Living Our Language_ Ojibwe Tales & Oral Histories - Anton Treuer [91]
[4] No. I never remember the Spirit, whichever one. My grandmother and grandfather knew him so well and took care of that Spirit. But I’ve lost him. I forgot it. That drinking is the devil’s work.
[5] But today I always talk about when I first started to disapprove of that drinking because I feel for the abusers of alcohol who punish themselves and inflict such pain on their children. My hope is this, I’ll say. I hope I’ll be able to reach them to convince the people to start over, to abstain from this suffering, from that which makes them suffer, and they will look for their real place of belonging here on earth. Niitaa, we’ve all been gifted, every one of us, and we’ve been put here ourselves. We’re not here for very long. But there is something that Spirit gave you to carry with you so you can show the living Indians and their children. Although not all the time, they do hear me, just as I listened to these elders in a good way when the old people spoke. And they will echo those thoughts themselves.
[6] Every day you learn something different, every day a new piece of knowledge. That’s the way you live your life. Then you approach those things a little more to hear them, to see them. And the Spirit shares. That’s how you search for the good things. Nothing bad will come of it. You were listen-ing to us here this morning, that one elder woman and I, speaking about the different things Indians said when they were together, saying all kinds of things, teasing and laughing so hard. But today he’s not so good at doing that. When somebody wants to beat someone up it’s usually an overreaction because of a misunderstanding. But no, the Indian has a sense of humor and likes to have a good time. But if you are involved with bad things like smoking marijuana, those of us who are Indian do [bad] things to one another.
[7] We are going to be very pitiful if we don’t teach these children of ours to go to school in a good way, and to get good college educations for themselves too, so that they can lead good lives, so they can learn things in their lifetimes to acquire good jobs. If not, they are going to be poor and pitiful.
[8] Every day when I get up I remember the kids who are going to have a hard time. It’s the start of this drinking that has made them so pitiful. There are lots of these old women and these old men who are blessed when they think about their children all the time, when they talk [to them]. We don’t like to use that [alcohol]. Sometimes the children argue with us. Our own children don’t understand these things. Maybe when they first get up they’re just sobering up. We lectured like that old woman and that old man talk about what will happen in the future. This is what I want to see today. A long time ago my grandfather used to talk, and my grandmother too, about what was going to happen.
[9] Yes young Indians! Now I used to see these elders talk about this every day. And now today they are still talking about it. The Indians are blessed and loved. Maybe they were told this. But these young Indians are intimidated. “They disapprove of them. They dislike me. They disapprove of me,” that’s what they say. But my grandfather never expressed disapproval or my grandmother. They wouldn’t say such things. They just love them so much that they want to preach to them so that they’ll know about the good life that is right here.
[10] This is what I’m talking about all the time. I really suffered and I was so pitiful with that alcoholism. But today I am able to have a good time and laugh with my fellow Indians and relatives while maintaining a clear mind. And I still get talked about from when I was a drunk. Some people disliked me. Well, I let myself do those things. Nobody else did.
[11] I wish, that is, today I hope that whomever would happen to hear what I’m saying here, like these