Unobtrusive Observation

Amanda Jensen

An aboriginal man got on a Queensway bus today, sat down near two other men and pulled out

what appeared to be a large bag of illicit powder.

He spoke in a conversational tone, as if they were old friends, and fished some change out of his

tan Reebok jacket. He detailed his encounter with an elderly woman who had bought a cigarette

from him.

“She said all she had was Kokum change,” he said laughing, using the Cree word for

grandmother and showing an assortment of nickels and dimes. The suspicious looking bag was

gripped in the same hand that held the coins. It seemed like an offering.

The two men, both clad in hi-vis vests, brushed him off and resumed discussing Netflix, Original

Joe’s, and counting their steps.

The first man moved seats and stared down at the half-butt and lighter held in his lap. He got off

at the next stop.

“He just talks to me cause I’m native and he thinks we’re brothers,” one of the men informed his

friend. “He’s not all there, (…) he was never my buddy.”

The exchange offered a glimpse into the loneliness felt by many of Kelowna’s aboriginal

population, even within their own culture.