Telling Our Stories:

    "Lexlexey'em"

Before welfare even became a part of our vocabulary, hardship was just something you learned to deal with.  We never saw any government people come out to the reserve.  There was very little in the way of assistance from the outside.  The community just dealt with adversity within itself.  If one family was having a harder time than others for whatever reason, help would come from somewhere else in the community.  Whenever someone got a moose or deer they would always share with others in the community.  It was always known which family had a sick or injured provider and was in greater need of help.  Certain families had better hunters. Others were better fishermen.  Yet others were better gardeners.

 Families who had good strong horse teams often went out to bring wood for the heaters and cook stoves of those who were in need and not only for their own household.   In the spring, summer and fall, most families had gardens somewhere on the reserve.  Everyone knew which garden belonged to which family and it was their garden without question, i.e. Old Annie’s garden, Jimmy Bones’ garden, etc.  To store and preserve their vegetables, many people had cellars called tsipwens.   Some smaller cellars were built right into the house underneath the floors of homes where the ground was only a couple feet below the floor. These were used to store garden produce and other food over the winter months to keep it fresh and from freezing and during the summer to keep it cool. There were no fridges in those days.  Again, everyone shared with those in need.  It was an unwritten understanding that when you got help from anyone, you were expected to return the favour to some other family in some way.  Hence the term, “Indian giving” I guess.

 Many of today’s kids probably have never heard of the term cellar (tsipwen) and its importance in the past.

Tsipwens were cellars which were usually built into the side of a hill using logs for construction.  Building it into the side of the hill used the cooling effect of the ground.

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