In this essay I would like to write about a very special person who I care about. This person is my grandmother Hilda Hester Diamond. I chose to talk about her, because I have learned a lot from her. I want to write about what her childhood was like when she was growing up. What I like about her is that she has a lot of old time stories, and also I like the way she hunted animals in the past. I have gained a lot of experience from her, because she is the one person I have known for a long time.
When I was four years old, my sister and I were adopted by John and Gerti Murdoch. I realized very early in my adoption that there was a very special person in my family and that person was my grandmother.
Hilda Diamond was born on November 9,1912. She grew up in the bush around Eastmain and Rupert House with her parents. When she was growing up she was taught the traditional ways of fishing, hunting and trapping animals. She started to learn more about the Cree Culture when she was growing up. She liked doing things with her parents, and especially helping her father trap. She liked listening to stories that her mother told her about their past.
She married my grandfather, Malcolm Diamond, in 1934. They had 10 children. They both worked very hard to raise their children. She did the housework while her husband was out trapping and hunting. She was able to do everything that her parents taught her, which she passed on to her children. She had said many times that living in the bush was very difficult.
She enjoys making moose hide gloves, mitts, slippers, with embroidery. When she makes these things, she does a fantastic job. She started making these when she was a teenager. When she is bored and has nothing to do, she works on her embroidery. She sits all day, doing her embroidery for mitts and slippers. She also loves to cook traditional food and she will feed it to whoever visits her.
When she became a teenager, she started doing things on her own. She would get up early every morning and go inland and do the things that her parents taught her. She would go and set beaver traps, fish nets, rabbit snares and would go moose hunting with my grandfather. She began to notice how hard it was being in the bush. She said she found it hard to survive in the bush because it was hard killing food.
My grandmother is a caring and loving person. She was always there for me when I had problems, orjust needed someone to talk with. She helps me solve my problems. She took good care of me when Iwas growing up, when my parents were away because of their work. She is a knowledgeable person.She knows the difference between right and wrong and she always made the right decisions.
– Andrew Malcolm Murdoch, Secondary 4 English, Wiinibekuu School
