on sheets, towels, dishes, glasses - all kinds of goodies. Bear has been carving paddles as special gifts for the Chiefs of each clan. It’s like a wedding where the bride gives out gifts instead of receiving them. Sam would prefer to become Chief next year, after he’s had a chance to settle in. There’s been some rumblings in the village that not everyone in the family is pleased with the idea of Sam as Chief. After all, he’s been away a long time. Anita lives in Halifax and may not be entirely aware of all that goes on here. However, she’s a runaway train and Sam doesn’t have the guts to tell her NO - NOT YET. He says no to me and then in a conversation with her he says, “Don’t you think we should wait a few months?” As if those wimpy words would stop a train. I feel a disaster brewing but it’s not my place to interfere with ancient cultural traditions that I know nothing about.
I don’t know the complicated history of Sam and his family and his people, however I’m learning. These people seem to have the Asian philosophy of never saying no. Always say yes and those foolish white people will eventually figure it out when you don’t show up, or forget, or get sick, or whatever. What I haven’t yet figured out is, do they use this method with their own kind? Is there a hidden signal, a shift of the eyes, that whitey can’t see, that indicates a real yes, instead of a no-yes? Or do they all run around saying yes and leave it to you to figure out later that the yes was really a yes-no? And that’s OK because sometimes you’ll get it right and won’t that be a nice surprise. Are they addicted to guessing games? My direct approach has probably offended a lot of people. Sam doesn’t seem to be offended. He seems very good at deflecting, or evading my need for clarity, especially when we discuss money matters. He doesn’t seem to have quite the amount of money he appeared to have. Travelling to and from this island is very expensive and I guess this Thunder Ceremony has eaten up a lot of his savings, and Anita’s. I’ll write again soon when I’m not so frazzled.
Love, China.
~ ~
The preparations for the Thunder Ceremony soon reached a thunder pitch. Marisa, a talented seamstress, was making the special Chief’s blanket that would be draped over Sam’s shoulders by his grandmother. His grandfather would then place the Chief’s head-dress on his head and Sam would do the Thunder Dance. China assumed that Sam had been practicing the dance but she never saw him do it and he never mentioned it. They had almost not spoken in the past three days except during mealtime when everyone spoke at once and Sam and May swapped stories and lies. They had very different versions of their childhoods.
When Anita gave up alcohol, she expected Sam’s father, George Kelly, a white man and a longshoreman, to also give it up. He had other notions and decided that the company of rum was preferable to the nagging presence of Anita. So she took May with her and moved from Halifax to Edmonton with her new boyfriend. She left Sam with his father who would ship Sam over to Grimshaw Island to stay with his grandparents during holidays, or when he went on one of his week-long binges. Anita occasionally returned with May to spend the summer months on Grimshaw Island but her visits were uncomfortable. She didn’t get along with her parents and Sam’s relationship with his mother was wary to say the least. Anita and May eventually moved back to Halifax, but by then Sam was a teenager, well used to taking care of himself and his rum-rampaging father. Well used to switching between the white world and the aboriginal world and never feeling comfortable in either one.
China really liked May, who was a delicate, pretty, version of Sam. Her husband Jim and her two boys spent a lot of time fishing and staying out of the way of the preparations. China and May weren’t so lucky. Their time was spent in the kitchen that Anita had
I don’t know the complicated history of Sam and his family and his people, however I’m learning. These people seem to have the Asian philosophy of never saying no. Always say yes and those foolish white people will eventually figure it out when you don’t show up, or forget, or get sick, or whatever. What I haven’t yet figured out is, do they use this method with their own kind? Is there a hidden signal, a shift of the eyes, that whitey can’t see, that indicates a real yes, instead of a no-yes? Or do they all run around saying yes and leave it to you to figure out later that the yes was really a yes-no? And that’s OK because sometimes you’ll get it right and won’t that be a nice surprise. Are they addicted to guessing games? My direct approach has probably offended a lot of people. Sam doesn’t seem to be offended. He seems very good at deflecting, or evading my need for clarity, especially when we discuss money matters. He doesn’t seem to have quite the amount of money he appeared to have. Travelling to and from this island is very expensive and I guess this Thunder Ceremony has eaten up a lot of his savings, and Anita’s. I’ll write again soon when I’m not so frazzled.
Love, China.
~ ~
The preparations for the Thunder Ceremony soon reached a thunder pitch. Marisa, a talented seamstress, was making the special Chief’s blanket that would be draped over Sam’s shoulders by his grandmother. His grandfather would then place the Chief’s head-dress on his head and Sam would do the Thunder Dance. China assumed that Sam had been practicing the dance but she never saw him do it and he never mentioned it. They had almost not spoken in the past three days except during mealtime when everyone spoke at once and Sam and May swapped stories and lies. They had very different versions of their childhoods.
When Anita gave up alcohol, she expected Sam’s father, George Kelly, a white man and a longshoreman, to also give it up. He had other notions and decided that the company of rum was preferable to the nagging presence of Anita. So she took May with her and moved from Halifax to Edmonton with her new boyfriend. She left Sam with his father who would ship Sam over to Grimshaw Island to stay with his grandparents during holidays, or when he went on one of his week-long binges. Anita occasionally returned with May to spend the summer months on Grimshaw Island but her visits were uncomfortable. She didn’t get along with her parents and Sam’s relationship with his mother was wary to say the least. Anita and May eventually moved back to Halifax, but by then Sam was a teenager, well used to taking care of himself and his rum-rampaging father. Well used to switching between the white world and the aboriginal world and never feeling comfortable in either one.
China really liked May, who was a delicate, pretty, version of Sam. Her husband Jim and her two boys spent a lot of time fishing and staying out of the way of the preparations. China and May weren’t so lucky. Their time was spent in the kitchen that Anita had
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