Kinakita

Memories shared by Cousin Sandy Whitman

The turtle is a sign of eternal life, he connects the water with the land, see his back is a puzzle, where the great creator put him back together when he crashed upon the rocks. Our Lord will put our great tribe back together once more as he does for each of us when we become broken too.

A lot of people knew uncle William “Semu” Talented though blind, he tended his garden of tender green beans , asparagus, squash, cucumbers, tomatoes, any farmer would be proud of a hard worker, who loved his prince Albert, tobacco. How he enjoyed his flute, the echo across the big lake Champlain was out fun, the music, from his flute was so beautiful.

His talent for caning chairs was wide spread and famous, all around the point. His humor also was, totally fun, as I remember one day when he chopped off that roosters head, I totally freaked out when that headless rooster chased me around that camp. Uncle William laughed so hard over my screams.

What fun we had finding stones shaped like people, animals, birds, Sip-sees. You never knew what shapes you’d find. So much different than the pebbles on the beach, flat and black in color when I asked grandma Mathil, why these were different she told me in Indian,” these were made by the underwater wheel maker, currents in the water.”

We often confuse Simusis with Si8mosis but Simu-sis is short for little Simon. William was a Jr. He was William Simon. Si8mo is the word for hawk pronounced See-Hoe-Moe. Uncle Simu was my great uncle, he was blind because he had lost one eye, replaced with a glass eye. That eye did not stay in and often when it fell out under the radiator he would offer the kids (my mom and her siblings) candy to collect it for him.

As a child in while playing on the west shores of Lake Champlain, at great grandpa Jo-Jo’s camp in Wilsboro, across the bay from Thompson’s Point in NY , we looked for these same stones. I never knew why, but they had holes in them. Grandma Irene also kept them in her jewelry box that grandpa Jim had gotten for her from Korea. She also kept a giant abalone shell for smuding sweetgrass on her dresser.

'Our hands are strong

We are healers

We make fragrant sweet grass baskets

We braid our hair

Embrace our lovers, elders, children

Part of the wind

I know enough to hear the voice in the running water Kita *

And on the wind

See the sweet tiny flowers, “Kina” **

Read the future in a porcelain cup of tea leaves

I took care of my native people and they survived the journey.'

*Kita=Listen

**Kina= Look