Caroline and Roderick Gould are two of the most respected elders in our community, they got married 63 years ago. They were married on February 11,1936. They had five children which were all born in Eskasoni , (Eunice ,Ethel, Annie, Marjorie and Margaret). They moved to Eskasoni from Whycocomagh during the Centralization, they lived there for seventeen years. Caroline and Roddie moved back to Whycocomagh in the late 1950's.
Caroline and Roddie are both known for their history in basket making. When they were young they had to make baskets to earn a living. This was their only way to support a family of seven. Caroline's mother had taught her how to make baskets while she was still very young , later she started to make many different kinds of baskets along with their shapes and sizes.
Today, Caroline makes baskets as her past time. Now all of her work is considered to be fancy and a piece of fine art . When she was younger she used to work for money to support her family and to buy the supplies that were necessary to help her make her baskets. She made her money by selling her baskets around the Maritimes. In fact, some of her baskets are being displayed in some of the museums in the Maritime provinces. Caroline and Roddie are concerned about the dying out in our culture, especially our ability to make arts and crafts, remember how to speak our language, and most importantly the importance of our culture. They both think that something should be done to bring back our traditions and customs before they are lost for good.
Caroline suggests that something should be done for the youth, (not just in our community) that will help us learn more about our culture and language and the importance of it, like a summer camp or somewhere to go that will interest young people that are willing to learn more about our language, craft making, medicines, and other customs that shouldn't be forgotten.
Caroline is willing to teach anyone who want's to learn about making baskets, free of charge.
She thinks that people shouldn't charge money, for people who want to learn more about making baskets and other such crafts. She will teach anybody who is willing to learn about basket making, as long as they bring their own working materials she will teach you free of charge.
In the past Caroline and Roddie used to help each other with their work, Caroline used to offer out sewing classes , beadwork classes, and also basket making classes. Today she is still willing to teach as long as the person is interested in learning. She is still trying to help us before our way's of life is forgotten. She say's that we are all slowly losing our culture and we should try to do something about it before it is too late. It makes her sad when she sees people not knowing who we are and where our culture stands from.
Caroline and Roddie both say that it is up the parents to teach their children about our culture and language before it is all forgotten. They would like to say to all the youth who are still in school , to stay and think about their education , because their education is what we need to survive, "make a somebody out of yourself, instead of turning to alcohol and drugs when you have a problem, take advantage of the education offered because you'll only have one chance to learn".
Written by: Felicia JulianClick here to go back to elders page.
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