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Alfred Manitopeyes, respected Saulteaux Elder, gave Linda Akan something to share with those who work in First Nations education. All unusual structure, a stream of concepts connected through parallel referents that are evident in word structure in Saulteaux and retain that referential connection conceptually, in English, requires an explanation for those who are not used to the ways that Elders speak. The author's discussion of the structure points out that the powerful metaphor of good talking and good walking is more than metaphor, but is also a direct and clear statement of the personal ethical responsibility of teachers and educators to care intimately for children and to live in such a way that our words reflect the way we live. The immediately personal nature of Elder discourse, even in a genre intended for wide publication, motivates a reflexive and personal reaction to the Elder's good talk.
Introduction
Alfred Manitopeyes is a respected 82-year-old Saulteaux Elder from the Muskcowekwun Band, a reserve in southern Saskatchewan. He attends band council, regional, and sometimes provincial political and educational meetings and conferences, and he plays an important spiritual and advisory role in the community. He has raised several children and has many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
In the fall of 1992 he tape-recorded a talk for me. My transcription and translation of that talk follow. The question that I asked him was: "What do you think Native students and educators ought to know about Native education?"
As a 37-year-old Saulteaux woman, I have not lost the vision that these Elders had for us. I was inspired by the words of my grandparents before I left the reserve to come to the city to be educated, when they told me "Grandchild, don't ever forget who you are. Someday you are going to need it." The vision that the old people had for us Native youth was that we would become educated in the "whiteman's" schools and in turn educate those who educated us, in a mutual cultural trade. These old people knew that the indigenous cultures had something of value that the western cultures needed to know. They believed that First Nations ought to be regarded as part of the solution rather than as part of the problem in education...