John Neepin.In the summer, all summer, they [my family] would set nets for fish. They’d check the nets when the tide goes out. They would put up some poles, in a row, and attach the net to them. Then after the tide goes out they’d go and remove the fish from the nets. Later on, as I got older, I was able to help them. I would go and set nets. When we were old enough to travel with our father we would go and stay northward of Port Nelson. This place is calledAsiniy Sîpiy[Stony River]. This...

David Massan.I used to work. I would load and unload supplies. We would work when the ships came in, unloading.22That was hard work and the pay wasn’t very much. We would work all day. Some of the supplies were really heavy to lift. The company would also feed us while we worked. Canned food, biscuits, and tea. When we loaded supplies for the [York] boat going to Shamattawa, that’s when we worked hard. We would go along with the boat to Shamattawa. We would have to drag the boat along the shore. One boat carried 800 pounds. The...

Oh, it was a busy time [when the ship arrived at York Factory]! They’d have a dance. That’s the truth! They would have a dance right away. Yes, they unloaded the boat, and then towards evening is when the dance started.²⁶ My father used to tell us a story of a bad HBC boss at York Factory. He said he was calledKihci-pôcôw.That’s what they called him! He said he wasn’t a very good boss. I guess at this time my grandfather was already a chief, Abraham [Beardy]. Anyway during the unloading of the supplies even the children helped....

John Neepin.These white men that lived there [York Factory] used to treat the Indians good. That’s what I was told. If one of the white men killed a moose, he shared it with the Indians and didn’t expect anything in return, so the Indians treated him the same.

This was the way of the Hudson’s Bay Company, according to stories that were told. The company fed the people when they were at York Factory during the summer. They fed everyone. Even the ones that got wood for the company. They were also given food. Even though the company knew...

Fred Beardy.[The Shamattawa people] would come to York Factory. Boy, there used to be a lot of people at York Factory during the summer. The old-timers then knew how to play music. These fellows from Shamattawa could play: Sammy Beardy, Roderick Redhead, and William, William Redhead, and Sanders Redhead. These guys could really play the violin!

There were lots of weddings. Sometimes at one wedding there would be ten couples getting married.⁴⁵ Oh yes, they would dress up. The men wore suits and hats, straw hats. [The women] sewed their own dresses. They also wore shawls.

Well they would...

Amelia Saunders.Oh, we ate a lot of berries! These were always part of the diet, like meat. Soon as the berries were ready we would all get together and pick them.⁵³

Joseph Saunders.You know the ptarmigans, the big, white ones? Well you never throw the intestines away. Part of the intestine was eaten!⁵⁴

Amelia Saunders.On the rabbit, nothing was wasted. We just throw the feet away. The rest was eaten - nothing was wasted then.

Joseph Saunders.Just like the geese, all the feet were dried and put away. Sometime, in the future, they would be boiled...

David Massan.Women did lots of work. Skinning. They skinned the animals and dried the pelts. That was their job. And looking after the children. [The children] would just play, I guess. Some of the older ones would probably cut firewood.

Mary Redhead.The women didn’t mind working in those days. There wasn’t anything hard about it. No hesitating. It was something that was done daily. No, the women never complained. Strange, aye? That’s how it was.

Amelia Saunders.We even used to hunt for caribou too. We hunted a lot, just like the men. We were taught this as...

David Massan.Work started early. After everyone ate, the work started. We had to get water and cut firewood. If there were rabbit snares to be checked, the children did that. Check the snares. When all this was done, the children were allowed to play. Then late afternoon they were called to do more work. Sometimes they were sent a long way to get something to eat. That’s what they did. They worked most of the time.

Catherine Anderson.[When the ship arrived] people used to steal things and hide them! There was a place nearby where they unloaded the...

Richard Beardy.This religion we have today,⁶⁶ [York Factory] is where it came from. This white man’s religion was brought to York Factory. Then it was taken to the other side of this big body of water.⁶⁷ Then this religion was met halfway with another religion, the Indian religion. This is what we have today. A bit of both. They say this happened maybe 200 years ago.

Joseph Saunders.One of the churches [at York Factory] was called the English church.⁶⁸

Amelia Saunders.This was the tin church.⁶⁹

Joseph Saunders.Yes, and the other one was the Cree church. When...

Amelia Saunders.When the time came for our children to go toschool, that’s when we moved to York Factory, for good, from Kaskatamagun. After that, just Joseph would go hunt and trap at Kaskatamagun. Some of our kids were brought out of York Factory to go to school. We didn’t allow the oldest girl, Dorothy, to leave. That’s the only one we kept. We let the other ones leave to go to school.

Archelaus Beardy.There’s a funny story about this old school [atYork Factory].⁷⁵ Mr Paries owned a bull at York Factory. This bull was young and he was...

David Massan.This sickness came from a faraway place off to the east.⁸⁰ I don’t know how to say it in English. Where theOdcahkosak⁸¹live. My uncle used to go there while he was trapping [with his partner]. When they got to this settlement everyone was sick, they were so sick that the people couldn’t do anything for themselves. They started cutting wood for everyone who couldn’t help themselves. They did this and headed back for Trout River. They didn’t want to stay too long. They were both fine and well when they got back. This was the beginning...

Alex Ouscan.They built a place where the boats were kept for the winter. They worked in the mud, close to the cemetery. Just down-river a little ways. All you could see was mud where they were working. They had a hard time because the mud is frozen underneath. Yes, it was hard work because the mud was frozen. They would drag all the soft mud out. They worked all summer. The Hudson’s Bay Company boss thought that they wouldn’t finish the job, but they did. The boat would be pulled up there for the winter. Boats often got wrecked...

Elizabeth Oman.This one time, it was at night. We were already asleep when Sam Saunders came and woke everyone up. He said there was a loud noise out over the water and he said that someone was going to drop something on us! I didn’t know what he was talking about. I didn’t understand at that time. Anyway, we went outside and I could hear a plane. Flying far from land, over the water. The old people didn’t know that it was an airplane. They thought it was something else!

Fred Beardy.At that time there were quite a...

Abel Chapman.AsWîsahkêcâhk¹⁰⁴walked on, he saw a lake ahead of him. He kept hidden for he wanted to check the lake. There he saw a lot of animals! He spied on them. There were lots of geese and ducks. All sorts of birds. He decided he wanted to eat some, but he had no gun so he couldn’t shoot them. He had to figure out some way of catching these birds. WithWîsahkêcâhk,there was no shortage of ways to trick others. So he went into the bush and made himself a bag and filled it with moss....

Alex Ouscan.[The people] travelled in groups and they looked after each other. That’s what they used to do. They would travel around during the winter, moving from camp to camp and trapping at the same time, understand? They would also hunt for their food as they travelled. Like, for instance, caribou. If they killed lots of caribou, they would stay at that camp for a longer period.

Abel Chapman.Everybody left [their traplines] and stayed for the summer at York Factory. Nobody stayed at their traplines during the summer, July and August. People started leaving in September for all...

JohnNeepin.During “the time of money”¹¹¹ at York Factory, everyone who left York Factory for the winter came back at this time. People from Shamattawa and the Kaskatamagun area. There weren’t that many people from Kaskatamagun. Then there was us, from Port Nelson. In the later years there weren’t too many of us left. Earlier there were lots of us at Port Nelson. There were lots of people at Port Nelson at one time. Then after the time of great sickness,¹¹² there were a lot less people. There weren’t very many of us left. This was one thing the Indians...

John Neepin.The elders world talk about their travels when they were young, what they remember. The Indians didn’t worry too much about anything. They were happy as long as they had food for their families. And the elders, they rarely got sick a long time ago. Not like now. I used to hear my late father say that today so many elders are always sick. As far as I can remember, the elders I’ve known, I never knew of the old people getting sick. When an elder got sick a long time ago, then you knew that this person...

David Massan.[In 1957] the Indian agent, I can’t remember his name, came to York Factory and told us that because there were no jobs at York Factory, maybe we too should leave.¹¹⁸ That’s when we left. We left there to go and look for jobs. We didn’t know to what we were going to. We didn’t know what the place was like because we’d never been there before.¹¹⁹ We just left!

Fred Beardy.The summer of 1957 is when I left York Factory. I arrived at the railroad tracks at Weir River, and then we got on the train...

David Massan was born at Big Trout Lake, Ontario, on 3 August 1915, the son of Henry Massan and Flora Thomas. He believes that his father, who died at Big Trout Lake in 1928, was born in Ontario but does not know when. David’s mother was born at Big Trout Lake and she, too, died there in 1928. His paternal grandparents were Maryjean and James Massan, both from Big Trout Lake. His maternal grandmother’s name was Sarah Thomas but David does not know his grandfather’s name.

At the age of thirteen David lost both parents and he left his birthplace...

Catherine Anderson was born Catherine Napayokeesik, up-river from Shamattawa, on 2 June 1908, the daughter of John Napayokeesik and Maria Beardy. She does not know when or where her father was born or where he died. Her mother was born at Fort Severn, Ontario. Catherine was very young when her mother died and some years later she lost her father. Her maternal grandparents were Magnus and Mary Beardy, and her paternal grandmother was Mary Napayokeesik.

Raised by Eliza Beardy from Island Lake, Manitoba, who was the widow of Simon Beardy, Catherine lived at Shamattawa, Port Nelson, and York Factory, and...

Alex Ouscan was born north of York Factory at Wapinayo/White Partridge Creek on the Hudson Bay coast. His father was Abel Ouscan who was born at York Factory and who died at Port Nelson in 1927. His mother was Elizabeth Anderson who was born at Fort Severn on 18 June 1883; she died at the senior citizens’ home in Norway House, Manitoba, and was buried at York Landing. His paternal grandfather was Sandy Ouscan but Alex does not know his grandmother’s name. Alex’s maternal grandparents were Jean and Johnny Anderson. All his grandparents were originally from Fort Severn and they...

Joseph Saunders was born on 30 January 1907 at Kaskatamagun to Sam Saunders and Mary Thomas. Joseph believes that both his parents were born at Fort Severn, Ontario, and died at York Landing. His paternal grandfather was Jimmy Saunders, but he does not know his grandmother. His maternal grandparents were Maggie and Thomas Thomas and they too were from Fort Severn.

Joseph’s early childhood was spent with the family, hunting, trapping, and journeying between Kaskatamagun and York Factory. His formal education was limited to the summertime. He married Amelia Stoney from Fort Severn at York Factory on 31 July 1933,...

Abel Chapman, an elder of Churchill, was born at Wanatawahak, near York Factory, on 16 June 1922 to Alex and Martha Chapman. His father was born at Sturgeon River, Ontario, and died at York Landing at the age of 94. His mother was Martha Beardy daughter of Chief Abraham Beardy. She was born not very far from Shamattawa at a place calledMêmênitôkanisand died at York Landing at age 75. Abel’s paternal grandparents were Phillip and Maggie Chapman and his maternal grandparents were Abraham and Sally Beardy.

Abel was raised by his maternal grandparents until he was sixteen, at...

Archelaus Beardy was born at York Factory on 10 February 1912. He was the son of Chief Abraham Beardy, who had been born at Shamattawa in 1878 and who died in 1950 at Whitefish Lake, Manitoba, at the age of 72 years. He was buried at Shamattawa. His mother was Sally Beardy who was born in 1872, also at Shamattawa. She died in 1964 in The Pas, Manitoba, at the age of 92 and was buried at York Landing. Archelaus’s paternal grandparents were Magnus and Mary Beardy and his maternal grandparents were Sandy and Mary Beardy, all of whom were...

Fred Beardy was born at York Factory on 18 April 1919. His father was Josiah Beardy who was born at Shamattawa and died in Thompson. His mother, Flora Thomas of Fort Severn, died in The Pas. His paternal grandparents were Mary and Magnus Beardy from Shamattawa; his maternal grandparents were Maggie and Thomas Thomas from Fort Severn.

Fred spent his childhood in the Kaskatamagun and York Factory areas. He did not go to school but he learned to speak English while working with the Reverend Richard Faries at York Factory. His father taught him to hunt and trap. Fred married...

Richard Franklin Beardy, a brother of Archelaus Beardy, was born at York Factory on 27 January 1915, the youngest son of Chief Abraham Beardy and Sally Beardy. Richard spent his youth at Wanatawahak, approximately six miles up-river from York Factory. At the small settlement there, Richard’s father built the family home. Richard talks about how as a young boy he often ran the distance to York Factory in the winter to attend church. In the summer the family travelled by boat to the post.

Richard married Annie Saunders on 25 July 1941 in the Church of St John of York...

Albert Hill was born on 17 December 1905 at Puskwatenak, Manitoba. He does not know when or where his father, John Hill, was born but he died at Wanatawahak. His mother was Caroline Frank, who was born at Split Lake, Manitoba, and died at Shamattawa. His maternal grandfather, Edward Frank, was also known asApisk[a very large eagle]. Albert had five brothers who are all deceased.

Amy Hill was born on 12 July 1913 at York Factory to Thomas Redhead and Maggie Beardy. She does not know when and where they were born but both parents died at Shamattawa....

Elizabeth Oman was born Elizabeth Jane Wastesicoot at York Factory on 21 December 1921. Her father was Absalom Wastesicoot, was born at York Factory in 1896. He died at Kaskatamagun at age 34, on 15 October 1930. Her mother was Sarah Jean Gray, who was born at York Factory in 1892 and died there at age 35, at York Factory on 6 April 1927. Her maternal grandfather was William Gray, Sr, who died at York Factory on 24 February 1927 at age 68. She does not remember her grandmothers. Her paternal grandfather was Charles Wastesicoot.

Elizabeth went to residential school...

Mary Redhead is a member of the Fox Lake First Nation and lives in Bird. She was born at York Factory on 20 April 1920 to David Neepin and Victoria Beardy. She does not know when or where they were born, but they both died at Port Nelson. Her paternal grandparents were Betsy andKihci[Big] George Neepin. Sandy and Mary Beardy were her maternal grandparents. She lived at York Factory until she was six years old at which time she lost her mother. Her father then took her to Port Nelson to stay with relatives.

At the age of...

John Neepin was born on 11 October 1916 at Wanatawahak. He did not go to school and was taught by his parents and elders. His parents were Moses Neepin and Arabella Beardy. Moses was born on 10 May 1886 at York Factory and Arabella was born in 1887 at Shamattawa. They are both deceased and are buried at Churchill. His paternal grandfather was George Neepin, who was originally from Fort Severn but subsequently moved to York Factory. His maternal grandparents were Robert Beardy and Margaret Monias. Robert Beardy was from Shamattawa but later settled to York Factory.

John’s wife is...