing today is my old age is starting to creep up on me. I don't question that. I accept it. I've done my best. I've given it my best...I'll gladly say at least I've done what my grandparents expected of me. I've shared all the knowledge that my grandparents gave me. At 84, I guess, I'm lucky that I can work a little bit. But I'm starting to get tired. I am so happy to be able to share with you young people. You know, we need to get that bridge, to get together on that bridge of understanding based on trust, and we have to get the non-Native to understand us.