A residential school survivor finds his way back to his language and culture through his family's traditional stories. When reflecting on forces that have shaped his life, Solomon Ratt says his education was interrupted by his schooling. Torn from his family at the age of six, Ratt was placed into the residential school system-a harsh, institutional world, operated in a language he could not yet understand, far from the love and comfort of home and family. In ka-pi-isi-kiskisiyan / ? ? ? ? ?? ? ?????? / The Way I Remember It , Ratt reflects on these memories and the life-long challenges he endured through his telling of acimisowin -autobiographical stories-and also traditional tales. Written over the course of several decades, Ratt describes his life before, during, and after residential school. In many ways, these stories reflect the experience of thousands of other Indigenous children across Canada, but Ratt's stories also stand apart in a significant way: he managed to retain his mother language of Cree by returning home to his parents each summer despite the destruction wrought by colonialism. Ratt then shifts from the acimisowina (personal, autobiographical stories) to acathohkiwina , (sacred stories) the more formal and commonly recognized style of traditional Cree literature, to illustrate how, in a world uninterrupted by colonialism and its agenda of genocide, these traditional stories would have formed the winter curriculum of a Cree child's education. Presented in Cree Th-dialect Standard Roman Orthography, syllabics, and English, Ratt's reminiscences of residential school escapades almost always end with a close call and a smile. Even when his memories are dark, Ratt's particularly Cree sense of humour shines, making ka-pi-isi-kiskisiyan / ? ?? ??? ??????? / The Way I Remember It an important and unique memoir that emphasizes and celebrates Solomon Ratt's perseverance and life after residential school.
Solomon Ratt was born on the banks of the Churchill River just north of the community of Stanley Mission. His parents were hunters and fishers who lived off the land, spending their winters on the trapline and summers fishing in La Ronge. Solomon spent the first six winters of his life with his parents, who didn't speak English. They knew the ways of the land, including the traditional stories passed down through generations, which they told to Solomon and his siblings.
Part 1 i-apasapahtaman / Looking Back 1. i-ati-powataman / On the Threshold of a Dream 2. i-maskamiht ocawasisiwin / Stolen Childhood 3. kakiki nika-kiskisin / Lest I Forget 4. atospiwinakwan-papakiwayani-kisikaw / Orange Shirt Day 5. kispin ika i-ki-ocawasimisiyan / If Not for My Children 6. kakipatisak / Fools! i-mwayi-nitawi-ayamihcikiyan / Life before School 1. nicahkosiwikamikos / My Little Hospital 2. salamo ikwani poko Ratt / Just Solomon 3. acoskiwinisa / Chores 4. wicisani-kahkwithihtowin / Sibling Rivalry 5. wisahkicahk twihow wanihikiskanahk / Santa Visits the Trapline 6. tapokithihtamowin / Faith 7. ohpahowipisim / Flying Up Moon nistam wisakithihtahowin / Painful Firsts 1. mamitonithihta oma!/ Think on This! 2. kiskinwahamatowitapanask / School Bus 3. niki-tatopitikawin / I Was Torn 4. nimasinahamawaw nikawiy / Letter to Mama 5. moniyaw pisimoyapiya / Man-made Rainbows 6. i-kiwihtahikawiyan / Home for the Summer 7. iskwayac tipiskaw i-mwayi-ohpahoyahk / Last Night of Summer 8. kicohcikanis / Transistor Radio ka-ati-oskinikisiyan / Middle Years at School 1. i-maskamikawiyan nipahkikinaskisina / Stolen Moccasins 2. "Dog Biscuits" 3. i-kimoci-ayamihcikiyan / Undercover Reading 4. i-kimotapiyan / "Jeepers Creepers" 5. mistatimoton / Horse Lips 6. ka-makosikisikak / Christmas at School 7. kinikaniskawawak kitithinimak / "A Credit to Your Race" 8. pakwanita-itwiwin / Backhanded Compliment nikihk ka-nipihk / Summers at Home 1. ka-ispitisicik isihcikiwin / Protocol: Age-Appropriate Conduct 2. nakwatisowin ikwa matinamakiwin / Sharing and Generosity 3. kisiwatisiwin / Kindness 4. kistithihtamowin / Respect 5. 1969 askiwin ka-ki-akihtik / 1969 i-ayahcitiniwiyahk nitaskinahk / Strangers in Our Homeland 1. Canada, Oh Canada, 150 askiwina / Canada, Oh Canada, 150 years 2. motha nitha Indian / I'm Not an Indian 3. ahkitap ithiniwak, cikastipathihcikan ithiniwak / "Reel Injuns" 4. ka-papami-atawiyan ispi ka-wiskwastiwinakosiyan / Shopping While Brown 5. anisko-kiskinwahamakiwin / Passing on Teachings 6. ahkami-nihithowitan / Let's Keep on Speaking Cree tapwiwin nikan i-mwayi-minosihtamahk mitho-wicihtowin / Truth before Reconciliation 1. tapwiwin / Truth 2. kithaskiwin / Lies 3. namotha ahkitap Indian / Not a Pretendian 4. kipihtowiwin / The Sound of Silence 5. i-misiwanacihtayahk kipikiskwiwininaw / Linguicide 6. taniwi sakihiwiwin? / Where Is the Love? i-kiwihtotahitoyahk / Reclaiming Ourselves 1. askiy kitohtapamihikonaw / Earth Nourishes Us 2. aniskohtowin / Interconnectedness 3. ninanaskomon / I Give Thanks 4. ka-ohtawimawi-kisikak / For Father's Day 5. nahiwin / Proficiency 6. kiskithihtamowin / Knowledge 7. kiskiyihtamowin ohci / About Knowledge: Basil H. Johnston 8. nitohta! / Listen! Part 2 nihithaw kiskinwahamakiwin: nistam mamitonithihcikiwin / Cree Education: First Thoughts 1. tanisi mana ka-ki-isi-kiskinwahamahcik awasisak kayas? / How Then Were Children Taught Long Ago? 2. kikway kiwihtamakonaw acathohkana? cihcipiscikwan / What Do Our Stories Tell Us? The Rolling Head 10. cihcipiscikwan / The Rolling Head 11. wisahkicahk tapasiw / The Flight of Wisahkecahk 12. wisahkicahk ikwa wimisosoy / Wisahkecahk and wimisosoy 13. thiskipiw / The Flood 14. opasakwapisimowak / The Shut-Eye Dancers 15. maskikatiw mahkisis / The Fox Has a Crippled Leg 16. wisahkicahk ikwa okoskohowisak / Wisahkecahk and the Startlers 17. wisahkicahk ikwa ka-masinasocik waskwayak / Wisahkecahk and the Marking of Birch Trees 18. wisahkicahk ikwa picikiskisisa / Wisahkecahk and the Chickadees 19. wisahkicahk omikiy miciw / Wisahkecahk Eats His Scab 20. wisahkicahk pimihamow / Wisahkecahk Migrates South 21. wisahkicahk ikwa wihtikow / Wisahkecahk and wihtikow Notes to the Texts
"Sol is an international treasure the whole world should enjoy." -Buffy Sainte-Marie "The Way I Remember is inarguably the most important book yet to be published for the preservation of the Cree language and an understanding of the importance of the oral tradition to Cree culture and education." -Jesse Archibald-Barber, First Nations University of Canada "As he looks back over his life journey reclaiming, breathing new and old life back into our beautiful language, Solomon credits the late Reverend Edward Ahenekew for helping me "to put the pieces together." kista meena dear Solomon, ekosi aytotumawiyak. This is an important book because you have also put pieces together for us so that we can have a good journey. Kinahnaskomtin." -Maria Campbell, author of Halfbreed "A gift to future generations...Full of humour and resilience in equal measure, these Cree/English stories offer us a glimpse into a world as it was, and future that could be" -Chelsea Vowel, author of Indigenous Writes "The Way I Remember is an open introduction to Cree culture." -The Miramichi Reader
