Elder Brother and the Law of the People by Robert Alexander Innes

Author:Robert Alexander Innes
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: University of Manitoba Press
Published: 2013-12-17T05:00:00+00:00

Maintenance of Family Connections

The way in which Cowessess people put into practice their belief in the importance of family ties is through the various means by which they maintain their family connections. Maintaining family connections was seen by many as fundamental to the preservation of an individual’s identity as a First Nations person. All those interviewed linked maintaining family connection to fulfilling some sort of responsibility to family members and community. Here are some examples of the diverse ways that Cowessess people have fulfilled their responsibilities:

I think that we continue to take care of the old people in our family. A case in point is my mother and father. My brothers and I continue to give what we can give. In my case, because I’ve been in management and done well financially the majority of my life, I was able to buy a second home and move them into that home. My older brother now lives in the basement and takes care of them, and so financially we’re supporting them as they age. My brothers have taken responsibility for the family, as well. They have other aunts and uncles, cousins, [and] continue to provide support in different ways, whether it’s a ride to the bank or the grocery store or whatever, to a wake on reserve. There’s always that time after the reserve, so there’s a lot of people around the old people that take care of them still.

I don’t know if there were responsibilities, but the one thing I know is that, from how I remembered my parents and grandparents, if there was a responsibility it is always with the children. There is always an instinctive internal notion. For me, because I am the oldest of fourteen kids and on my side of the family, I am the oldest on my mom’s side of the family. I am the oldest of forty grandkids, so in that sense I was always the oldest for everything. I was always responsible for other people. It was something people did. There was always a whole bunch of kids, so at my grandmother’s house she had a big day school where she kept the kids, and, literally, she had all the forty kids there as well as other kids she was keeping. So there was always a big group of kids there.

Our family, there’s not too many elders left. On my mom’s side, there’s not too many left anymore. So it’s my generation that’s the next oldest, and when you look around, you need to teach your children well. You [we, the new generation of elders] need to slow down or you need to help [the next generations] do that. It’s important to keep the family [ties]. It’s like a big wheel, and you’re in the centre of that wheel, and the spokes are your different relatives like this, and it just keeps it going. Some of my responsibilities or what I’ve learned is, I have to try to keep my children informed about

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