The Old Indians at Work (Part 1)
Arnold Guerin
Told and translated by Arnold Guerin
Transcribed and edited by Donna Gerdts
(This version October 3, 2025)
- ’uweelh kws ’uw’ ’a’mut-s ’al’ kwthu pun’e’luxutth’ s’ul’eluhw ’u kws m’is yuqw’iqw’ul’as.
The old people of Kuper Island did not stay home when the weather began to get better in the spring of the year. - tuw’ thuy’thiqtululh tu thithu tuwtawun kws hiw’a’lum’stunuqs ’u tu May 24, ’i’ tu July lst, ’u kw’un’a wulh hithulh, suw’ teti’stun’uqs.
The various towns around the place took turns to hold sports days at the 24th of May and the 1st of July, a long time ago; they used to put up canoe races at those sports days. - yathulh ’uw’ teti’ tu stth’amus (Victoria), ni’ ’u ’utl’ q’um’asum (Gorge).
There were always races in Victoria, at the Gorge. - ts’uhwle’ ’i’ ni’ ’utl’ snuneymuhw (Nanaimo), ni’ kws hwi’is ’utl’ Vancouver.
Sometimes, it was at Nanaimo, and sometimes, it was here in Vancouver. - tl’e’ulh ’uw’ stu’e tu pestun ’u kws 4th of Julys kw’unus tuw’ hwun’ stl’i’tl’qulh.
The same things happened in the state of Washington when it was the 4th of July when I was quite young. - teti’stun’uqulh tu Coupeville (Whidbey Island), ’i’ tu Anacortes, ’i’ Lake Washington (Seattle).
Whidbey Island used to put on canoe races too, at a place called Coupeville and at Anacortes, in Lake Washington, Seattle. - hwun’a’hay kwthu 24th of May shhw’uw’alum’ ’i’ hwulh tl’q’uthut tthu mukw’ tun’unutsu hwulmuhw suw’ huliye’s suwq’ ’u kwthu stsyaysnamut-s.
As soon of the 24th of May sports thing was finished, many people left home; they gathered their things up, and they prepared to leave, and they would go, go away to find a place where they could find a job. - ni’ kwthu ni’ kw’ooyukw’iilh nem’ ’utl’ yuqwulhte’x, ’i’ ni’ kwthu nem’ tl’pestun kws tstsi’yus.
Some took their boats and they headed up to Cape Mudge, [that’s up at the Seymour Narrows area] [to trawl], and some went to the States to pick strawberries. - ts’uhwle’ ’i t-hway tsun ’a’mut ni’ ’utl’ pun’e’luxutth’, ’u kws ’uw’ wulh tulhws tthu mustimuhw xte’ ’u tthey’.
Sometimes I was the only one left at home on Kuper Island, when the people scattered like that. - nilh thulh kw’unus hay ’uw’ tsyays nush ’uwu kwlh tsaalqum ’u kws ’uw’ wulh xte’s ’u tthey’ tthu mustimuhw.
It is because I had a job that I didn’t follow when the people began to move like that. - yelh tse’ kwelh sste’us ’eelhtun, hwu nem’ kws hays tse’ tthu ts-’apul’s ni’ ’utl’ Wenatchee, ’i’ Omak.
Now, they would be gone for a long time, until a time when the apple picking in Wenatchee and Omak, in Washington, were finished. - ni’ wulh nem’ tuw’ yu xaytl’thut tthu skweyul, yelhs m’is tuw’ hun’um’ut tthu ni’ulh nem’ tl’pestun.
The days would then be getting quite cold, before those that had gone to the States started filtering home again. - ni’ ’uw’ yu tuy’ti’qul’ ’eelhtun ’u kw’i pestun.
They just moved from place to place, down in the state of Washington. - ni’ hay kwthu ni’ulh shni’s kws yaay’uss, ’i’ ni’ qw’ul kwthu nets’ stth’oom, suw’ hwi’ nilhs shnem’s kws yaayss.
They would finish up wherever they were berry picking, and some other variety of berry would ripen, and they’d move there to pick berries. - ni’ ’uw’ yu xut’u ’al’ ’u tthey’ ’i’ ni’ ’uw’ tus ’al’ ’u kwthu apples ’i’ kwthu hops.
They would be doing this all the way along until it came time to pick apples and hops. - ne’ tse’ hay mukw’ kwthu slhumts’els syaays yelhs t’a’lukw’s ’eeltun.
It’ll be only when all the harvesting work is finished before they would come home. - hay tthu ni’ulh nem’ kw’ooyukw September yelhs m’is hun’um’ut.
But those that went away to trawl would be getting home in September. - hay tthu qwusi’yun mustimuhw ’uw’ qe’is ’al’ kws nem’s kwooyukw.
Those that are gill net fishermen, would go trawling for a short while. - nilh suw’ hwyuxw kws qwse’yuns ’u tthu sthuqi’, suw’ huliye’s tiwutasum.
But when the sockeye season opened, they would leave and go north. - ni’ kwthu tl’ Skeena River, ’i’ ni’ kwthu ’uw’ ’ewu ’al’ ’utl’ Rivers Inlet.
Some [went] to the Skeena, and others would just go up to River’s Inlet. - ni’ thulh ’uw’ ni’ tthuw’ ’ewu ’al’ ’utl’ Steveston kws qwse’yuns ’u tthu sthuqi’.
But some would only go to Steveston, and fish sockeye there. - hay tthu ni’ulh tl’tuywut, ’usup’ kwthu August lhqel’ts’ ’i hulun’umut.
For those that went north, they would get home at the end of August. - tahw ’al’ ’uw’ tl’umnuhwus tu exhibition ’utl’ Vancouver kws hwyuxws, ’i’ m’i hulun’umut, suw’ hwu’is ’al’ ’u tun’a kws qwusiyun’s, hwu nem’ kws hays kwthu kw’a’luhw.
They would just be in time for the opening of the Pacific Exhibition in Vancouver when they got home, and then they would start gill netting around here on the Fraser, up until the time that the dog salmon was finished. - yelhs halis.
Then, they would quit. - tum’xuy’tl’ suw’ hwi’ t’ut’hwa’ulh tthu pun’eluxutth’ mustimuhw.
In the wintertime, the Kuper Island people would go clam digging. - snet ’i’ tsukwtsukw tthu qa’ ’u kws tum’xuytl’s.
The low tides are in the nighttime throughout the winter. - suw’ snet-s kws t’ut’hwa’ulh tthu mustimuhw ’u kws nis wul shem tthu shni’s tthu s’axw’a’.
So, then, the people would dig their clams in the nighttime during the winter, when the clam beds would go dry. - ha’ ch ’utl’qul ’u kws snet-s, kws tahws ’uw’ ’eey tthu t’ut’hwa’ulh kwus sleeluxs tthu shni’s kws t’ut’hwa’ulhs ’eelhtun kws quxs tthu huli’qwoon’s.
If you went outside at night and looked out, about the time that the clam digging was on, the lights would almost be flickering off in the distance, on the clam beaches, while they’re clam digging with all the lights that they use. - hay ’al’ xuy’tl’ syays tthu t’ut’hw’ulh ’i’ thi syays.
It is a very cold job, the clam digging, and it is hard work. - ’unni’nus tthu mustimuhw kws t’ut’hwa’ulhs.
Those that go clam digging would be out there, man and wife, in the night. - ha’ ni’ kwthu ’umumunlh kwthu me’mun’us ’i’ ’uw’ ’ula’ulh ’al’ ’u tthu pout tthu stl’ul’iqulh.
Those that had little children would leave them asleep in the boats, while they were out clam digging on the beaches. - ts’ouhwle’ tthulh ’i’ ni’ ’uw’ shem’tum ’al’ tthu pout ni’ ’u tthu shni’s kw’us t’hwaalh.
But there were times when they would beach their boats, anyway, on the clam bed where they would dig their clams. - ni’ ch kwelh hay, ’u kws nis ’uw’ wulh tsulnaam ’u tthu squm’ul.
Then when you were finished at night, the rising tide has caught up to you. - ’us ni’ ’uw’ thuyt ’al’ kwthu ni’ ’ush nu’emustuhw kwthu ’un’ shun’tsu, kws ’uw’ li’luqs ’al’ kw’us ’aalhstuhw ’u tthun’ pout ’uw’ ni’ ’uhw tse’ wulh ’ullhule’tsum.
Then you would gather up your clams in sacks and pile them up somewhere that you’d be able to find when the tide was in, where it’d be easy to load them into your boat when it comes time to load up the boat. - ni’ ch thulh ni’stuhw ’u kwthu shni’s kws ’uw’ sqwuqwiss ’al’ ’uw’ ni’us tse’ luts’luts’ kwthu squm’ul.
You will leave it in a place where it’ll be just in the water from the rising tide. - ni’ tse’ kw’in skweyul kwus ni’ t’ut’hwa’ulh ni’ tl’am tthun’ shun’tsu ’us ’uw’ nem’ hwayum nem’ ’utl’ Sidney.
It will be a few days that you will be digging clams, and you’ll have enough to load your boat, and you would make your trip to go and sell your clams in Sidney. - ni’ ’uw’ kw’in ’al’ skeyul kw’us t’ut’hwa’ulh ’i’ lukw tthu qa’.
You would be digging clams only for a few days, and the tide would break. - ’us ’uw’ ’ulmutsun kws qul’et-s hwu sthitsam’ yelhus qul’et t’hwaalhnamut.
And you would wait for a time when the tide gets good again and then you would start clam digging again. - nuts’a’ sxuxulhnet kw’us t’halh, ’i’ silew’ nuts’a’ sxuxulhnet kwus ’unehw ’al’mutsun kws qul’et-s thuytsum, tthu qa’, yelhus qul’et t’hwaalh.
You would be digging clams for something like about a week, and then for maybe a little over a week you would be at home waiting for the next good tide, before you could dig clams again. - ha’ lhuqults’ kw’us t’ut’hwa’ulh, ’i’ qul’et tse’ hwu sthitsam’ ’i’ hwi’ sthu’et.
If it was a moonlit night during the time that you were digging clams, the next clam tide you would have a darkened moon. - nilh stu’es tthu qa’.
That is the way the tides work. - sqelux tthu s-hun’ut-s tthu hwulmuhw tthu sht’ut’hwa’ulhs.
The instrument that the First Nations people use to dig clams, a clam fork they called it, sht’ut’hwa’ulhs. - ’i’ pi’kwun tthu shh’a’kw’us tthu huy’qwoon’.
What you hang your light on is called a pi’kwun. - Now, that same sqelux, most of the people, when they’re speaking English, they would call the clam-fork a clam-gun.
- Gaslight, tthu huy’qwoon’s tthu t’ut’hwa’ulh.
The clam diggers used gaslights. - ni’ tsun thulh ’uw’ lumnuhw kws ’uw’ ’un chumuxsulh ’al’ tthu huy’qwoon’s tthu t’ut’hwa’ulh.
But I, myself saw the day where they used pitch-wood for their lights, those clam diggers. - slhu’exstum’ ’u tthu wulh s’ikw’ul shch’ekw’xul’s tthu tsumuhw, suw’ s’a’thstewut tthu shkwumaam’e’lus kw’us ’uwu kw’ustsusuhw ’uw’ teyqtuhw tthun’ huy’qw.
They take little pieces of pitch-wood, and they light them and put them in a frying pan, and they would then lengthen the handle with some other object, so that when they moved their light, they wouldn’t burn their hands. - ni’ ch sun’iw’stuhw tthu huy’qw chumux ’u tthu shch’ekw’xul’s kw’us tuy’ti’qt ’u kwthu ’ush ne’mulmun kw’us t’hwaalh.
You had the burning pitch in the frying pan wherever you felt you wanted to dig clams. - ni’ ch ’uw’ nu’emustuhw ’al’ tthun’ pout ’u tthu ni’ ’ush ni’stuhw tthu ni’ slilisek ’un’ shun’tsu s’axwa’, kws ni’s ’uw’ wul’ tl’am tthu squm’ul kw’us nem’ tusnehw tthun’ pout, ’us ’uw’ lhikw’ut ’al’ ’u tthu pike pole tthu lisek ’us ’uw’ se’t ’i ’aalhstuhw.
You brought your boat right up to where the sacked clams that you dug were piled when the tide was high enough for you to get your boat up to that place, and you would just hook up the sacks with a pike pole and lift them up and pull them up on board. - nilh kw’us ’uwu tstl’i’uhw kws q’ay tthun’ s’axwa’ ’ush ’uw’ sqwuqwisstuhw ’al’, hwu nem’ ’u kw’us nem’ tse’ huye’stuhw tshwayum.
It’s because you don’t want your clams to die in the sacks that you leave them where they would be underwater when the tide comes in; you would leave them there until the time that you would lift them up to load your boat and take them to sell them. - ha’ ’uwu te’ ’un’ pout ’us ’uw’ qwulstuhw kwthu spouput kws nem’s ’e’muqulhtstham ’u tthun’ s’axwa’, nem’ ’utl’ Sidney.
If you are one of those that does not own a boat, you may speak to a friend of yours and ask him to deliver your clams for you, to Sidney. - m’i tse’ kwelh hun’umut suw’ ’amusthamut ’u tthu shlhuq’elh kwthu ni’ shwayum ’un’ s’axwa’us ’uw’ te’unt ’u kwthu shtu’eewun’stuhwuhw stl’atl’um’us q’ewut.
When he gets back, he would give you all the money that your clams were bought for, and then you would take that money and give him whatever you thought that the favour was really worth to you. - m’i thulh ’uw’ ni’ tl’e’ tthu tsq’eq’oowum kws ’e’muqt-s thu s’axwa’s tthu ’uwu te’ pout-s.
But there were those too that would go around to those that have no boats and ask them if they wanted their clams delivered; they’d do that for a price. - kwatu tthu stsq’eq’oowum’s tthu xut’e’ ’u tthey’, ’u tthu nuts’uqun lisek.
They would charge 25 cents a sack to do that. - nilh s-hul’uthut-s kwthu s’ul’eluhwulh kwthu stu’e ’u tthey’ kws ’iya’luw’uthut-s.
That is the way the old people dealt, to try and manage their lives.