Where has it all gone?

Jayson Wesley Contributor

Let’s look at our lifestyle – then and now. Way back when all the “bad” things hadn’t reached full potential, there was a lot of energy among our people. There wasn’t much sickness. There was a lot of respect, love, wisdom and storytelling. Everyone lived off the land. We were nomadic. We had nothing that could make our lives easier. We could handle it. We didn’t have that many problems.

I must stress this question: where has it all gone?

Our people used to travel long distances on foot and by dogsleds. They use to go out in the wilderness to hunt, trap and fish for food. They killed what they needed along the way. And they would be gone for days in search of food. We were very strong and energetic people. There wasn’t any laziness back then. Our people were full of life and energy. They never stopped moving. The more they worked the more energy they built up. There was nothing back then, that would make anybody’s life easy. That’s just the way things were. Life was hard. It was like that in every First Nation, every tribe.

Today we have access to all sorts of transportation to make life easy. But there is a downside to this. None of us get all the exercise we need. We don’t walk to where we want to go. We are living life in the fast lane. We are always rushing. Time isn’t a virtue. Every mode of transportation makes us weak in mind, body and spirit. We have become dependant on them.

Not many of our people died of serious sicknesses. It was mostly old age and of natural causes. I heard many stories from different elders in my community. They would tell stories of people living long healthy lives. They were very strong and healthy; they were still very mobile at their old age. Not many of them knew serious illnesses. They had medicine that came from Mother Earth. They would pray to the Creator to heal the sick. They also had medicine men that had special gifts to cure the sick people.

Today, there are numerous illnesses in the world. There are a lot of things that will eventually kill us; there are diseases that can’t be cured. There are a lot of people with diabetes; the ones that we love, our parents, grandparents, close friends, siblings, etc. It’s a dreadful reality, I know. But that’s how it is today. We don’t know much about the stuff we consume, or we just ignore it. We don’t take care of our bodies; we just take it like it is.

We have become insensitive to ourselves. We have become selfish. That is why we are dying at a young age. We abuse our bodies by not taking care of them. We depend on modern medicine to fix most of our health issues. We have forgotten about the medicine that our ancestors used. We somehow believe that they don’t exist anymore.

Respect. Storytelling. Love. Wisdom. Some elders say these once very significant things are slowly diminishing. Our people certainly are losing their way of life. Our people respected all things, living and non-living. They would only take what they needed. They would pray to the Creator for good things to happen. Respect is a thing that should be cherished. It should always be in our lives. Many people think that a lot has changed since we have been modernized. The young people of today, some of them don’t show respect. They do bad things and I personally think that today there is no discipline taught to the children. They do things in their own ways.

Television has a very bad influence on the youth of today. It tells them stories of how the world is from a non-aboriginal point of view. They have little to no knowledge of what happened to our ancestors.

Love is another big issue. We are supposed to show love to all things around us. The people in your lives are also important. You should treat them with love and respect. Help them out if they need help. Don’t just stand and watch because you might need their help someday. It doesn’t hurt to show your love to the people around you. It just shows that you care and are willing to help. That’s what our ancestors did a long time ago. They were never too busy to help out. They would gather and tell stories, share laughter, and get information from one another. They lived happy and fruitful lives. They had their hardships but they always managed to pull through.

Wisdom, what can I say about wisdom? Many young people today lack wisdom. They have some knowledge but not a lot. Our ancestors were very wise. For example, they knew exactly where to go, when it is safe to travel, what kind of weather is headed toward them, etc. If you didn’t know anything, there was little or no chance of survival. And so I say to the youth of today, do the things you want, make mistakes, and take risks. That’s the only way that we will learn.

Our ancestors lived off the land and some of the people today still go out and spend some time out in the wilderness. They go hunting for geese and ducks during springtime. During the summer they go out fishing, during autumn they go out hunting.

Preparation is another essential thing that our people used to do long ago. They would stock up their supplies of food and firewood that they collect during the summer months. A lot was done before the cold harsh winter weather arrived. They would also make clothing for children out of hide from the fur- bearing animals. They would also move to where there was an abundance of firewood. They would move deep in the wilderness to seek shelter from the wind and harsh weather. They would move with the animals. Our people were nomadic.

Ever since we were put in a specific place (reserves) by the government, we have lost the ability to move from place to place. A lot has changed. We still live the life of our ancestors but it’s much easier today. We have access to transportation, guns and ammunition; we just go to the local general store to pick up supplies for what we need for the trip. It’s easier now. Or so we think.

Native people have it easy today. But that is not necessarily a good thing. Let me explain.

Money, drugs, alcohol, electricity, television, etc. These things are part of our lives now.

Believe it or not, it’s true. We have become dependent on them. We take advantage of them. We even abuse them. Everything nowadays cost money; if we don’t have money, we can’t buy anything.

Drugs and alcohol, these things are actually killing us slowly but surely. We abuse these things. We don’t know how to handle them. They weren’t meant to be used by the First Nations people. It just wasn’t meant to be, in my opinion. A lot of bad things come out of it when used incorrectly. It leads to depression, abuse, health issues and it could result in death.

We are just destroying ourselves when we use them, and even worse we are destroying our heritage and way of life.

A lot certainly has changed since our grandparents’ time. They see the world, as we know it, very different. They feel that we have it easy. But that is not the case. Every generation, everywhere has it hard. Life is not easy; you have to work hard at it. That is the only way that you can have a happy and successful life.

For our people of the past, we the youth of today will try our hardest to keep our heritage alive. We will keep on living your way of life, the way you lived. We will keep our language and most importantly, we will not forget where we came from.

We still have a lot to learn about our past. We will never know exactly how our ancestors lived. That is why we ask the question: Where has it all gone? But am I asking the wrong question. The question I should be asking is: Will it ever come back?