Evening

Evening was a time for visiting and telling stories.

Our mother set out food and visitors were always welcome in our tipi.

Adults exchanged news and recalled hunting trips and experiences raiding other camps for horses. There was always much laughter.

We were welcome in all the tipis and would spend the night where we happened to fall asleep. The whole camp looked after us.

As the night grew late, our Naahsiksi (grandparents) spent many hours telling stories to the young ones. This is how children were taught our values. Our Naahsiksi (grandparents) said that we "would be blind" if they told the stories during the day. They didn't mean that we would lose our sight. They meant that there were too many distractions during the day and we would miss the real lessons of the stories.

Read some of the stories we were told in the evening.

Napi and the Black Birch
Napi and the Bull Berries
Napi: Old Man