Page 34 - Annie Battiste: a Mi'Kmaq Family History

ISSUE : Issue 64

Published by Ronald Caplan on 1993/8/1

treated by the doctor there. But first there was the operation. John had a large operation that nearly killed him. He missed the annual mission that year in 1947. Two days after arriving home from the hospital, John and Annie moved to Es? kasoni with their three children--Marie Eleanor and Thomas Leo, and Geraldine Leo- na who was just 10 days old. John and Annie lived one year in Eskasoni. Annie's cousin Roddie Gould invited them to live with him since he was not married yet and was living alone since his brother John had died. The Goulds were most well-off back then. Roddie's house was typical of the day: two-story house with a polished floor. It had been his parents' house, probably built originally by the government funds. There were three Isedrooms upstairs; downstairs: a kitchen, dining room, living room, and hallway. The family also had a store when Roddie's father Simon Gould was well. Later Simon's widow remarried widower Thomas Battiste, John Battiste's father, and moved to Barra Head. While in Eskasoni, John Battiste cut "props" or pulp wood in the woods. He and Roddie went together every day to the woods to saw trees down. Most of the men at this time did this kind of work to earn money. Other peo? ple had cows, chickens, horses, fished, and hunted. Everyone worked. They planted pota? toes and turnips in their gardens in the summer. They made baskets and went by train to various towns and villages to sell them. They made axe handles, using the crude equipment that they made. Things didn't cost much and one dollar went a long way. Women worked at home raising and caring for their families, while other women did domestic house- cleaning in local non- Indian homes. They made bas? kets, peddled them door-to- door, bought cloth and made clothes, picked berries and made lots of pies and cakes with them. Without a freezer and with large families, they never saved the berries or canned them but ate and shared their abundance with others. And there were al? ways (lots) of people to help each other care for their kids when one had to go anywhere. llang out m your r)ackyard tnis summer. 1 his year, why not vacation in a place people Irom around tke world come to see: your place. Atlantic (janada. (jreat iaeacnes, great people, and awe-inspirmg scenery - tne only tnmg missing irom a noliday at nome is a Lig travel Lill. ForakrocUewitk mlormation about tne Atlantic Provinces, call 1-800-565-coast. Atlantic KS Canae:' A Coost of Difference Atlantic Canada Agencede Opportunities promotion economique Agency du Canada atlantique Helping People Succeed in Business ??jf Enterprise Societe 'Mf Cape Breton d'expansion W Corporation du Cap-Breton Canada When anyone got married, they usually made a log cabin or shanty for the newlyweds. It helped, espe? cially since Mother's phi? losophy was no two women can get along in the same house. She had learned this when Mattie had come home with his wife. Martha and Annie did not see eye-to- eye on a lot of things. On the reserve in Eskasoni was a big government store. Anyone who needed anything went to the store and charged their goods. The store was stocked by gov? ernment monies to the Mi'kmaq people, but the agents sold the provisions to the Mi'kmaq and many agents, it was (said), pocketed the profits on the money sent to the Indians. At one point John and Annie owed so much at the store that they felt they could never catch up. John decid-

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