TO THE EDITOR Dear Editor: Since the last publication of this paper, a very peculiar thing happened in the townsite. I looked out one early evening and saw a goodlooking man in overalls and hip waders. I’ couldn’t believe my eyes - hip. waders in all this snow! He looked a little lost and when he turn- ed I could see a plumbing tool over his shoulder - the kind with the wooden handle and a big red rubber cup on the end - the tool used for Revie drains and so on and so on. We all read the flyer from the CAC that says,“Do not phone the Electrical or Plumbing Dept direct. You must phone Town Administration and your troubles will be solved. I didn’t know the man answered the calls himself! Does Tony know what’s going on? Just how competent is this man? I lost sight of him due to the falling snow. So, who was the lucky householder? Overalls and hipwaders must have meant a big, wet problem. Tell us in the next issue, Frank, how you solved it! Name witheld - with no plumbing problems. Dear Editor: On behalf of the Building Committee of the Watson Lake Community Club, I would like to thank Mr. Brian Pewsey and the Cassiar Asbestos Corporation for their donation of used conveyor belting to Watson Lake’s new Arena. I hope that Mickey Overton and the Cassiar hoc- key teams will have an opportunity to participate in its official opening. Thanks also extended to the Maintenance Staff of the Watson Lake Airport for transporting the donated belting. Susan Micheals Correspondent Cassiar Courier SALES Fy | & W SERVICE ONE STOP PHOTO SHOPPING EXPERT EQUIPMENT TESTING 299 Carmacks Street 778-7515 Serle lb ed bed ls Wi ic ia he a ee ees ka ke Se Tein TAS ie Sener) eee SOS YE DESO Tayo en Dees SoS VO LIONS CLUB NEWS For those. Lions that have an interest in what is hap- _ pening in our District at the International Level, the Ray Marley Campaign Committee is sending the se- cretary monthly reports on the Campaign progress. For those who do not know Lion Ray Marley, he is a Lion from our District running for the position of Inter- national Director. The Kodiak Lions Club will be oper- ating a hospitality suite for the Campaign at the Dis- trict Convention. If you are there, drop in for a visit. The following Lions received their October Growth Awards for sponsoring a new member-in the month of October. Lion Hans Bilger Lion Everett Brown Lion Lothar Kutz ‘Lion Alf Lehmann Lion Paul Wood Lion Reg reports that 1800 dozen beer bottles have been shipped out, and another 1800 still in storage. Cpl. Fitzsimmons of Cassiar RCMP attended the last meeting to explain more about Operation Identifi- cation. . All of the literature and equipment was there so the Lions could see just what was happening. As the liason, Lion Don was out of town the time the system of operation was not finalized.. Several ideas were put forth and the organizers will pick out the best any time now. The Watson Lake Lions Club will be participating in the Watson Lake Ptarmigan Daze Feb 11, 12 & 13. If you have time, drop up to Watson Lake and have a good time. ~ We SS. ANNUAL MIXED BONSPIEL . MARCH SPONSORED BY CASSIAR 332 Bateman Phone 778-7428. Your Home Entertainment Centre 17, 18,19& 20 Fee for all Rinks : $40.00 includes BANQUET and DANCE Past President Lion Ed Hanley presented the 100% Award pins to those Lions that earned them during his year as president. This represents 33% of the Club. Lion Reg Ash Lion Hans Bilgar Lion Ed Hanley Lion Cesar Isidoro Lion Gerry Bermel Lion Alf Guderjahn Lion Fred Hewett Lion Luther Kutz Lion Alf Lehmann Lion Rupert MacKenzie Lion Ed Micheal Lion Ed Micheal Lion Paul Wood ‘EVENING AND CASUAL WEAR Sizes 8-16 18-20 o0n order — HOURS Mon.,Tues., Thurs. ,Fri.,...3:30-8:30 Wed.3:30-7:00 - Sat.-2:30-6:30 Sunday 12:30-2:30 lf you would like to come at some other time please call 778-7329 Although the 30% OFF Sale was advertised as being fram January 15 to 30, some clothes are still marked down at 30% OFF so come on over and have a /ook----you may get just the buy you’ve been waiting for! 51h 5G WR OMUGS Street 7 CURLING CLUB Lion Jon Johnson. ie et eae all the time and went hunting chicken ewe = PWEV ee Cle bar eetrin earn Un ies Lew oatieiye (ot Gimme irae Inte Pca clot as vue hi) B the Indian Village near Atlin. Johnny Taku Jack grew up in this village surrounded by his family and as a friends, ISRROR The second ina series of rem- inisences from the memory of Ishkoh,...Johnny Taku Jack... Tlingit Indian and resident of Cassiar Country for more than 70 years. In this article he tells about his life as a young Indian Boy in Atlin. - “The old people taught us what we needed to know to take care of ourselves. That's what the old people were expected to do in the old days.”’ Johnny Taku Jack, or Ishkoh to his Indian friends, was relaxed in an easy chair, a cane resting on each arm, as he talked about life as» a young Indian boy in Atlin in the early. 1900's. “My folks were busy trying to provide for us. My father was a carpenter. He built our little frame house in Atlin. My mother, Emma, (Kay-ee-shay), was a very hard worker, and went from house to house doing laundry, iron- ing, ‘and housework for the white people. If she got $5., she would never forget it. So, it was the old people who pang us. We called them ‘History books’”’. | took a 22 rifle , he related. “It was against the law to hunt them, and for me to carry a gun, but the white people “When | was eleven or so, couldn’t get chicken or turkey in Atlin, so - they overlooked it. spruce, blue and winter grouse. lxused to hunt ptarmigan, | got $l. for a blue grouse. That was a lot of money in those | days. Coffee or tea cost 15 cents a pound! If | got a rabbit, | got 25 cents, and if | cleaned and skinned it well, | got 50 cents. | didn't keep the money. It went for food for all of us.’ Johnny recalled the time he caught a lynx in a mink trap. His father sold the pelt for $2.50, and asked Johnny what he wanted bo- ught with it. ““Anything to eat!", Johnny ans- wered. “So my father bought a big wooden box (about 3 feet long and 16 inches high and wide) full of biscuits or hardtack. They were about 3/4 inch thick and’6 inches acroos, They weren’t real hard, but soft in the middle, and we would spread moose tallow on it, and eat_it with cof-. fee or tea. It was good!”’ Five generations of Ishkoh’s family sit for a portrait: ~ 1. to r, Clement and Susie Pete, Annie Jack and infant son, Clayton, Gramma Eva and Grampa Tom Carlick, with Johnny Taku Jack standing behind them. SEERA EES TET Johnny was taught how to rig snares for lynx, wolf, fox and beaver and deadfalls for wolf, wolverine and marten. “‘We made our snares from caribou hide. We'd cut a thin strip of the ~.. hide and soak itin water. While.it.was wet, we'd . enc stretch ait way out: until it. was ‘real.thin. Then... AeNsew voto Allinetakestrom lshkol’s front doors? BOY... WAND bey tee eke set tek ood So Pn -C3 iL Rk Wok bot WA PALS MTN PCY GPa uA A IA we'd twist it up like a rope. When it was dry, it was very thin and tough like wire.”’ Lynx snares were easy, because when a lynx got into a snare, he killed himself trying to get out of it. With the other animals, we had to make a rigging where they were jerked into the air quickly and killed. | bet 1 could still set those snares and rig those traps!”’ “We'd rub an herb on the snare to cover our scent and the rawhide. | know the Indian name for the herb, but not the English. It smelled a little like peppermint.” The best bait was beaver castor, according to Johnny. “‘They’d come from a long way off when they smelled that. It was like a perfume to them.” RESPECT FOR THE FAMILY “The old people were always preaching, ‘Have respect for your family, for your tribe and for all people.’ If a person was no good - if he stole - he would be isolated. If he was a Crow, for ex- ample, the ‘whole tribe would make a meeting. The bad one would be:told to go over the moun- tains for 6 moons (months). We’d give kim ar- _ rows, spear and a knife to make snowshoes. We told him to learn how to make his own living so he wouldn't have to steal. We'd check on him, and if he had some dried meat or fish, and was taking care of himself, he could come back into the tribe. If the bad one stole a second time, he was isolated for a YEAR. lf it happened a thrid time, the Crow and Wolf tribes made a meeting, and arranged to take the bad one on a hunting trip..He never came back.” Johnny talked at some length about the laxity and disrespectful attitude of the young people today. “Up until my time, we had res- pect for authority and our law. Then, when the white man brought his law, the Indian lost res- pect for himself and others.” “For example, you see so many young un- married girls getting pregnant these days. It was a very rare thing in the old days. They better not get pregnant without being married. It was a disgrace amongst the tribe, and a disgrace to the girl’s brothers, uncles and cou- - sins. If they found out about it, the girl would be killed.. Sometimes, when a girl would be 6-7 months pregnant,.the women would make a meeting and arranged to isolate her, like we did to sick people. One or two people would stay with her to watch over her, If they asked where she was, they would say, ‘She is sick and isolated.’ When the baby was born, nobody knew if it was a boy or girl, because the baby would be killed. When the white man brought his law, if we did anything like that they would put us in jail or hang us. That’s when the young started losing respect. Then when the family allowance came along, some unmarried girls would have 6-8 children, and the allowance wouldn’t be used for the children, but go to the liquor stores and beer parlors.’’ Before we left Johnny, we talked about get- ting together soon to make some snares, and to take photos of how they were made with- out steel traps, nails or wire. for our next issue. We'll save that Wateon Lake News The Dease Lake Community Club is pleased to announce that construction on the Community Hall is progressing rapidly. Foreman Barry Rouleau and his crew have completed the foundation and floor and are now erecting the walls of upright logs. The Club received an L.I.P. Grant in November to pay for the labour. At the January 26 meeting, President Don MacPherson stated that the Club had received substantial donations for their building fund from the following people: Ben Smith, Northern Crane,-Prince George, Larry Treherne - Cassiar, Sherry and Miles Bradford- Dease Lake. The members voted to grant life-time mem- berships to those individuals in appreciation of their generosity. Plans are being made for the Annual Dease Lake Winter Carnival for the weekend of March 5 & 6. In addition to our regular events, we've scheduled a Turkey Shoot on Sunday morning, and a Beer Garden on both afternoons. Mike Tinsley has promised to whomp up another | batch. of his famous Chili, so come out and join us for good times and good grub. Notice to last year’s trophy winners: The reason you never received your prizes is that the company we ordered them from never de- livered. The trophies have been reordered and you should be receiving them shortly. Our apologies for the delay. Lillian McPhee SUBSCRIBE to the COURIER... TODAY! AIRPORT «©LODGE OFFERS SPECIAL RATES During WATSON LAKE BONSPIEL $ 50 PER LQ ~ PERSON PHONE: 536-7733 The community of Watson Lake received a grant from the Federal Government (Depart- ment of National Health and Welfare) to study the feasibility of establishing a vents project in the.Watson Lake area. A proposal consisting of the completed re- search was sent to Ottawa in. December. The project has been tentatively accepted. (The final decision will be known in April). At pre- sent two people have been hired by a com- munity board which oversees the project’s development. The board is composed of a cross section of the community. Those hired will initiate a few programs of high interest and ed- ucate the public on the nature of the project. Several buildings in Liard, 2% mile and Watson Lake are being renovated to hold such. prog- rams as arts and crafts and recreational ac- tivities. The youth of Watson Lake and sur- rounding areas will be largely responsible, with adequate supervision, for the initiation of pro- grams. A survey was completed by most of the teens and adults regarding their interests. The main interests are small mechanics, crafts, out-- door education, domestic skills and movies. It is hoped that a few such programs will be started within the next few months. Right now we are looking for old furniture, table and chair frames which the local teens can repair themselves for their own use. If you know of any such articles contact 536-7746 and leave a message. Also, if you have. any suggestions or would like to help out in any of the programs mentioned above, contact the number given. We will keep you posted on the development of this project. wie te eee $e eae tte tt 44 Fees Ft ae ae F f ee