Martin Larocque

Air Date: November 16, 2022

Summary

Podcast host Christine Fiddler visits with Cree elder Martin Larocque about language, traditional medicine and culture.

• English Translation

  J.M.L.: When you learn Cree and when you’re learning your culture. You have to speak Cree to... even when you pray in your own language. And when you’re lifting up a pipe, you have to speak in Cree. You cannot use the English language to pray in your culture with the pipes, you have to speak Cree. So it’s very important that... that you know that young people go to sweats, go to sundances, go to different ceremonies. (Cree-iyopee) ceremonies. You got the sundance lodge, the different lodges the chicken dance lodge, the ghost dance lodge. There’s so many different... different things. And those elders in there when they’re praying and they’re speaking Cree. If, as a young person, you don’t understand Cree, you’re gonna be missing lots of things that they say in their language. It’s so important to speak your language.
  
  It’s like... I’ll say, the people in Quebec, they want everybody to speak French. There’s nothing wrong with that. If I had a chance, I would learn how to speak French. There’s nothing wrong with speaking lot of languages. You know, like my grandfather, he spoke English. He spoke French. He spoke Cree. You know, there’s nothing wrong with that. That’s a good good thing to learn. And if I could learn a different language I would. But I guess the main language for me is Cree. So there’s nothing wrong with learning lot of languages, it makes you... it makes you grow, it makes you who you are as a human being. To be able to learn a lot of languages. That’s just what I wanted to say. Thank you.
  
  C.F.: What do you know about traditional medicines and traditional healing and how it changed over the years here in Waterhen?
  
  J.M.L.: Traditional medicine is really, really good. Really, really good. I don’t know lots about it. But I know ratroot. Ratfoot is a basic ingredient for everything. Ratroot is really good. Mymother drank all her life, my mother. And, and uh, she was a regular user of ratroot. I didn’t know that until one day we went there and my late wife accidently drank her tea and it was ratroot. And my mother, despite all her drinking she, she lived to be85 years old, 86 years old when she died eh.
  
  My kohkom, my nohkom, she died when she was 96.
  
  My chapan, she was a healer, a spiritual healer. And she was a healer with herbs. She died 104 that one. (Cree-but me) I don’t know much about (Cree-those things) healing with herbs (Cree-but) I go to sweat every chance I get. I might even go to sweat today. My friend there, he just left and he told me, “we’ll probably have a sweat” so it’s really, really good for the mind. And a lot of the ones that I chum around with, they know their healing. They know lots and they bring it to the sweat. And there they make their... and that’s how I hang on to it, eh. Yeah. You have to watch pills. Sometimes the doctor will call me and they said “we want to check you out.” And they check me up. And they wanna give me a lot of pills uh. And I don’t take ‘em. I take ‘em once, they just about killed me, eh. Those pills from that drugstore. Those, some... some are good. Their antibiotics are good medicine, eh. Yeah. (Cree-but the case is) I don’t heal anybody. I just tell them where to go, eh, for healing eh. They’re very, very good. Traditional medicine. (Cree-just like that). I’ll give you an example. When our old people...(Cree-Talk about, they used to say that one of these days, you’ll see sickness. That’s the one...)
  
  Pandemic.
  
  (Cree-that’s how long I was in school. I never really knew anything, nothing. They never taught us anything in those schools. The bank, you put your money in. All they taught us was to kneel and pray. We lost our youth. We lost out on a lot growing up. I never knew nothing. Even my relatives, my grandmother and them, not a lot.. later when I got out I went help my grandfather to trap. But later I did white man’s work. A band councillor.) Band council (it’s called. That’s what I done. Now I’m 71.) 71 (I turned now. There’s not much time left. Before I leave this world I want to write about my life. A book.
  
  Maybe sometimes the youth won’t understand. But while I’m alive I want them to ask me what it is I want to say. Us, people in Waterhen, we lost a lot inthis land. The whiteman just took it for himself. They just took our land for themselves. And the young people have to fight for it now. They are poor. They have to get the land back. They have to convince the whiteman and they can’t be scared. They got to look out, the whiteman is up to no good. If you don’t listen to the whiteman he will do you harm because they have money. Us Indigenous people, we have no money. But the youth have to keep going to) school. (Then they’ll be able to fend for themselves. It’s poor in our time right now, but they can’t give up.
  
  Many times I wanted to give up, but I never quit.) I’m not a quitter. (I just kept doing things, I just kept trying different things. I worked outside. A whiteman was my boss, he treated me good. But I didn’t smoke, I didn’t drink. I just kept helping myself. They just got to keep doing it, the elders won’t be here forever on this land. That’s why the youth have to do things for themselves because we’re not going to be sitting here forever. [Telling our stories].
  
  It’s hard. I have to pray. I depend on our Creator everyday to survive on this earth. My young people are poor. If they would listen to me all the time, it would be good. But that’s all I have to say for now.)

• Keywords

  Maka niya –but me
  maka owiya –but the case is
  taskoots anima -just like that
  nakowakamakanak –my older relatives
  tatipotomanan-I turned this age
  oskayak –youth
  takostacik-scared
  makikway –nothing
  kitiyayak-old people
  ayiman –it is difficult.

SERIES

Sîkîp Sâkahikanihk Keyteyayak Âcimowina

HOST & PRODUCER
Christine Fiddler
Campbell Stevenson

Episode Guest

Martin Joseph Larocque was born December 14, 1950 in Meadow Lake, Saskatchewan. He was six years old in 1957 when he went to residential school where he remained for ten years of his life. He left the school as a sixteen-year-old and started to work for a farmer. Thereafter, he did labour work in the forest, became a truck driver for a short

while, then was elected as a leader of his community as a band councillor. He married Leona Fiddler and together they raised their children. Today, he is very proud of the fact that he overcame alcohol addiction and has followed a life of sobriety for 44 years. Today, he continues to reside on the Waterhen Lake First Nation and remains active in cultural activities and ceremonies.

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