Elder Freda May Augustine shares stories from Elsipogtog

My auntie Soggii Freda May Augustine was born May 20, 1936 and raised in Big Cove Indian Reserve, also known as Elsipogtog First Nation.

Soggii is the daughter of the late John Simon and Mary Jane Simon Levi, and wife of the late Captain Peter Joe Augustine Sr., also from Big Cove Indian Reserve. They were both involved in the church and wakes; here, in Elsipogtog, we bring our loved ones home for wakes.

Soggii’s siblings were her five brothers: William John, Herman John, Stephen John, Gabriel John, and Joe Harry Simon. She also had two sisters: Rita May and Dora May Augustine.

Soggii is the only one left today and, at age 87, she still has very good memories of the past.

In an interview, Soggii talked about how she became a nurse. It began when her friend Mary Ann Levi was doing community health work. She worked for about a year, and then Soggii heard about the job opening so she applied. Sure enough, she was accepted!

Not long after, she and a few other women went to Manitoba for training and later on, she finished her studies in Fredericton. When she finished, she immediately started to work on having running water for the community, having garbage trucks on the reserve, and for better housing.

Soggii recalls the time when her father was a band councilor and policeman along with her brothers Joe Harry, Herman John, and William John. Now, her nephew Gabriel is on the council and I, Manny Simon, am a former policeman.

Soggii talked about when her father went to meet with Lord Beaverbrook back in 1964. Her dad was appointed as Chief to represent Big Cove back then and he was invited to Beaverbrook’s birthday in Montreal. I asked Soggii if her father was knighted by the Queen because I used to hear that her dad had the title of Sir John Simon. This was false; he only met Lord Beaverbrook.

When Soggii finished her studies to become a community health worker, she immediately started to research what Big Cove needed. Back then, there were about four or five houses with no running water. She had many meetings with Indian Affairs.

She remembers one time a community member came to her house asking if she could help nurse a man’s arm. She immediately started to treat the man’s arm by cleaning the wound with water and peroxide. Soggii wrapped his arm and told the man: if it gets too uncomfortable, take the bandage off. Sure enough, the next morning he took the bandage off and his arm was healed! This man went to see Soggii and thanked her for healing his arm.

After a while, people started to call her “doctor,” but she was just a community nurse. Soggii used to work with head nurse Sheryl Auckland and she used to teach children the danger of smoking. Soggii got permission to have a person come in class for a demonstration on the danger of smoking.

The old health centre was just behind where the current band office is today. It was moved to the old priest’s house, then moved to the new band office later on.  The first band office was upstairs from the old warehouse back around the early 1970s. A second band office was built where the old church used to be, but it burned down. A new church was built later on, and across from it, then came our community hall. After a while, another band office was built where it still is today.

Also, there was a time Soggii remembers when the graveyard needed some work to be done. She knew just the right people for the job, so she asked the late William John Millie and her brothers to work on the graveyard. She also asked the late Leonard Augustine to help take off the grave markers and place them back when the graveyard was finished.

After being a community nurse for a number of years, Soggii decided to run for band council. She felt that there was more that needed to be done for community members.

She recalls a phone call from Chief Albert Levi about an upcoming meeting with Indian Affairs on social issues such as welfare. Soggii gathered her information and took along a young couple. The couple had small children: one was just eating solid foods and the other was just in diapers with a bottle of milk. Soggii asked the couple what they were living on. The couple replied, “We only eat macaroni pasta and some potatoes.” When the Indian Affairs heard what the young couple was going through, they granted more funds to the Big Cove band.

Soggii also talked about how Big Cove used to have square dancing going on at the old warehouse. She also talked about St. Ann’s picnics that were held each year in July. Then, after the feast, community members would go to Maine for blueberry picking until school started back in September, but many families stayed in Maine for potato picking.

Soggii’s memories are a people’s history of Elsipogtog. It is important to preserve those personal histories.

Manny Simon is a St. Thomas University student and a member of Elsipogtog First Nation. He wrote this article as part of JOUR 2033, Local Reporting, Global Media, in St. Thomas University’s Aotiitj program in Elsipogtog.