Life Of A Metis Woman: Part 1 (By Ramisha)

It is Monday, early in the morning and I am dreadfully tired and can't go back to sleep. Today is the day I am sending my 8 year old son to Great Britain, to become educated and have a successful career. I can't bare to part with him, but I know I have to be strong and help my family. I get up and change into my cotton dress because of the warm weather. I braided my hair and put on my moccasins which are made out of dear skins. I slowly emerged from my teepee which is a cone like tent, that were made from dear or buffalo hides that stretched over a frame of poles. Once outside, I inhaled the crisp morning air, and went to the lake to clean my face.

Everyone is finally awake in the village. My husband, Jacques Bellamy, a french man, got my son dressed into a shirt we got from the trading post, a coat made from buffalo robes that I decorated with colourful beads, a sash pouch that belonged to my father, moccasins my mother made for him, and a tam ( a cap). I packed some clothes for him and supplied him food for the journey. My son is going with another group of boys that were going by cart to the docks. In tears, my husband, daughter, and I say our final good byes and wish our son a safe trip.

After the sad departure, my husband and I go to work. I send my 6 year old daughter to my neighboor, an elderly woman, who comes from the same Nation as me, the Siksika. She teaches my daughter about our ancestors ways of living. After dropping my daughter off, I head to the work place for women. There, me and many other women make pemmican for the fur trade companies, which is the main job for  Metis women. While I work on making pemmican, my husband is farming. We, like many other Metis farmers, own a 3 km strip of land and a 100-metre frontage on the river which makes water transportations easier. My husband grew barley, potatoes, onions, and prairie turnips for the trading post and for our family. Tomorrow, my husband and I will join the group of men and women that are going to the annual buffalo hunt, where the men would chase and kill buffalo herds for their meat and other usefull items such as their hides, hairs, and more. The woman would take the dead buffalo and make use of all their parts. This is one of the most important event to our everyday lives.We try not to waste any parts of the buffalo.

It is night time, and I invited some families over for dinner. I am cooking my family and friends a dinner of boulettes ( meatballs) with cooked vegetables and rice. We all went outside to enjoy the warm summer night and ate dinner pleasantly. During dinner, my husband and the other men were laughing, having fun and were discussing the hunt. The women and I are talking about our children and our homelands. After dinner, My family and my guests go to the center of the village, where most of the entertainment was held. People from other teepees started to come outside and join us.The children were running around playing tag and hide and go seek, common games to play outside. The rest of the adults gathered around, some singing a folk song, " La Rose Blanche", my husband and his friends playing the fiddle, and the rest were dancing gleefully. Afterwards, all the husbands put the children to sleep, and came back for storytelling. The village elders came up and told us funny, and adventerous stories that made you dream and wonder about the past. Exhausted after a long day of work and fun, everyone returns to their teepees to get a good nights sleep. My husband and I change into our night clothes and fall fast asleep in each others arms.

-Anna