Solomon Mosquito Transcript

Solomon Mosquito, who is Cree, shares how encampments were scouted before settlers were in North America. He describes the intricacies that went into finding the right camp had to address "many kind of problem situations, such as, the enemy, sanitation, grazing, clean water, safe playing areas, exercise areas, protection from sudden attack not only from the enemy but also from the elements of nature." Solomon continues, discussing the pipe ceremony that followed after deciding on the location of a new encampment. Celebrating, feasting, and prayers followed the pipe ceremony. He then talks briefly about the living arrangements of a camp and clarifies that "not all tribes were the same" and differentiated group to group. In finishing, Solomon talks about Ladies' Handgame "games, boys' games and girls' games, these were discipline orientated and well-organized. Some were to test young people for endurance, some were a test of strength and so on. So they must have had some rules to go by, they had to in order to be a human, so people can get along, to succeed in living day after day after day for thousands of years. And every tribe had their own rules, and the games varied with tradition and custom."