THE SILENT MOCCASINS
TOOTIMAH
by
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We lived in an old abandoned sawmill settlement that only had six families. We could take a village census before breakfast. The folks in the settlement were all individual in their own way. And they took care not to bother each other. That made it comfortable for everyone. After all we had to survive very cold winters, and there were no service stores close by. It was twenty-two miles by railroad and seventeen miles by boat or canoe to the nearest village and in wintertime we used skis. The train ran twice a week, you would send your orders in on Friday and you would get them back on Monday. My mother liked it.
We were all of different ethnic backgrounds, English, French, Finnish, Swedish and Ukrainian. There wasn’t much point in socializing because we could hardly understand each other anyway. We all lived close by the railroad track so when a train went by, you sure knew it, the house shook. But we got used to that.
There is one early July day that I especially remember. That’s because my brother was home from the school that he attended in town twenty-two miles west. It was early in the morning. And Mrs. Poquette, our neighbor who lived about a half a block away, had a large pile of woven floor mats on her porch. So we asked our mother what she thought Mrs. Poquette was up to. She said, She will lay the floor mats out and make a path to the railroad track because she is expecting her husband on the local train that comes through on Friday morning.
We asked mother how often has she done this because her husband has been dead for some time now. Oh! yes she said but she thinks it will happen that he is coming home. We do not bother with her because it is her buisness.
The space between each of us was so that during the heavy winter snows we were unable to reach each other’s place except with snowshoes or skis. We sure learned how to live alone.
Little Joe Dagg was only five foot four and his common law wife was only known as Mrs. Heath. She was five foot seven and weighed about two hundred and forty pounds. Joe would get quite yappy when he got drunk on their dandelion wine, which was very potent. One sunny afternoon in the winter we were playing outside and saw Joe come flying out his back door and land in the snow bank. Joe was kicking and screaming all the way into the snow. Good entertainment. Mrs. Heath was a very kind and generous lady except, sometime, with Joe.
Then there was old Victor the Finnlander with long big fingers that had yellowish black nicotine all over them. He was so lazy his wife would cut the wood except when my Dad went over and had a talk to him about that. All I ever saw him do was smoke those roll your owns. Even his long teeth were black from smoking. The women here could not move even if they wished to, because where would they go?
Mr. Rydell was English and in our eyes very rich because he owned a team of horses along with two cows plus two pigs and a few chickens. They lived just south of Victor the Finn Lander in a large house. Mrs. Rydell was not seen very often as she did all the daily chores. Her husband was old Gus. They had a son around eighteen, about all he could do was drive a team of horses. They had a daughter my brother’s age and she went to the same school as my brother.
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About the Book
This book will take you on a journey where you can individually take your mind through boyhood fantasies. Exploring the impossible means of defying gravity by that of an outside power source. This old Indian and his wife could move silently in their moccasins and never disturb the land, always leaving it in it's original state. They were guided and cared for by this outside source. They intuitively knew the weather, the movement of animals, like built in guidance systems. They were not physically strong but lived in a constant spiritual harmony with the universe. They could paddle long distances and Jim Chief had the secret ability, through his contact with his Indian Spirit he could lift a very heavy canoe over land.
The time is in the nineteen thirtees when the outside world suffered a depression. Modern technology was not yet invented. They lived off the land using their learned abilities to survive in all seasons. They lived in constant commune with forest and animals. They all knew their place and also how the animals lived.
Jim Chief claimed this Spiritual Technology was given to him as a young boy. He told Onni that he wished to pass these gifts on to his youngest son. This was a high-lite in the young son's life which thrilled him with excitement.
It will create excitement even of
the history of how super heavy stones were moved long distances in the building
of pyramids, and light houses in Egyptian ports. Then to the
great edifices of
The mocassins were made by Tootimah his wife from Deer hide.
This raw hide was chewed by a squaw because the saliva slowly went into the hide to make it very soft and plyable. It was all made from one piece of hide. Even the thread was deer hide.
The American tourists in the book are true as Onni was a real guide that took hunters out to hunt. These men did meet Jim Chief where they learned the secret of talking accross still water. They did get a trophy animal. Joe Dagg was a real helper for Onni then the son who is the author.
About the Author
He was born and raised in a
Hamlet in
With a grade twelve education at the age of eighteen he joined the Canadian Naval Voluteer Reserve. He was a member of a commando force specializing in underwater demolition. He was a part of the SOE or the Secret Overseas Executive force. Due to his Oath of the Secrets Act of Canada he was not allowed to discuss his exploits for a period of fifty years after discharge. After this time he was awarded a pension for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
Upon discharge he took advatage of some veternan's schooling where he worked in various carreers prior to his retirement.