Hâbâ Ririnâ
My Brown Mocassins

Îyâ Sa Wîyâ emâ ech. Wayuthpewîchakiyabi ti togaheyarh waî ze wochigihnabikta.
I am Red Mountain Woman. I will tell you about my first day of school.

Zehâgas Morley Indian Residential School ejagabin. Daguskâbin hechi tibis îjenâ cha gen.
Back then, it was called Morley Indian Residential School and children lived there.

Hûguwa ze Mary hâba cha tejan thâkthâja cha gichi mîjarhen.
My mother Mary made me a new pair of moccasins and a new dress.

Amâyâbisîrh Înâ nadu mîjithûn. Zehâ Ade gichi chuohmâ gitû amâyâbin.
Mom braided my hair before they took me. She and my father took me to school by wagon.

Îna dohâ wathtenâ cha mâhnupihûnâ dââmîchinen.
I was proud of how pretty my mother had dressed me.

Wagiyâ Baha ako mne cha kiyân îtigabin zehâ.
We lived by a lake behind Eagle Hill then.

Îjathebe Wapta îs waptan hechagen.
The Bow River was a creek back then.

Baha ze thmâgan îhiyubihûnâ wayuthpewîchakiyabi ti zen îkibin.
We came down the hill and arrived at the school.

Ade wîyâ sijegitû cha okiyagaduk hiyomâhin.
Dad was talking to a mean looking woman who then came to get me.

Zehâ tin amâyen wîyâbinâ cha dokâ nûm om.
She took me inside with two other girls.

Înâ, Ade gichi dokeyakte ze omâgiyabiktaduk tin u cha kiyesîn.
She did not let my mom and dad come in to tell me what was going on.

Dââgina me ke zehâ skâîhna cha mâyân.
I had been so happy to go but now I was getting scared.

Tin îgaibichihâ îgokiyabi ka dagiye ze thnohiyâbisin. Îethkahâ îje îgiabiwan.
When they took us inside, they talked to us but we did not understand. We only spoke Îethka.

Zehâ wanâs dokâ wîyabi cha om îthnuthe îgijiyusnosnogabin. Hâbâ Ririnâ ke ko.
Suddenly, she and two other women started taking our clothes off. Even my little brown moccasins.

Zehâ îgithûthûbi ke mâîgijikthabihûna hakeîgichiyabin.
Then they cut off our braids and threw them away.

Skaîhna îhâbi zewîchuhâ thna cha îgabapthûbin.
We were already scared when they poured some type of oil on us.

Tachâ dânârh îspâbin. Kerosene cha hen thna ze.
It burnt our bodies. It turned out to be kerosene oil.

Zehâ emâyagubihûnâ mînî nînâ rharha cha en hukun yemâbin.
Then they took me and pushed me under fast running water.

Mâthpaktahâch epchen.
I thought I was going to drown.

Wîjako hecha hûmagesîwan.
I had never seen a shower before.

Zehâ thâkthâja hînîknîgenâ cha îkukubin.
Then they gave us ugly dresses to wear.

Miye ke wagichîgach hâbâ ze gichi epa ka ko dagipa nâmârhûbisîn.
I asked for my new dress and moccasins, but they did not understand.

Dagun otû îkibinâ ke îs wîja hakeîgichiyabin,
Then they threw away all our clothes.

Dââgina himu ke ze ektûth osîchina îmâhân.
Although I was happy to come, I started to feel sorry for myself.

Rheyam wîchasta daguskâbin necha en wîchayuzâgagabi cha he ze thnowasîwan himu zehâ.
I did not know that they abused Indigenous children in residential schools.

Dagun wîjaînabi ze nâgu îgiabi ne ko îgahnustâbichiyen apiîchiyabi cha hen.
They were working to make us lose our culture and language.

Anârhmân togapabi zecha aba wasiju dagiyabi ze îgogiyagabin sihnaîkiyabisîchiyaga.
However, older students told us what the white people were saying so we would not get in trouble.

Wazi wîyâ cha îs wîyâbinâ wîkoske ehâibihâs ktûtha châ wahogûwîchakiya ko gen.
One young woman even taught girls who reached womanhood the rites of passage for four days.

Ze wîyâ watejage ze Helen Beaver ejabin.
That young woman’s name was Helen Beaver.
Nâgâhâ nechi ze wîyâ ze dagun wîjaînabi, îgiabi ne ko hnuhabi îgogiyabihînî epchamîgen.
I think about it now and realize how she helped keep our culture alive.

Îsniyes ewagiyach Helen Beaver.
I thank Helen Beaver.

Hâ hechen ze dââginâ me ke hâhibichi hâ hâbâ ririnâ ke owagicheyen. Înâ mîjarhe chan.
I was happy when I left but by nightfall I thought about my experience and my moccasins and cried. My mom had made those just for me.

Wakisîrh en ûsîn hûguwa ze. Ze ûth dohâ wagichâptach.
My mother passed away before I went home. This is why I regret losing my moccasins.

Rheyam wîchasta daguskâbin oda wayuthpewîchakiye ti nechekchedu cha ibi chach.
Many Indigenous children were sent to schools like this.

Nârhârh aba tachâ yewîchayagabich. Ze ehage îstimâbinâ ze Canada Oyade ne wîchayurhijach.
They are just finding bodies of some children. In their final sleep, they have woken a nation.