Bus Stations, Dream-catchers and Elders: Learning to Catch Stories

What is an elder's story? The question was rattling in my head of how to write about the young First Nations Elder, Harlen. "Medicine River", a novel by Thomas King, was on my brain as I climbed aboard the Greyhound coach liner. I took a road-trip to visit a friend to the Caribou region of British Columbia. I had seven and a half hours to pass in conversation until I pulled into One Hundred Mile House. Unsure as to what an elder was, as I talked to my temporary neighbours on the bus, my image became clearer. In this confined sense of community, stories around me came out as I allowed people to feel comfortable in my respectful listening. Completely unintentionally, the book Medicine River became a jumping off point, from stories I heard on the bus to ones from the novel.1

In Medicine River, Harlen is the catalyst character who, despite his younger age, is an elder of Medicine River and helps members of his community to deal with hard social issues from the First Nations viewpoint. He drives events along in his inexhaustible wit and positive energy. “ ‘Coffee makes you feel better’ Harlen liked to say, ‘Drives the blood right to your head.’ ” (99) For instance, Harlen tries to be a big brother to Will. He feels people need to be listened to -- he does not write them off -- and finds the best in each person. Another aspect of Harlen is how he is always thinking how to keep the community's shape whole. Though Harlen shows no affection for Joe, his own big brother, Harlen learns to let go and to just drift away freely. I hoped to learn on the bus what an elder was and show it through Harlen’s stories.2

Harlen realizes Will is in need of a big brother to talk to, when he entices Will back to the community. Will has to leave Toronto to attend his mother's funeral. While he is gone, Will's job as a photographer disappears in the big city. Due to a change in ownership at the photo-studio, Harlen's enticement looks a lot better. He gives Will a list of local photographers in Medicine River and emphasizes a business niche. “ ‘Eddie says the guy doesn’t like Indians.’ On the last page [of the phonebook yellow page], after Terry’s Studio, Harlen had printed in bold, block letters, ‘No competition for an Indian photographer.’ ” The niche is obvious to Will of how other photographers are overly expensive and unfriendly to First Nations people. To promote business, the first customer Harlen brings to Will is a community elder, Lindel. Later on, Harlen encourages Will with advice about relationships with women “ ‘I know you like being single, but everybody can see how much you love South Wing. Bertha figures you’re pretty fond of Louise, too.’ ” (136) In his well meaning way, Harlen acts as a big brother to Will, who he never had the support.3

I happen to be sitting next to a Métis girl named Dana, who bitterly complained to me for several hours. I felt a bit like an older brother or an elder, though I haven't had the honour of the second title. I have been a peer drug counsellor for a few years and it has become less shocking to hear depressing stories -- frustrating though -- and keep a clear mind. I listened to her story and offered slowly thought through advice and the hard tone in her voice softened; she felt respect and concern from me. Harlen had done the same, as he always has time to learn people's stories, fumbling to help them out. “No matter who it was, Harlen would always go looking for the good in a person. And even if he couldn’t find it, he assumed that it was there, buried somewhere.” (151) In deep conversation, I fumbled to find words to let her know that it wasn't her fault and that she still had hope. She was a bit misguided and had suffered abuse in the past. Her talk was harsh from surviving for the past few months on the streets of downtown Vancouver. Underneath that toughened exterior though, she realizes how much she hates that way of living and was going home to her mom, to try living at home again. In the end of her complaining, she remembered her mother's care and her grandmother, who wants to give her a job; with a bad record, a thing hard to come by in a small town. They still want to give her a second chance, even though she had thought herself to be written off by the rest of the town. I couldn't say it properly, but I try to help as much as I could and received a huge smile and hug when we parted ways at the bus station. Sometimes a smile is all the thanks that one gets for being supportive. As in Medicine River, people are struggling with equally in native and non-native communities. If only they would listen to each other face-to-face and realize the similarities.4

I could have written her off and ignored her and concentrated on my homework. I couldn't, though, as I understand that people have a need to be heard. Harlen listens to people and find the best in them, even those who others write off as hopeless cases. He see that others, no matter how barricaded away inside they are, simply want to be accepted and shown some kindness. Harlen shows compassion towards others of his community to hear them out in and give them a chance. January finds comfort and safety in having her abused situation with Jake end violently. Dana has a four inch clasp knife that she could flick open with a slight of wrist motion. Both were bitterly tired of the abuse and loss of control in their situations of being hurt in relationships and by random strangers for too long. Everyone else in Medicine River remains silent on the abuse that goes on in relationships. Harlen without saying a word asks why nobody had bothered to listen to Jake about why he was so angry. “Harlen and me figured that Jake probably shot himself because he hated himself for beating on January…” (51) Many people I see on the street ignore the strung out kids on the street and I wonder why. Clyde is a troubled youth who keeps ending up in jail for stealing cars and robbery. Harlen reminds Will that “ ‘Some people have a hard time staying out of trouble, you know. Clyde’s like that. He needs a lot of encouragement. You tell him how much we need him for the championship?’ ” (127) Harlen visits him in jail and encourages him to play basketball with the team after he gets out. It is unpredictable about the effect of a bit of encouragement can have on someone.5

As the bus sped along, yellow centre lines flickering, Dana drifted off into her own thoughts. I turned across the aisle to talk to another young woman whom was clutching a large stick hoop of slender sinews the entire trip; the taunt sinews of the hoop sparkled with red and blue beads in the web of a dream-catcher. She was looking through a stack of photographs. I introduced myself and met Anna, when I asked her about the photos and who had made the dream-catcher for her. A friend had rewoven the foot wide dream-catcher seven times, until he thought it perfect. She finally jokingly yelled at him to stop taking it apart. Making the dream-catchers was a craft project in a wellness retreat for alcohol abuse and she was looking through the photos as she traveled back home. Dana perked up again and chimed in comments. She found familiarity with Anna’s story about treatment and a shared heritage. I clumsily asked more about the elders and both girls was amused enough to tell me. They are slowly learning patience to deal with life with help from others.6

The elders aren't forced to go to help people dealing with substance abuse, but they do it anyway, as they want to heal and hold together the community. Harlen does this well. “Any time there was a gathering of two or more Indians in a hundred-mile radius of Medicine River, chances were one of them was Harlen.” (89) The elders realize both dream-catchers and community are tightly woven webs intertwined and dependent on each strand to hold strong. Anna’s elders gave her and others a second chance; inviting them to come home to their roots through stories on hikes and hosting bonfire-lit dancing all night that makes eyes water from the smoke. Elders patiently relieve tension here and mend a line there to keep the community whole, or like a dream-catcher, it falls apart. This aspect of Harlen is constantly thinking of how to keep the community's shape whole. He is always there for the community “and seeing him there at funerals and weddings, bad times and good, was somehow reassuring.” (47) Another one of Harlen's community involvements is in coordination of and coaching the basketball team for the men in the community to play together and talk. They travel in a big van borrowed from the Friendship Centre, drinking beers, smoking, and chanting to a hoop drum the whole trip. Harlen knows that as they play, through teamwork they learn to depend on each other. When the two directors of the Friendship Centre, Big John and Eddie, break out into hurtful insults, Harlen heals the rift between the two. “ ‘Nothing like a hand game to get people together. You watch, pretty soon they’ll be singing and having a good time, and they won’t remember why they were angry with one another.” ’ (64) He knows the centre's importance in the community as a place where people to come together.7

People come together in treatment. Every day at this treatment program, they went for hikes and listened to the elders' stories in the afternoon. Anna laughed, as sometimes they ramble on and repeat things. After all, they are elderly men and forgetful at times. The stories that wander out are inspiring and full of lessons from life experience. Anna had tried to escape into the drink for too long after losing older family members. The tale she recited to me about letting go of past grief and moving on, struck a chord in her, to be retold word for word. As Anna related the story, I closed my eyes to concentrate on the words of the elder and let go of a relationship. I have learned over the years how much First Nations people value their elders’ wisdom and try my best to listen too. “Only the grandparents remained in place as the ocean of relations flowed around them.” (215) The elders’ stories do ring true.8

Reality, intertwined with those stories on the bus to stories of how Harlen, manages to closely knit his entire community through struggles and times of trouble. Though he shows no affection to own big brother Joe at first, Harlen realizes something about him in the end. In the bar, he refuses to acknowledge Joe when he comes home for a visit. When they go to jump into the river, from the bridge, unlike Harlen, Joe is able to fearlessly let go and cannonball into river. In the end, though he and Will crazily smash a canoe up in the rapids, Harlen drifts away in the white-water river, free of fear. “ ‘Hey, Will, wasn’t that great! What a ride! […]  Hey, where’s the canoe?’ ” (247) I calmly got off the bus, never expecting to catch a few stories, like the elders do all the time.9

By Phil Rushton10