Christmas has gone, with new memories of family dinners, presents, laughter and sometimes tears too. All these are stored in our memory, to take out and look at later. Our memory is something wonderful, we store so many things inside, and then at an opportune moment, memory comes back to our present time to reflect on them. We may laugh, cry, or just enjoy those past times that are stored away.
My thoughts are of the times when someone in our village would be getting a rifle ready, cleaning it, polishing it, and then getting one bullet, to use at midnight.
Clarence McCauley, my adopted brother, used to do just that, and at midnight, he would go outside, by the woodpile, and direct his rifle at the sky and let out one correct shot right at midnight. We could hear other rifle shots from other people’s homes down the road. It was an exciting time, just to hear all those rifles being shot. It was like the old year was dead and the New Year being born a new.
Down from our home were our next-door neighbors, Celestine and Johnny Stewart, with their family, then further down, would be the Tom family, the Saul family, and then across the creek would be the Caperian household, then there was Louie Holmes and his wife Susan, and their family, further up the road and just over the hill would be Alfred and Jenny Charters.
Alfred would usually offer his house for a dance during the New Year celebrations. His home was a big one, so it would accommodate many people.
People from other reserves, like Keremeos, or even Vernon, where some of our relatives lived, would be told long before the New Year, that a house party would be at Alfred and Jenny Charters home. Therefore, they planned for their long journey to our reserve, it would be cold and lots of snow, but that never deterred them from traveling the long distance. It was theirs and our holiday time.
Home parties were always fun, people would come from many miles, to attend. Joe Saddleman my cousin, would play his accordion, while others would have their guitars, Alfred had the fiddle. The men who had talent in music were in great demand back then. They were asked to play their music at home parties whenever someone had an event happening.
At these home parties, the women would prepare food, to take with them. Food like pies, cakes, bread, stews, made from wild game, or roast beef. At Alfred and Jenny’s place, their kitchen was huge, it had windows facing the lake, which was so beautiful in the winter, the snow, the ice on the lake, would glitter like diamonds, as the moon would shine on them. As people arrived, they would tie their teams of horses at the railing by the barn or riding horses would be placed in the barn.
One could hear the music from a distance, it was so nice, and the house of Alfred and Jenny’s would be decorated with bows from trees, the windows all showing the lamp lights from indoors. We had fun in those times past. Children were allowed to take part in the dances, which was square dancing, or waltzes.
In those times, alcohol was not heard of, so the dances were alcohol free, of course, drugs were also unheard of then too. We had healthy events; people enjoyed the music, the food, had time to exchange news about family who live at another reserve, or village. Someone would be chosen to do the New Year shot, at midnight. Right at midnight, you could hear the rifle shot, and then loud shouts of happy voices, singing songs to bring in the New Year, and giving the old year over to the past. After this, people went back inside, and sat down for the New Year meal. Then the people who traveled from far away, would be invited to stay over at someone’s home. People were made welcome, and they enjoyed socializing with one another back then.
To stay overnight at a friend’s place meant more time to visit, to share food, and then around six in the morning, people would finally go to bed. Nothing fancy, just a bed made with comfortable and warm blankets, some would sleep on the floor, but that never bothered them.
A huge breakfast would be served at noon, and then, the people were ready to go home. Their team of horses were watered and fed the night before and in the morning. Their big work sleighs were used to travel, so they loaded up their gifts, given to them or food for the road. It would be somewhat sad, to see them leave, as we did not get to visit that often.
That was New Year celebrations back then,
As always in friendship.