Traditional First Nations Parenting

One of my fondest memories was of my Moshum, Edward Moosomin, waking me up in the morning, "Wa-nis-ka a-say e-ya-kwa ki-si-kaw"..."Wake up, it is already late in the day", he would say every morning, even though it was still dark out, the sun was'nt even up. My Kohkum Irene was already busy cooking by the wood stove, you could hear the fire crackle, you could hear and smell the bacon and eggs, poridge and fried bannock would already be done. The table was a feast, eating by moshum and kohkum watching the sun come up. There was a quietness in the kitchen as we ate but it was so warm and comforting that I never wanted it to end.

First Nations People have been practising traditional parenting since time immemorial, with well developed and well proven techniques in parenting passed down through the Generations.
Children are the future and a happy child is a healthy child.
The First Nations Plains tribes understood that it was everyone's responsibility to assure that the child was warm and fed, happier children did not cry, this was also to make sure the child did not scare away game during a hunt or alert the enemy. Teaching children was also a communal responsibility, life skills, ceremony and song was taught through active participation with guidance from the Elders.
The daily activities began as soon as the sun was on the horizon, with morning songs, offerings and prayer,the children learned to give thanks to the Creator. After washing up in the nearby stream or lake, a grand breakfast was prepared and enjoyed by everyone in the home, there was no such thing as "sleeping in". In the warm days meals were often eaten outside in the sun, and on cold days everyone ate by the campfire in the home.
Tiny babies were precious gifts from the Creator, children were believed to be on loan and it was everyones duty to take care of this gift.

The Snowman

The winter months are long and cold, children begin to play in the drifts, digging igloos and making snowmen. Back home when I was young there would be times when my younger brothers and I would play in the farmyard and when my parents werent home, we had to look after ourselves.

We played in the snow like other children, but there were restrictions as to how we were to play, partly because our gradparents were very strict about the traditional ways and partly because we believed in the traditions, we were cautioned about the Snowman and what that represented to the First Nation Assiniboine.

The First Nation Assiniboine depended on wild game for food, shelter and clothing, therefore the environment played a major part in the hunting conditions. The large game included Deer, Moose, Elk, Bear and Antelope, other smaller game also provided food and several household items. In the winter the people would follow the big game animals and often the hunting trips would take the hunter far out in the wilderness. In the winter the snow would slow the hunter down because they would fall into the drifts making it dangerous and often deadly especially in snow that was very deep. It is beleived that if the hunter made an image of a man that the snowman would bring cold weather to make the snow hard and easy to walk on. That is why when children make a snowman the old people would order them to break it for it was an invitation for cold weather.

My Moshum and the wagon hunts

In the days gone by, when I was younger about the age of ten , I would go with my Moshum to check the traps. In those days the way we travelled a lot of the time was with a wagon and horses, so my brothers and I would be asked to chase the horses into the corral and we would put the harness on them. Somehow when we mixed up the lines than that would cause trouble for everyone because the lines would tangle up and spook the horses, sometimes they would run. My Moshum used to hunt for a living and did not waste anything from his hunt. My moshum was a great trapper and hunter, my Kohkum was very skilled at cooking and could sew beautiful designs from beads on clothing and pouches. I learned that a person has to learn and do different things for survival and not to concentrate on one thing.

Childrens Toys in First Nations Culture

In First Nations Culture , children are held in high regard and are known to be pure and have a special place on Mother Earth, children are sacred and are respected as such. The Old People have always said that " the children are only on loan from the Creator and if we do not look after them properly and teach them right the Creator will take them away from you...".

Childrens love to play with toys and in First Nations Culture, toys were made in exact replica of the things that adults would use with intricate Craftsmanship and was often fully functional except smaller and easier to handle. The Toys made also served a purpose as a teaching tool for respecting property and how to share with others. The toys would also be a tool to teach children how to use tools properly, for example a toy cradle board would show how a baby fitted properly in the safety seat. (the toys than were teaching methods on survival) .

Boys and girls were allowed to play with each others toys untill they were told that they were too old perhaps at about age 10, at this time teachings of the Adult world would take over from the carefree days of childhood.

The Medicine Hat Society

When a child is born into a family that is well known for a specific role in the community, it is understood that the child would learn the those particular skills from his family.

Within the Medicine Hat Society members are recognized and groomed from childhood and are taught all kinds of medicine. The teachings include the origin of the plant, the proper protocol of harvesting the plant, the ceremonies that come with the plant and its medicines. The songs, chants and ceremonies that come with the medicines must be learned in the way that they had been practised since time immemorial.

The Medicine Hat is made of feathers of all kinds of Birds which may include the Eagle, Crow, Magpies, and other birds; as the knowledge is transferred from one person to the other it is signified by adding a feather onto the bonnet. The hat becomes rounder and rounder as feathers are added. Each of the Feathers represent a knowledge or a medicine.

The owner of the Medicine Hat would have their own individual ceremonies for the Hat itself, during the summer months there would be a gathering of Medicine Men and this gives the opportunity to have a Community feast and celebration, this also gives a chance to hold workshops on new technologies and healing methods.

To be the owner of the Medicine Hat is equivalent to owning a doctorate degree in todays standards, there are both male and female Medicine Hat Owners.

The Early Years - Town Schools and the reserve

The first thing that I would wake up to was the smell of fried bannock every morning when I used to live with my Kohkum Irene Spyglass, I must have been about 10 years old and already I had been living at my grandparents since I was about 8 years old. My parents lived in a house that was about maybe 200 yards from where my Kohkum's house was so we were'nt really seperated from safety. During the winter months I would be sent to school in town - so I would have to catch the bus at the highway real early in the Morning. There was six of us on the bus plus the bus drivers children - I think there were four of them and that would be all the students from my whole reserve that went to a town school, everyone else went to the Indian Day School where they probably had it just as rough as we did. To the other children on the reserve we were the outcasts because we attended the town school which kind of set us up to be rich or well off or smarter, what ever the case the other children on the reserve didnt understand us. The reason that my mom wanted us to attend a catholic School was to see what was beyond the reserve, even though the only thing that stood out in my memory was how much the Priests and Sisters did not like Native People and how they taught other students not to like Native People - I think to this day those classmates of mine still dont like Native People , but make a living from Native People.

My Kohkum and her pow wow dress

Just this past Christmas, my niece's two children got into an accident, they are only 4 and 5 years old, my grandson Marcus had a surgery to repair some damage to his stomach and my granddaughter, Michelle walked away without a scratch. This was a very scary time for me as well as for the parents, my grandchildren who I refer to as My Moshum and My Kohkum are doing fine now. I am currently making my Kohkum a Powwow outfit and hopefully she will learn about the Traditions of the First Nations in that way... even though I try to teach them both a lot of the old ways it is always nice to learn with others. The reason that I am making my Kohkum an outfit is to give thanks to the Creator to let my Moshum and my Kohkum live healthy lives cause it could have been alot worse.. My Parents always say that "while you are alive, you should be proud of your body and make it beautiful by wearing beautiful clothing, make your body dance while you are healthy - in this way you are giving thanks to the Creator for giving you life - Miyo - Pimatisowin". My Kohkum is so excited about her new dress but my Moshum is already asking when he will be getting his. By the way there is protocol to introducing the children to the powwow, my Parents gave away a Horse and lots of gifts and money at a Powwow in Onion Lake when My niece Charmaine was a Princess for Mosquito and Red Pheasant reserves.