History
Traditional Stories
How Crow Made the Land
This is a story that was passed down to me by my Great Grandmother: One day Crow was flying in the air looking for a place to land. He searched and searched but he could not find any land. There was absolutely no land on the Earth yet. It was just a place of water and people of the Water. Crow's wings were getting very tired. He kept on flying and flying until soon he could feel himself falling lower and lower. Finally he saw a small island where a water spirit was sitting with a young child. Crow swooped down and grabbed the child and flew back into the air. Crow yelled back at the water spirit " If you want your child back then you must do my bidding!" The water spirit agreed to do whatever Crow told her to. Crow said " I want a piece of land just like yours." The water spirit swam down to the bottom of the sea and brought up a small piece of land. Crow said " Come to think of it, I want a bigger piece of land." So the water spirit went down and brought up a very big piece of land. Finally crow was satisfied with the land he had. Then crow started to press the land out with his feet. He worked for days and days . Finally, when crow was done, He looked for mile and miles. All he could see was land. After a while trees and plants grew. This is how crow created the land. The End By Morgan S. The Northern Lights are spectacular in Teslin during the winter. Daniel Smarch Grade 6 |
Interview With Grace Dewhurst
Grace Dewhurst was taught to respect the elders and do what they asked her to do. They taught and showed her different things, like how to gather food for the winter and how to dry fish the old way. She was taught how to respect all of the food they caught or killed. She was disciplined the old way. Her parents didn't loose their cool and smack her. They took her aside and explained to her what she did wrong. Her relatives offered her tea and talked to her about what she did wrong. The young ones always admitted when they were wrong. She has lived in her house for about 12 years at the 1st of October. She shot her first moose 20 years ago, and she has been shooting moose ever since. She has had her fish camp for 15 years, and she always had help running it. She has done a lot of things in her life. She knew George Johnston. She said that he was a kind man, and she even rode in his car. She told me a legend that goes like this: Some people go down to fish camp, where they usually get their seafood, Elder women stay home and weave baskets, then they go to the camp at the point. When they get there, the leader would always go around and see if everything was done right. When they see the seafood coming it looks like a big wave is coming, "it will be the dolphins chasing the seafood," said the leader . One couple never kept their camp clean. The leader told them to clean up their camp and he said that they've got to live clean . They had a messy wood pile and the leader told them to respect their wood, the trees are just like people. Everybody else cleaned up their camp, and made everything nice. They waited 3 days before they put their baskets in, and when they pulled all of their baskets in, they got more than enough for the winter. The couple's basket was still floating on top, and she was crying. That is why we told you to clean up your camp. The dolphins are such clean animals. Each person took a little from their baskets and gave some to the girl and her family. A True Story During sunset, the Three Aces often reflect in the waters of Teslin Lake. Daniel S., Grade |