Text for each section by Susan Ouriou

Part I (Sue and Joel together): “I never knew being one of the chosen could hurt so much. Katie believed in the clouds. That from up on high we choose the people we love, the way we live, the time we die, Katie chose us.

Part II (Joel alone): “We form a family like never before. Our family – a puzzle to the outside world. A fill-in-the-blanks with no clues to the answers other than the ones in our heads and our hearts. How can we give up on each other when together we create who we are? Our inside world is one in which we bounce off each other, careen into the next, or sometimes, just sometimes, merge to form a whole”.

Part III (Sue alone): “I speak my daughter tongue” from, “A Capital Act” by Susan Ouriou published by Grain Magazine, Summer 2001 by The Saskatchewan Writers Guild.

“This hat recalls the time when our ceremonies were banned in Alberta. Our people maintained their culture by using these black unpressed hats to show that we were headdress owners. The government could not arrest us for wearing these hats but they did arrest us for wearing our headdresses. The black hat represents adaptability.” – Linda Many Guns (Blackfoot elder)

“Animals are our relations. The ceremonies remind us of the contracts the animals made so long ago to come and help us when we need them. We are deeply grateful to them.” – Linda Many Guns (Blackfoot elder)

“New clothes and a new blanket are badges that show you are living a new life.” – Linda Many Guns (Blackfoot elder)

“My Tipi is medicine. It is strong.” – Linda Many Guns (Blackfoot elder)

“Blue and red trade cloth form traditional designs. The style is unique in its practical simplicity.” – Linda Many Guns (Blackfoot elder)

“The power of the Sacred lands connects the people, protects all and holds the souls of ancestors”. – Linda Many Guns (Blackfoot elder)

“Adun has been involved with many types of ceremonies her whole life. She is by guide for Motokik knowledge (Buffalo Women’s Society). She has taken me under her wing tohelp me stay on track. She teaches me the Society rules. She is a wise teacher”. – Linda Many Guns (Blackfoot elder)

“After a year of working with Linda Many Guns, I had created about 22 paintings and works on paper. I agreed that the elders portrayed in my works could visit my studio and give me permission or not to exhibit the works. Adun was there, dressed in blue, and speaking only in Blackfoot. We ate cakes and drank tea all afternoon. When the five elders got up to leave, they gave me their approval to release the works to the public. Otherwise, I would have put them aside, likely permanently. This was the arrangement between Linda and I, that everything would be done with consultation and respect, that not one item or pattern or pose in the paintings would be done without express permission.” – Teresa Posyniak

“I often dream of my time as a tree. I remember the awareness of life outside my tree space. Time is different, in some ways slower or more of a dense sense of happenings. Time as a tree feels like a state of continuous becoming. I remember well being awakened by the warmth of the sun of my bark and I love to recollect the surge of spring as my sap began to move and how the wind moved my branches. Amber is how I remember the outside world.” – Linda Many Guns (Blackfoot elder)

“Blackfoot people are known by the Blanket they wear and often these have been passed down from one holy person to another holy and they are blessed and sacred possessions.” – Linda Many Guns (Blackfoot elder)

“Beverly Hungry Wolf is my holy mother. She has Beaver women medicine and has owned a medicine pipe for most of the adult life. She lives traditionally and raised her children and her grandchildren to be traditional. Her faith and understanding in the culture will always guide me.” – Linda Many Guns (Blackfoot elder)

“The Long Time Otter gave one of his children to us to remember our relationship.” – Linda Many Guns (Blackfoot elder)

“The tipi design was brought to life from the dream world. In the dream, I was taken to an untouched, open, rolling prairie. Blackfoot Holy People authenticated the dream and gave me directions to create the tipi. The Yellow Buffalo Tipi protects my home and family.” – Linda Many Guns (Blackfoot elder)

“Otter is playful, tireless and connected to water. Otter is life and energy, strength and power – he is strong medicine. Here where Otter is, there is power. Otter is a leader and he is sacred. It is an honor to be holding Otter. To pray and hold the skin of one of the Long Time Otter’s children is to be as close to the Creator as you can be. The fur is thick and black as night.” – Linda Many Guns (Blackfoot elder)

“This Hudson’s Bay blanket is a gift from my holy husband. Blankets provide protection and often because they are worn in ceremony they have red ochre paint smudges. We sit on blankets in holy places.” – Linda Many Guns (Blackfoot elder)