— with Elizabeth Panamick

Miinwaa ngoding mewzha n-wiikane, m-bakwaakdokemi niibing.  Aa’sh, mtaakzidewag’sh gewiinwaa.  Kosnoon oodi mkiznan.  Gaawii wii-biiska-ziinaawaan niwi.  Mtaakzidewag bkwaadokeyaang; mbakwaakdokemi.  Mii’sh wii gewii naanhidaa moodaapkoonhs gaa-zhi-teg.  Mii sa doondnang zhiwi aapji gii-oo-giishkzideshing wa.  Niibna go gnabach…niizho-dbagaanhs, nso-dbagaans mnik gii-kwaa wi gii-giishkzideshing wa.  Gwetaag sa naa gaa-zhi-kwaatsagnaagzid.  Mii gii-aaspinaad niwi n-mamaa niwi.  Maanpii go gii-dzhi-zhiwebad wi. Mii’sh, “aaniish naa ge…[zhichgeying]?” kida sa.  Gii-gpiiptoo dash.  Oodi’sh go mdimowenh gidaaki zhanda, Lobzan’kwe gii-zhin’kaazo aw.  Gii-gpiiptood, wewiib go. “Gii-giishkzideshin wa gwiiwzhenzhish,” dinaan giiyenh.  “Wegdagwen’sh iidig zhiwi ge-toowaambaane, maage mshkikwaaboo gegoo.”  Mii dash wi gaa-biidood, wi sa ni’ii min’gan.  Miinwaa dash wgii-igoon niwi, “giishpin e-yaawaawdenh wa ziitaagni-gookoosh,” na’aa,  {Evelyn: nagay} — enh, nagay — “ka-gziibiignaa wa,” wgii-igoon niwi.  “Ka-gobnaa’sh niwi, gii-shkwaa-toowin maanda min’gan zhiwi.  Mii miinwaa wa ge-sad zhiwi, gookoosh-nagay,” gii-goon niwi.  “Weweni go ka-aaspinaa.” Mii sa go gaa-zhichged wi; gii-gobnaan niwi.  Gwetaani-wewiib maaba gaa-ni-mnoyaad.  Mii gego gii-ni-spoging wi gii-giishkzideshing wa.  Nishke gewii wi.

Another time, a while back, my brother, we are playing ball in the summer and well, they’re barefoot.  The shoes are piled over there.  They don’t want to wear them.  They’re barefoot when we’re playing ball; we’re playing ball.  And so, it just so happened there was a piece of broken glass there.  And he goes and gets a cut in his foot right on his heel.  Big [cut] I think… it was 2 inches [or] 3 inches long where he cut his foot.  Did he ever look awful.  So my mother bandaged him up.  That happened right here.  So, “what shall we [do]?” she says.  So she ran up to the farm.  This old lady, up the hill here, her name was ‘Lobzan’kwe’ (her nickname).  She run up to the farm, quickly.  “That darn boy got his foot cut,” she tells her.  So I don’t know what to put on it, maybe some kind of herbal brew (he can drink).  So, that’s what she brought out, that, um, salve.  And she also told her, “if you have any salt pork,” um, {prompter: rind} – yes, rind – “you’ll rinse that,” she told her.  “Then you’ll put it on his cut [as a poultice], after you put this salve there.  Then that’s what you’ll put there, pork rind,” she told her.  “You’ll bandage him up well.” So that’s what she did, she put a poultice on him.  This guy healed so quickly.  And, it closed up where his foot was cut.  See how it was.

© 2017 M’Chigeeng First Nation