When I Was Small – I Wan Kwikws: A Grammatical Analysis of St’át’imc Oral Narratives (review)

The focus of the First Nations Languages Series is described as follows: ‘The First Nations languages of the world, many of which are renowned for the complexity and richness of their linguistic structure, embody the cumulative cultural knowledge of Aboriginal peoples. This vital linguistic heritage is currently under severe threat of extinction. This new series is dedicated to the linguistic study of these languages.’ Four books have appeared in this handsome series: the one reviewed here, and three grammars. ubc Press is to be applauded for supporting such important work.

When I Was Small – I Wan Kwikws is a collection of personal narratives told by four St’át’imc elders: Beverley Frank, Gertrude Ned, Laura Thevarge, and Rose Agnes Whitley. Lisa Matthewson is a linguist who has researched the St’átimc’ets language (also called Lillooet) for many years. Together they have created an outstanding book.

While the series description might make it sound as if the books would be interesting only to linguists, that is not true of this book. The goals are clearly defined. First: ‘to contribute to ongoing efforts to preserve and document St’át’imcets’ through the collection of oral narratives. Second: to provide spontaneous speech and connected narratives, with careful glosses, for linguists. And third: to contribute to oral history – ‘the stories contain much information about the history of the Lillooet area, the traditional St’át’imc way of life, and the consequences of contact with Western culture. They provide first-hand accounts of what it was like to be a female child growing up in the 1930s and 1940s within St’át’imc communities and in residential schools.’ It is this third goal that readers of utq should realize: the book has wide appeal, providing new voices telling of peoples of the time and area. The women grew up on reserves, with a mixture of land-based and wage economy. The Second World War brought about major changes for Aboriginal peoples in Canada. The 1966 Hawthorn report (A Survey of the Contemporary Indians of Canada Economic, Political, Educational Needs and Policies) talks of the ‘isolated splendour’ of Aboriginal peoples until the early 1950s. After the war, government policy mandated that children attend school, causing disruption in communities across the country, with the St’át’imc society being deeply affected.

The women spoke St’át’imcets as their first language. Most of them have higher education, and all have been engaged in language work. One, Gertrude Ned, says, ‘Now it’s time for the younger generations to make sure that the language survives. It’s up to them now. We have to make them understand how important it is. We should never lose our identity.’

The introduction likely will appeal largely to linguists. After introducing the women and giving brief historical and ethnographic background, it addresses issues of data collection, editing, presentation, orthography, and morphology, as well as the use of English in the narratives.

The narratives follow. Each is presented first in St’át’imcets (in St’át’imcets orthography), followed by an English translation. A linguistic format follows, with a line in St’át’imcets orthography, a line with morpheme boundaries in a linguistically based transcription, a line with morpheme-by-morpheme glosses, and finally, a line of translation. The book ends with notes on differences between what is transcribed and what was heard on tape and points of linguistic interest.

Each narrative is presented as a series of vignettes. They tell of families and friends, births and deaths, marriages and divorces. They speak of fishing, berry picking, farming, of holidays and church. They talk of their early schooling, and of learning English. They speak of daily routines and special events. We meet four strong women who have lived full lives and are willing to share them.

This book...