As I Remember It
Teachings (Ɂəms tɑɁɑw) from
the Life of a Sliammon Elder
Elsie Paul
with Davis McKenzie, Paige Raibmon & Harmony Johnson
“
It’s very important, our tɑʔɑw. ‘tɑʔɑw’ means ‘the teaching.’
”
An Invitation to Listen
Well, my name is Elsie Paul. My ancestral name is qɑʔɑχstɑles, a name that was handed down to me by my grandfather. That was the ancestral name of his mother … I grew up with my grandmother. As was the custom with our people, the grandmothers always helped with bringing children up. My grandmother had lost her youngest daughter with that residential school experience that we all have heard and know about. She was about ten when she was taken away to residential school, in Sechelt. And she got very ill, very sick there, within a few months. And by the time they let my grandparents know – they went to pick her up by canoe to Sechelt. They got her home, and she was so weak they had to pack her on and off the boat. And within a few days she had died. So her name was Elsie. So that’s where I got my name from. My grandmother, when I was born, wanted me to be named Elsie after the daughter that she lost. And it’s been good. For me it was very good. I thank her for that.
I think it happens in a lot of cases that we all say later on, “I should have listened. I should have paid attention to what my grandmother was saying or my grandfather was saying.” Because back – earlier days, there was no documenting the teachings. It was all oral teachin’s. You had to listen. So I think that’s where a lot of it is lost now, because people are not listening or taking time to listen, or to share the teachings. That is so important. ’Cause it’s not documented. A lot of it is not documented. There is a little bit documented. But not enough. All the little details. So those things are really important to remember.
It’s very important, our tɑʔɑw. “tɑʔɑw” means “the teaching.” That we all carry the teaching, what we learned from our ancestors, the traditional teaching, the traditional values. “Ɂəms tɑɁɑw” – “our teaching,” that’s what that means.
It’s your job to look after yourself. To be well from inside and to teach that to your children, to teach that to your family, to set that example. When you listen to these stories, or the legends, or examples, and you apply that to your life. That’s why you’re the one that’s responsible for the direction your life takes you.
Choose a Chapter
This page references:
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1
2025-04-15T22:19:51+00:00
Welcome
5
Elsie Paul welcomes readers to this digital book.
plain
2025-04-29T15:19:51+00:00
9780774861250_UBCP_598
2018-11-20
Moving Image
Elsie Paul with Honoré Watanabe (translator) and Basetwo Media (videography)
Courtesy of UBC Press
Sliammon village (tʼɩšosəm), British Columbia, Canada
Sliammon
© Elsie Paul
2019-09-19T00:29:11+00:00
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1
2025-04-15T22:18:32+00:00
Elsie’s Great-Grandparents
1
Captain William Timothy and his wife, qɑʔɑχstɑles (Annie Assu), Elsie Paul’s great-grandparents. Their son lɑsɑ (Jim Timothy) was Elsie’s grandfather and gave her the name qɑʔɑχstɑles.
plain
2025-04-15T22:18:32+00:00
Sliammon village (tʼɩšosəm), British Columbia, Canada
9780774861250_EP_293
Circa 1900s
Still Image
Photographer unknown
From the photo album collection of Elsie Paul
Courtesy of Elsie Paul
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1
2025-04-15T22:19:51+00:00
tɑʔɑw
1
Elsie Paul stresses the importance of “tɑʔɑw,” the traditional teachings.
plain
2025-04-15T22:19:51+00:00
9780774861250_EP_535
2010-06-16
Sound
Elsie Paul, interviewed by Harmony Johnson, Paige Raibmon, and Arlette Raaen
Courtesy of Elsie Paul
Sliammon village (tʼɩšosəm), British Columbia, Canada
English
© Elsie Paul
2019-06-01T00:00:01+00:00
