August 5, 2022 "What Was Said To Me": A Book Review

Aug. 5, 2022 "What Was Said to Me": A Book Review - Earlier in the summer, as I embarked on my journey to hike the West Coast Trail, I stumbled across a book on the ferry called “What Was Said to Me – The Life of Sti’tum’atul’wut, A Cowichan Woman. The book has been an interesting comparison to the academic reading on Indigenous pedagogy I have been doing this past month, as Peters relates in specific detail the traditional Indigenous pedagogy she experienced through her parents and Elders growing up. This book is an “oral life history” (pxii) which was recorded orally in nine sessions with Helen Demers, a cultural anthropologist who collaborated with Peters over decades in her efforts to restore the the Hul’q’umin’num’ (Coast Salish) language. Ruby Peters was born in 1932 on the Quamichan Reserve, near current Duncan, BC. She had special traditional roles within her community, through her role as a “Thi’tha” she received daily traditional teachings from her mother as a young child and into her adult life, alongside the daily work they did together as a family. While her father attended residential school, her mother, fortunately, never attended any settler school, which likely helped preserve the important teachings she passed on to her daughter. In order to avoid being apprehended and taken to residential school, Ruby Peters attended a Catholic day school near her home; she relates the heartbreaking stories of her personal experiences and extended family’s experiences of intergenerational trauma resulting from the loss of their language and prohibition of their cultural traditions, including the banning of the potlatch. She spent her adult life, nearly seventy years, working to revitalize her language and culture; she was a tireless advocate for her people, and became “golden matriarch” of her family, having a large family including great, great grandchildren before her death, in September, 2021. Additionally, Ruby was awarded two doctorate of law degrees from the University of Victoria, and Simon Fraser University in honour of her exceptional efforts to restore, teach, record, and mentor others in the revitalization of the Hul’q’umin’num’ language.

The primary theme in this book which resonates with me relating to policy and models of Indigenous education is the importance of language revitalization as the core of cultural revitalization. Peter’s lifelong efforts to restore and revitalize her language are emphasized this throughout the book, along with the harmful legacy of policies which banned the use of Indigenous languages and culture. Initially, Peters was asked by Elders to teach others the language, but she felt her efforts were ineffective, and she approached Malespina College because there was no way to record the sounds in her oral language. So she worked with the linguistics department to develop a written language to help with teaching others and recording the language. Overtime she worked on the development of other language teachers, and mentored Masters and PHd students at various Universities, as well as continuing her cultural teachings.

Another main theme in the book which really stood out in her life is the importance of lifelong learning. Peter’s says “It’s always a learning, your life is your learning span, by giving what you know and handing things down to the young people as a gift, the teachings.” (Peters, 2021. P160) Throughout her life she describes the experiential, individualized learning she received from her mother and other Elders, which involved a lot of listening, modelling and doing. She learned important cultural teachings verbally, on a daily basis from her mother and from other Elders. The cultural traditions she learned were sacred, local and vital for her to pass on to her children. She spoke of the sadness she feels for others who families lost their traditions, who don’t know who they are. “It’s hard that a lot of young people don’t know where they come from. Their parents who were in residential school were just totally lost: they had no teachings, nothing to tell their children.” (p154) The vital nature of this knowledge and how it relates to a strong positive sense of self and identity is clear. Overall, Ruby Peters is an inspiring example of resilience and powerful Indigenous leadership through lifelong learning. Her story will stay close to my heart, and provides a meaningful real world example of the theory we have been studying.

References

Cooper, V. (March 22, 2021) This week in history: the remarkable life of

Cowichan elder Ruby Peters. Chek News. https://www.cheknews.ca/this-week-

in-history-the-remarkable-life-of-cowichan-elder-ruby-peter-754460/

Parent, M. (2016) S'aa'lhsqwal - Ruby Peters. Hul'q'umi'num' Language &

Culture Collective. https://saalhsqwal.hwulmuhwqun.ca/category/ruby-peter/

Peter, R. and Demers, H. (2021) What was said to me – the life of

Sti’tum’atul’wut: a Cowichan woman. Royal BC Museum, Victoria, Canada.