Growing up in Yellowquill

I grew up in Yellowquill Reserve by Rose Valley, Saskatchewan. I came from a family of thirteen children: four girls and nine boys. I was the oldest sibling who helped raise my younger siblings, so I learned to be responsible at an early age. I never had time to play like other kids. I always had to do chores such as cleaning and cooking or hauling snow to make water. I had to saw and chop wood for heat. We didn’t have electricity and used kerosene lamps for light. In order to survive, we went through many hardships. We lived in poverty and were deprived of many things as children. I never started school until I was ten years old. I went to school on the Reserve for one year. Then, I was sent away to a boarding school in Lestock, Saskatchewan. That’s where I picked up my second language, English. I think that the reason why I started school late was because my parents moved back and forth from Yellowquill to Kinistin Reserve. My mother was originally from Kinistin Reserve by Tisdale, Saskatchewan.