First-person scope: These are warnings and stories Patrick Mitsuing heard while growing up at Makwa Sahgaiehcan First Nation in Treaty 6. They reflect Patrick’s family and community experience. They are not presented as beliefs shared by every Cree person, First Nation or Indigenous Nation.
The word superstitions is used here because it is familiar search language. Families may instead describe particular entries as warnings, stories, teachings or ways of showing respect. Some readers will know different versions, and others may not have heard them at all.
Patrick remembers these stories as part of growing up on reserve: reminders about paying attention, respecting what you do not understand, listening to older relatives and moving carefully through the world.
10. Taking Pictures Of Your New Car.
One warning Patrick heard was not to show off a new vehicle by immediately taking and sharing pictures of it. The story was that the vehicle might not last or could soon break down. This is recorded as a community warning Patrick remembers, not as a prediction or a belief held by all Indigenous people.
9. Putting On Your Shoes On The Wrong Feet.
When I was a young boy I was to be filled with energy and just wanting to get outside already. I remember vividly that my mother would always give me heck because I would put my shoes on backward and I always wondered why.
Later on, I asked her as I grew older and she said that it was older teaching to make sure you put your shoes on the right way or you will be sure to run into a bear. So before your young one goes out to play make sure you say “hey!” “Put your shoes on right your going to run into a bear!”.
8. Don’t Whistle At Night
I remember a long time ago one of my cousins came to visit and it was pretty dark out when he came walking up to the house. When he was walking towards the house he was whistling a cheerful tune and then entered the house.
Right away when he entered the house my mother yelled at him and said “Don’t whistle at night” And my cousin said “why” then my mother replied “Because night time is when all the bad spirits like to roam around and when your whistle at night your calling them to your direction”
Being dark and alone I can understand that his whistling was just a way not to be scared, but I don’t think he whistled again after that.
7. Don’t Play During a Funeral
A long time ago when I was about 7, I remember me and my cousin playing downstairs at my sister’s house. The game was called wolf and the objective of the game was to find someone in the dark then go and tag them then that person was the wolf.
So about half an hour into the game into complete darkness with just the light of the moon shining through the basement window’s, I remember standing behind the furnace and I turned around to see if had a safe route to run away. When I turned around a caught a glimpse of a white water cooler behind me and it had a strange white glow coming from it.
For some reason, I didn’t look away and I saw a figure of a woman with a white dress on slowly rising from the water cooler and then fade away. Not really sure what I just saw I calmly turned on the lights and let all the kids know what I saw.
Of course, they didn’t believe me and said that I was lying. Then a couple of seconds later my brother came down the stairs and said ” Hey, you guy’s shouldn’t be playing down here! There a funeral going on at the hall and your not suppose to be playing at the time!”
All of us fell silent because we didn’t know how the funeral and after I told everyone what I had seen we all screamed and ran upstairs.
So thats one of the reason’s kid’s are not suppose to play during a funeral.
6. Be Careful Where You Place A Building.
Patrick heard a community story about a family who was warned not to build beside a particular place on the land. The warning was ignored. After the home was built, the family experienced events they found disturbing and eventually moved away.
The lesson Patrick carried from the story was to listen to people who know the land and its history before choosing where to build or travel. Details involving specific beings, places and protocols are intentionally omitted here out of respect.
5. Northern Light’s
Patrick heard that the Northern Lights should be treated with respect and that a person should not whistle at them. In the version shared with him, the lights were connected with people who had passed on. Teachings about the Northern Lights vary among Nations and families, so this personal account should not be treated as a universal explanation.
When my aunt was a teenager she stayed out late with her friends and later walked home alone at night. On her way home the northern lights started above her. She started walking faster as she was warned not to walk around at night during this time.
She kept looking up the light’s and she could have sworn they started to come down towards her. Trying not to panic she convinced herself it was all in her mind. She looked up again this time they were even closer. She kept walking and again she looked up the lights. This time they were just above the tree line, she got scared and began to run home.
As she ran she could hear a strange whooshing sound coming from the lights. The lights passed close to her head, whooshing, and whooshing again. She finally made it close to her house and then the noise stopped she looked up and the lights were gone. She entered the house crying and told her mom what she had seen.
Her mom, later on, told her she was lucky because sometimes the spirits come down and take those who are wandering around at night. That’s why walking at night is very dangerous. Especially when the northern lights are out.
4. Walking With Kids
Patrick was taught to keep children where adults could see them while travelling or walking outdoors. In the warning he remembers, children left behind were more vulnerable to animals, getting lost or other dangers. The practical lesson was to watch the young ones and keep the group together.
So when your walking to kid’s make sure they are in front of you and you keep an eye on them. If you carelessly leave them behind you might look back one day and they will be gone. The moral of the story is to keep an eye on your kids.
3. Fox Crossing Your Path.
There’s another superstition that says if a fox crosses your path when you are going somewhere you will have safe travels. If the fox crosses behind during your travels and your turn back and you see it, It is supposed to mean bad luck on your travels.
A few years back my family and I were traveling to the area of cold lake Alberta to go get some blueberries to raise money in order to get tickets to Saskatoon fair that year. With the van full I had go way in the back of the van and sat where the spare tire was. As I sat there I remember looking behind us then I saw a fox cross the road behind us, I then told everyone in the van.
A half an hour later we ended up getting stopped by the cop’s and got a couple of seat belt tickets. The moral of the story is not to look back when moving forward.
2. Seeing Big Foot.
In stories Patrick heard, seeing Bigfoot meant that the being had allowed itself to be seen. This entry records that version of the story without claiming it as a teaching shared by every Nation or revealing anything beyond what Patrick has approved for public discussion.
Patrick remembers a story about a visitor who reported seeing Bigfoot near the community. The sighting was understood as a warning that the person needed to stop harmful behaviour. Later, the person’s behaviour became known and the relationship with the family ended. Private family details are omitted.
1. Respecting Eagles
Patrick placed this warning first because eagles carry deep importance in his experience and community. He was taught that eagles must be approached with respect and that people should not act carelessly toward them.
Teachings, laws and responsibilities involving eagles are Nation- and community-specific. This public article intentionally does not provide ceremonial instructions, protocols or restricted knowledge.
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