by Helen HallKitchener Citizen
June 2, 2016
Most children listening to Top Leaf probably figure his people had it easier than they do.
“Five hundred years ago there were no schools and animals were our teachers,” he tells them.
For 20 years he has been a fixture at the Children’s Groundwater Festival held each spring since 1996.
The four day festival’s goal is to educate students about the importance of water.
An environmental festival called EcoFest was held May 28 during the Groundwater Festival and was open to the public.
Top Leaf is from the Kahnawake Mohawk community near Montreal.
An expressive storyteller, he shares with children the importance of water to Aboriginal people for food, travel and hygiene.
“Having a bath in the lake is okay in the summer,” he says, but asks the children what the trick is to bathing in a frozen lake in the winter.
“Do it faster,” he jokes.
He tells tales of his people paddling for miles with canoes full of animal pelts to get to a Hudson Bay Company Trading Post.
He said many times there would be rapids and the Aboriginal people would portage, carrying the 50 lb. bundles and their canoes.
He said that so many pelts were sent to Europe to make beaver felt hats that the animal nearly became extinct.
“You know what saved the beaver?” he asks. “A change in fashion.”
Top Leaf said that Aboriginal people learned many things by watching the animals.
Beavers showed them not to be wasteful. The beavers eat the bark off the trees, then use the sticks to build their lodges and dams.
Muskrats showed them to be brave, even if you are small. Top Leaf tells a tale of Muskrats scaring aware much larger moose by popping out of their holes and biting the moose sharply on the nose when they sniff their around their dens.
Otters showed them you should have fun with your family. They would see otters sliding down the muddy banks with their familes in the summer and down the snow banks in the winter.
And while most animals provided some kind of food for Aboriginal people, others were spared.
“We never killed wood ducks,” Top Leaf said while showing a colourful stuffed duck in his display. “They were just art for our eyes.”
LEARNING FROM THE PAST
Aboriginal storyteller shares his earthy knowledge at EcoFest
Aboriginal storyteller shares his earthy knowledge at EcoFest
Top Leaf shows a talking stick that is used at Aboriginal meetings. Only the person holding the stick is allowed to talk.
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