THE WAY WE LIVED

THE WAY WE LIVED

Before my parents were married my father, Harry Broomfield, lived at a place called Shell Cove, souther'd of Makkovik and my mother, Mary Andersen, lived in a place called Island Harbour Bay near Makkovik. When they got married they lived in Canairiktok Bay wintertime. My father built a little cabin there, which was our first home, and then he built us a nice home after. There was just two children, Elsie and myself. Elsie is married to George Voisey in Nain.

I heard my mother say that when she got married she went up in the bay with my father and they lived in a tent first. This was in the summer. Then my father cut logs and built a beautiful little log cabin. Pop did well with the fur, foxes, otters and mink, and he went to the Mission (Moravian) and got them to order some lumber for 'en. It came in too late for him to get it up the bay in the fall so in the winter he got my uncles, Sam and Charlie, and they helped 'en haul the lumber home.

I have beautiful memories of growin' up. I remember when my father used to get up in lamplight, have his breakfast and go out on his traplines and he wouldn't get back until around suppertime. My mother would spend her time makin' skinboots, washin' clothes, ironin' and makin' things to sell in the summertime. She'd make little sealskin boots and mitts and furry hats and bags. She'd sell it in the summertime to the Newfoundland fisherman.

When I was five and Elsie was seven we moved to Hopedale where Mom and Pop worked at the school. Mom was a cook and Pop used to haul the firewood. Then we went to school at Makkovik for two years and that was all the schoolin' we had. Grandma wasn't well so Elsie went and stayed with her and I helped my mother.

Them days we had to be so careful about our clothes, everything was kept clean and neat. If you had a nice coat or a dress that was always put away for Sunday. And I always knew what a good table was because my father was a wonderful hunter. When we was in school he used to send up big sacks of partridges, already picked. Once he sent two geese and they was kept for Christmas dinner at the school. Then everyone had to write and thank my mother and father for these geese. Mom said when she got the letter she said ,"Whatever is that?" It was a big fat letter. One evening after Pop got home and everything was quiet, she got to work and read all them letters. She said they used to laugh, you know, they found it so funny. Yes, they used to send up redberries and fresh trout too.

Once when we was at school the teacher, an English teacher I suppose, took us out one Saturday with a little bucket apiece and a stick. We had to go up the sides of the hills and scrape snow from the ground to see if we could find any berries. Some of the Elders seen it and they went to the principal and told 'en we was never used to pickin' berries in the snow. I suppose they thought that was how we gathered our berries. I thought it was nuts, that was a thing I never ever did, you know, take a bucket and stick and go to search for berries.

I said to Miss Perrett (Edna), "I never ever picked berries in the snow." She said, "I know you hasn't but Mrs. Callander wants us to go." Miss Perrett knew that we wasn't brought up to search in the snow for berries.....

HILDA DICKER
1977 - HOPEDALE

THEM DAYS VOL. 15.3