Bea and Reg Campbell from Fort Smith, NWT

Interviewed on January 17, 2015 by Kyle Napier, Carla Ulrich and Richard Van Camp

RVC: So, Bea, I wanted to ask you just as we’re getting set up here, so you came to Fort Smith when?
B: In 1953.
R: 1953 and you were in charge of the TB program?
B: No, I came up here to teach the TB routine. The hospital was going to take all the NWT TB patients and put them in St. Anne’s hospital here. And it was all on the second floor. We came here, another nurse and I, to teach the TB routine to the staff and sisters ‘cause I worked at the camps for many years. I was only up here for two months at that time: 1953. I was up here I think—no, I got here on my birthday, April the 30th, and I left about July 2 or the 3rd. But those were two, we worked hard but it was two good months and then I went back to Edmonton, met Reg…and we went back in 1958. But Reg went to school here and everything. He’s originally from Chip…
R: Beautiful. So where were you born?
B: I was born in Saddle Lake, St. Paul.

R: Oh and what year?
B: In what year?
R: Yes.
B: 1932.
R: 1932.
B: Yeah, so I’m almost 83.

R: Bea, when you were growing up, were you ever taught Cree or Chip?
B: I am so annoyed with my parents. My mother is French and my dad is Cree.
R: Mmmhmm.
B: He spoke fluent Cree. But they decided that they would not teach us English. Teach us French or English. Biggest mistake they ever made because they thought we would be further ahead not knowing it. That’s what my Dad thought. My oldest brother and I--I went to Blue Quills School for four years and then they took us out and then we went to a day school with Irish kids. Because my dad took us out because he thought we would never get past grade 8 if we stayed in Blue Quills. Those were the best years of my life, but my brother---I think he was having problems. My Dad took us out, but in those days they never told you why. To this day I don’t know why we left there. ‘Cause I loved Blue Quills.
R: So you’re saying they never taught you Cree or French?
B: Nor French and I could have had both.
R: Have you noticed that that has changed?

B: I think so. Well, I have certain friends…that come all the time. But when I first came to Fort Smith I remember Christmas with Mrs. Bird and Mrs. Mabbitt. I had not even met them but they went to every house visiting, you know, and I guess around home that’s what we did, too, around Saddle Lake. We always had a lot of visitors.

On traditional birth practices:

B: Well they used to come, take a needle and thread and just, it was only supposed to be certain people that could do that too not everybody could do it, then you’d lay, the woman would lay down and then if it went straight that was a boy but if it kind of went round it was a girl.
K: What?
R: Ohhhhh…
B: (laughing) I think it was kind of, that maybe you know that if the person knew how to do that … and usually they were right, yeah. That was what we were more interested in, in finding out if it was a boy or girl. We still had to wait ‘til the end. I still like people to wait till the end but at least we used to fool around, I guess. You guess what it is: boy or girl, uh?
RVC: So is there anything you would like to share with us?
B: There’s so much to share, isn’t there? I thought that when I left the Health Centre I would travel; then I decided it cost too much to travel; then I became interested in the NWT Seniors, became president to the local Seniors’ and then I’ve been president to the NWT Seniors for ten years or … ten or eleven years. Now I’m Vice President because we still have the same president since I left, but I’ve really enjoyed working. I enjoy working with volunteer things.
RVC: So, for future generations, with all your experience, what would you like them to know about the north?
B: It’s a good place to live. It was a good place to bring up children. I don’t know if it’s a good now as it was then. We … we brought up our children; then we brought up one grandchild who-- that one is a true northerner: he works and he loves the land… I think it was a good place to raise children. There’s still a closeness in Fort Smith. When something happens, we really stick together. Like I say, you like Fort Smith, we love Fort Smith, too, and I don’t know what else I could say about it but it just … just we’ve had so many good years … when my family comes to visit me from, well, they live mostly in Alberta--some in BC--they think this is the greatest place. We have the greatest friends and they came up to our 60th anniversary this summer and they say, “No wonder you never left there. You know, you have so many good friends.” And I say, “Yeah, we have so many good friends up here.” My family brings that to me every time they come. They say, “Oh my God, Beatrice. You live in a good town,” uh? And we do, it’s just…it’s just Fort Smith. I don’t know: it must grow on people.

On language:

K: How did Cree sound, compared to other languages that you’ve heard?
B: We didn’t hear much else. We went to school with a bunch of Irish when we did go to day school. They were people from Ireland that moved there in 1930--same as my Dad and them were born and they had an Irish accent. We picked up the Irish accent like nothing. And then the only thing we ever heard was Cree and French. And when they didn’t want us to know anything they spoke …
K: Gwichi’in?
B: Yeah, my dad understood enough French that he knew when Mom was talking to her relatives that and when they didn’t want us to know they spoke those languages. They didn’t hide it from us so they spoke it so hopefully we wouldn’t know what they were talking about.
RVC: With all the camping you did and all the time on the land what was the greatest gift that that gave you and your family?
B: The togetherness, I guess. You’re always together and you’re eating together and sleeping together, the closeness and freedom. You know, to do whatever you want out there. Eat whatever you want, cook. Cookin’ out I’ve always liked, uh? Yeah.
K: So what is it about Smith that caught you here?
B: I liked Smith when I came up here … I’ve always liked working for the Grey Nuns; they were the greatest people to work for. They were, you know we don’t give them enough credit for the things they did for the health of Fort Smith, uh? I mean, the Mission gave, used their own money off for them. I mean, I know I worked for nothing for years and years at St. Anne’s ‘cause I was a nurse but I wasn’t paid as a nurse; sometimes the nurses they hired from the south they realized in the end they were getting more money than me. But I worked. I just liked it because they were such family people. When I worked for them, if any one of my kids were sick I could just, I’d go with my kids first and they would take over. One of the nuns would take over what I was doing. They were the best people I’ve ever worked for; they taught me so much, yeah. Yeah … best years of my life was St. Anne’s, then over, the beginning years of the Health Centre were good, too.
RVC: My question to you, Bea Campbell, is: what do you want the world to know about the beauty of Fort Smith? What do we have in Fort Smith that the rest of the world doesn’t?
Bea: … the smallness. It’s getting to know each other and know new people right away. We’re small enough for that. What are we … we’re good at welcoming people and I hope we continue to do that and… I gotta think a hundred years from now. We’ve changed so much in the last thirty or forty years we’re not quite as nice as we used to be. Or we can’t be: we have to be more, more careful. I hope we get rid of all the Elder abuse or the financial abuse to seniors. Probably because I’m old now, I think, and I work a lot with seniors. I think my mind is gone to seniors mostly. Um, I hope we find … I hope that we know how to deal with Alzheimer’s and people …

R: What are your favourite memories of Fort Smith?
B: My favourite memories of Fort Smith … all the sports that we used to belong to when we were young, and they don’t seem to, they don’t have that anymore for the kids. We used to, Reg and I used to play ball all summer. And we played ball ourselves; we’d plan tournaments and in the winter we curled and played hockey with our kids so now? Now there doesn’t seem to be… I’d like to see more things in the future for children growing up like in the summertime here. I never see any Ball anymore. All summer we used to play Ball; we even used to go out to Pine Lake, come in with an old truck kids in the back and all…Nobody would come in now for a ball game. Like we used to have six or seven teams: men’s teams and at least four teams of women and that was so much fun. I’d like to see the kids getting into that but nobody … I know they’ve tried. Harry has tried, we’ve tried to help them but we can’t seem to get the … Harry used to get them out when my kids were small but it was up to the parents. But now they, they seem to have too many other things, probably their video games and whatnot. I’d like to see people go back to teaching … if they don’t go back to the land at least go back to these simple little things we used to do around town. Maybe a hundred years from now they will again?
R: Mmhmm that would be nice.
B: Yeah.
R: So, when you were growing up … do you remember Kissing Day? Did they practice that when you were allowed to kiss anyone you wanted on Christmas Day or on New Year’s?
B: (laughing) I don’t … I remember New Year’s and there was so much kissing that you (laughing) that must have been Kissing Day what day … I remember New Year’s going to the Legion especially when Paul Kaeser was mayor; he had what you called their “Open House”,  but he called it something else: it’s a fancy name. Oh it was a great day because you got out and was able to wish everybody … you know you had a drink or just--didn’t have to be alcohol drink but--and then they, they went around the hall, the building and, yeah, there was a lot of kissing. That must have been Kissing Day.
R: Kissing Day. Well I remember when my parents used to live next to JBT in that big yellow house. New Year’s Eve party and, man, I tell you about half an hour before midnight the whole house went bananas with kissing.
B: Yeah that’s the way it was … I don’t think … now it’s hugs I think. Now I’m not so sure.
R: Maybe it’s hugs.
B: I don’t know but, boy, there was just …
R: No hickeys--just hugs!
B: Just too much kissing, you almost ended up with, uh, cold sores or whatever.
R: (laughing)
B: Yeah that was a little too much kissing. Lots of people didn’t like to go, uh? And you tried to get just … hug them but that didn’t always work.
R: Still tried to latch on?
B: Yeah?
R: It’s like lamprey? Eh? Oh holy cow! You’re absolutely right about sports because when you think about it I would have never learned about baseball had it not been for Harry Sudom. And then you think about the champions like Pete Smith. He got all the kids working out, feeling good, so the question is who are the champions now for sports or culture? This town deserves new leaders.
B: Yeah, deserves new leaders, yeah.
R: When it comes to taking students and families back to the land or, you know, with sports and tournaments.
B: And to plan tournaments, like I, the kids remember me as statistician for ball and all the fastball I did that for years uh? So we had some lady come to town one time and she was, she come to teach. She taught me how to score keep and do stats so I did that for years and years yeah. And I really really enjoyed it so …

Carla: I’m just curious just for myself. I don’t know--I think you touched on it the last time a little but you said … did you come here and then meet Reg? Or you met him and then came here or …
B: No I came here in 19 … the year of the Coronation--oh that was an interesting year, too. Only for two months to teach the TB routine at the old hospital; it was then the new hospital. And then I went, I met Sandy … Sandy Loutitt was here and he like the … well there was two of us came and he liked the girl I was with and he wanted to bring a blind date and Reg was my blind date! Yeah …
C: Really …
B: That was in 1953.
C: And where did you guys go on your date?
B: In Edmonton, we met on our date in Edmonton.
C: Oh, it was in Edmonton.
B: Yeah we met back in Edmonton when Sandy brought … we were both back after our two months here. And that’s where we’d go when we went out for supper. Then I think we went over--it used to be the PanAmerican and tea had just finished up, and they were having a party. They took us home because the party was just too rough for us, they went back. They told us only after.
R: What’s NT? Northern Transport?
B: Yeah Northern Transportation. They used to come up here. Oh it was a great place to come in the summertime--holy man! Go to dances--all kinds of men to dance with and, yeah, we never lacked a date or anything. There was no place to go except to the dance or to a movie in the new movie theatre, but they used to show movies in the old Legion upstairs. They had dances in there, movies in there, and …
R: The Legion in Fort Smith?
B: Yeah that Legion. Yeah …
R: Oh, gee. I didn’t know they used to show movies there. I didn’t even know about dances.
Carla: Oh, so Reg is from here?
R: Reg is from Fort Chip but went to school here lots; he knows everybody from here. Yeah, Reg was born in Fort Chip and his mother was widowed young, and she used to come and work on the boats and Reg would go to school here. She lived here lots, like everybody from Fort Chip and Fort Smith has a lot of relations, uh? Yeah, that’s how that went. He’s more from here than I am. But people when they had the school reunion in the 80’s, I think people forgot that I never went to school here. (laughter) I was right in and I didn’t know them. I said, “Don’t forget I didn’t go to school here. Reg did.”
R: Thank you, Bea. That’s it. You’ve given us something very beautiful. Again, mahsi cho.

Bea: Okay. Thank you!