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Alvin
&
Lorraine
Sims
Great
Basin
Indian
Archive
GBIA
023
Oral
History
Interview
by
Norm
Cavanaugh
November
30,
2009
Owyhee,
NV
Great
Basin
College
•
Great
Basin
Indian
Archives
1500
College
Parkway
Elko,
Nevada
89801
hDp://www.gbcnv.edu/gbia/
775.738.8493
Produced
in
partnership
with
Barrick
Gold
of
North
America
�GBIA 023
Interviewee: Alvin and Lorraine Sims
Interviewer: Norm Cavanaugh
Date: November 30, 2009
C:
Today we have Alvin and Lorraine Sims. And Alvin, can you give us your full name and
tell us about where your family came from?
AS:
Yeah. My family came from in Paradise Valley. Came this way from there. And then, my
dad and my mom, they all came—no, my mom came in from Ruby Valley. And then, my
dad came from Paradise. My grandfather came this way, saikkih [1:16] Owyhee. And
then they stayed in Owyhee, and that’s where I grow up. Pu’unkh’a [1:21] But I grow
over here. That’s where I’m living right now. Hok’ patanke [1:26]. Right there, on this
side of my house, in the sagebrush, that’s where I was born. I was born the Indian way,
not in the hospital, huh? Sokkuh nemmen tsoo’pa naha nap’an [1:40]. Yeah. [Shoshone
from 1:44-1:48] Yeah. [Shoshone from 1:50-1:51] my parents. Yeah.
C:
Who was your parents? Hagan nanihande?
AS:
Edna Charles and Jack Sims. They’re my parents, my dad and my mom.
C:
Uh-huh. What tribe were they from?
AS:
My mother’s from Shoshone. From Te-Moak side. And then, my dad came in from
Paradise. Paiute. Yeah. Soteweh newene [2:25], I’m kind of half and half. Put me half and
half. [Shoshone at 2:31] Sikkih mia ______ kimmake. They came this way. And then,
found a place where to build their home. And that’s where I was raised from.
C:
So what kind of house did they—did they build a house, or did they live in a tent, or…?
AS:
Well, they live in a tent from the beginning. Tent huup’a. Then, later on, they build a
house. And then, that’s when my dad was working with the CC. CC crew, they call them
that. I’d come and I’d put up the boundary fence. All the way around the reservation.
That’s who we worked with. Down from us. That’s our place. And then we stayed in
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Owyhee. Yeah. [Shoshone at 3:20] Yeah. All my grandparents [__inaudible at 3:26__].
And then on Te-Moak side, [Shoshone at 3:30], they came in from that side.
C:
So, are you related to Frank Temoke?
AS:
No, not really. I’m related to Captain Sam. The main guy. That was my great-great-greatgrandfather, tsoo. He was there with ones [Shoshone at 3:55]. Came down here, and
checked this over [Shoshone at 3:59]. Checked this land to see which one you like. You
want this one? Or you want Wild Horse? [Shoshone at 4:07]. My old man didn’t go for
that! So, he don’t like that. They’re too small. So, [Shoshone at 4:18] sopai wahatte,
taibo na sembe niikwen, “Go ahead and check this one out. [Shoshone? at 4:22]
Owyhee. See how you like it.” So he checked everything. Went up in the mountain, up
there. They got deer up there. They got groundhog up there. Then he checked all the
river. And then, it’s got squirrels, it’s got fish, it’s got everything here. So that old man,
he’s choose this one, so that’s why the people came in. Later on, a bunch of them came
in. The first five families that came down was, that Captain Sam, and then Captain
George, Big Dick family, and then Washington. That’s the only four I know. But there
was five, they said. I don’t know who was the other one. So they came down and they
stayed over here. And that, on the place they chose is right there by Sam Curtis’s place.
Down here? There’s a rock building that was sitting there, that was sitting down toward
the west. It’s all fallen down now. That’s where Washington used to live. And then that
Big Dick, he used to go way down, down below. [Shoshone at 5:46]. First one that came
down. Yeah. That’s how the old man checked it. He said, it’s got everything here. And
that’s the reservation he had. [Shoshone at 6:05]. And put him over here. Yeah. That’s
how it went.
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C:
So are there any relatives of Washington left on the reservation?
S:
Uh, no, I don’t really know them. But that’s what my grandfather—and he used to tell me
about that. But I don’t really know. The only one I really know was that Big Dick.
Taskey. That’s only one I know. But the rest… I know where they live, he showed me
the places where they live. But… That’s just about all I know on that.
C:
So, was there like a Indian agent that lived here with them, or…?
S:
Huh?
C:
[Shoshone at 6:54]?
AS:
I think so. I think that something like that way. [Shoshone at 7:00]. Because that—he
was the superintendant, we had that long time ago. He goes around in through here. Visit
them places on horseback. And then, that’s when them—I guess, he went down, he was
looking for Dick Caskey. So he went down out [Shoshone at 7:23], and he went down to
my grandmother’s place over there. Asked her—he asked her, “Where does Mr. Big Dick
live?” And then the old lady, right, she can’t hardly talk English too good. So, she said,
“Way down there,” her pointing that way. And he lives way down there. [Laughter] So
you can understand [Shoshone at 7:55] semme yekwite. Yeah, that’s only thing. That’s
the only thing she said! She says, “He lives way down there.” [Laughter] Yeah.
[Shoshone at 8:07]
C:
So, did the other Shoshones move up here later, then?
AS:
Yeah, lately. [Shoshone at 8:18] Then them coming in, keep coming in. That’s when the
Captain Sam was here already. So he invited them in. And then, later on, Captain Sam,
well, he said that—he was talking about Paddy Cap. He’s fighting, fighting the soldiers
all the time. That’s Paddy Cap bunch. And then, Captain Sam, well, he told them two
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runners of his, he said, “I want to really talk with that Captain Paddy.” So, he sent a
couple guys down that way. I don’t know where they got ahold of that moonshine, long
time ago, but I guess they had all kind of liquor long time ago, it sound like. So, he gave
them some. “Take this along. And then, give him two drinks. And when you get done,
you bring him this way.” So, they went down, looking for him. They finally found him,
where he’s at. They talked with him, and then they keep pouring him the drink. And the
old man, he liked that drink, boy! [Laughter] Keep on drinking and drinking, and then
pretty soon he got so drunk where he can’t hardly stand up there. Really, he about ready
to pass out. So, he really got drunk, and then them guys said, “Let’s go for a ride.” They
put him on horse some way, and brought him up. And then they had brought him right to
Captain Sam, over to his house. So—and then Captain, in next morning, I guess Captain
talk with him, with Paddy Cap. And then told him that he better quit this fighting. “I
don’t want you be doing that” [Shoshone? at 10:29] “I don’t want you to fight no more.
Your people going to be gone pretty soon, you keep on fighting.” I guess he understood
what he meant. “I want you to bring—go down back home, and bring the whole tribe,
your tribe. Bring ‘em up. And then we’ll give you a place over here to stay.” [Shoshone
at 10:58]. Right up here by Meadow Creek. You know, from Eleanor’s house. That fence
line that goes west. He’ll give you that piece right there. Six mile this way, and then 22
mile this way. “You could raise your people, your kids, right there on [__inaudible at
11:23__].” So, he settled down. He settled down right there, raised his families. There
used to be lot of people right there in Meadow Creek. There was families clear from—
you know where Lena Black used to live? Yeah, from on all over this way, clear up in
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here, and then, on the side hill, on this side. And then down here, there’s some more.
There’s, I don’t know how many families. There were quite a few families there.
LS:
Yakama-ne.
AS:
Yeah, Yakamas…
LS:
Damons.
AS:
Damon, Littles. Yeah, there was bunch of them. Yeah, finally, they all went. They’re all
gone.
LS:
[Shoshone at 12:11]
AS:
Huh?
LS:
Oh, shoot, now I can’t remember.
C:
So where did Paddy Cap’s, where was he before? Where did he roam?
AS:
Well, he was right in Umatilla there someplace. That way.
LS:
Thataway.
AS:
Yeah, Oregon. Oregon. Yeah. So anyway, that’s where he was raising problems. So, they
finally got him over here. They had a picture of him over there at the tribal office.
Captain Paddy Cap. He had a big war bonnet on. He was sitting this way. Yeah, this way.
Picture up on the wall of him facing this way. That’s where he was from. He just want to
fight all the time. Yeah, that’s the story about that one, there.
C:
So, how did—was the Boneys, was there a family here named Boneys at one time?
LS:
Yeah, Boney.
AS:
Yeah.
C:
Were they Paddy Cap’s band, or were they Shoshone, or…?
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AS:
No, they Shoshone. Bonny, Boney, Barney… They call themselves “Barney” now. They
used to call him “Boney.”
LS:
[Shoshone at 13:36]
AS:
Yeah, right there, you know, where that bridge—
LS:
Boney Bridge.
AS:
—by this side of the Rock Gym, the house over there? Right there. Right in that corner
there. This side the bridge right there. They used to live right there. The only one that’s
left out of them, the Barney—no, not—what’s his name? Kenneth. Kenneth Boney. He’s
only one that’s around. That’s left, probably. The only one. I don’t know if there’s any
girls or anything. That’s only one I know.
C:
How about the Priddy? Was there a family named—
AS:
Priddy?
LS:
Priddy, yeah.
AS:
Yeah, they used to live way down there by Pleasant Valley. Up that way.
C:
Where did his family come from?
AS:
From the Paddy Cap side.
C:
Oh, he was a Paddy Cap.
AS:
Yeah. Must have moved to them up there in Pleasant Valley, that came in from Paddy
Cap side.
LS:
The Dodges, too. The Thomas.
AS:
Yeah, Dodge, Thomas.
LS:
Roy Thomas. And then… What was Tupa and them’s name?
AS:
Adam.
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LS:
Adam. Tom Adams.
AS:
Tom Adams.
LS:
And his wife.
AS:
Yeah, all them people that used to live down there. Pleasant Valley.
LS:
But I don’t know that lady’s taibo name. Just Tupa. [Shoshone? at 15:05]
C:
[Shoshone at 15:07]? What ever happened to them?
AS:
They all died.
LS:
They all passed on, yeah.
AS:
They all passed away.
LS:
Had a lot of people here, no’himpaishen [15:16].
AS:
Mmhm. Lot of people over there. There’s not very much left. Nobody in Pleasant Valley
now.
LS:
Not good, but, you know, if it wasn’t for the liquors, there’d be lot of people. Lot of
elders would be still here.
AS:
Yeah, that Priddy—
LS:
Alcohol got them all.
AS:
That, what’s his name, that… Priddy, what their dad’s name?
LS:
Willie? Willie Priddy?
AS:
Yeah, Willie. He used to be a big family, that one. Lot of boys. No girls, innit?
LS:
No, mm-mm. No.
AS:
Nothing but boys. They used to get drunk, get sick, and then most of them got died with
alcohol.
LS:
Everyone.
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AS:
Drinking too much.
LS:
We’d have lots of elders. Now, right today, but…
AS:
Yeah.
C:
How about tuberculosis? Was tuberculosis, did people die from that, too?
AS:
Well, long time ago, people don’t know about the disease. They don’t know what they
have.
LS:
Because they never go to hospital, never.
AS:
Never have no hospital.
LS:
[Shoshone at 16:24]. I don’t know how they treats theirself. They cured with herbs.
AS:
Yeah, tuberculosis—well, all this sickness that they, they don’t know what they have.
LS:
[Shoshone at 16:40]
AS:
Yeah, the taibo forgot.
C:
So what did they use for medicine? [Shoshone at 16:48] Hawaki newe nattahsua’na?
AS:
I don’t know what kind. I don’t know what kind of Indian medicine—they used nothing
but Indian medicine then. The only one I know is sagebrush. I don’t know what’s that
others.
LS:
Uteweh daha newe tea, Indian tea, that antapittseh kwana. You probably—
C:
Yeah.
AS:
Yeah, I don’t know, I don’t know what the name of that one. [Shoshone at 17:15]
LS:
And then they used to have a lot of—
C:
[Shoshone at 17:17] Yeah. Osen kwa’i sembanai newe nanihan. Yeah.
LS:
Lot of cabbage, and then wild carrots they eat. [Shoshone at 17:24] Not really that much,
though, huh?
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AS:
No, unh-uh.
LS:
No. Not like today.
C:
So, when did the Native American Church—[Shoshone at 17:39] sick?
AS:
In the [19]50s, I think.
LS:
No. Then, they just [Shoshone at 17:48] ondat newe nanishundahai. Himpaishe.
AS:
I know. That’s when Raymond Warren came down. He’s the one that brought them down
this way.
LS:
Long time ago, though. Not in the [19]50s. Before. [Shoshone at 18:02]
C:
So who was Raymond Warren? Was he—
AS:
He’s from Fort Hall. Yeah, he came down there, and then they started with that. Start
healing people with that. That’s one thing, only thing I know about that, Indian American
Church.
LS:
And then the sagebrush, I still sagebrush for cough.
AS:
I don’t know—I know antapittseh kwana, but I don’t know the name of it.
LS:
The taibo name.
AS:
Yeah. That’s a white name for it, someplace. [Laughter] Because I don’t know.
LS:
Totsa.
AS:
Yeah. [Shoshone at 18:57] Sekke nanihante, I don’t know how you would pronounce it.
[Laughter]
LS:
[Shoshone at 19:00] taibo nanihade. But there is lots—herbs. Mmhm.
C:
So, when did the—when was the old hospital built? Or, do you guys remember when that
was built?
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AS:
[Shoshone at 19:17]. When I was going to school, it was already up. See, when I was in
school. I was, I don’t know, about seventeen?
LS:
Before.
AS:
Yeah. And it was up already. So, it must be around about, when I was around about
thirteen, fourteen? That’s when the hospital—this old hospital down here.
C:
Yeah.
LS:
[Shoshone at 19:48]
AS:
Yeah, long time ago.
C:
So was this the first hospital that was built, or was there one before?
AS:
Yeah, that was the first one.
C:
First one.
AS:
Yeah. And then this one here, not too long ago.
LS:
There was a, [Shoshone at 20:09], a church over here on this side.
AS:
Yeah.
LS:
No, [Shoshone at 20:16]. I know there was a—the Pursleys used to live over here, too.
Himbaishe.
C:
Uh-huh. So, when you guys were growing up, [Shoshone at 20:29], your grandparents,
[Shoshone at 20:32] hakainuhi teniwaa? What did they teach you, or what did they say
to—what were some of their teachings?
AS:
Yeah. [Shoshone 20:38] She’d been taught a lot, about Indian ways and what.
C:
Can you share some of that with us today?
LS:
[Shoshone(?) at 20:49]
C:
Yeah.
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LS:
Okay. [Shoshone at 20:52] Himbaishen ______ newe napuiten ne. Tsoon newe teniwate,
you know? [Shoshone at 20:58]. You know, the bad things, all the bad things. Itsappe
[Shoshone at 21:08]. The scary! Mmhm.
C:
So they taught you to watch out for things, and not to do certain things. Did they give you
a reason as to why not to do those things?
LS:
But, you know, when you [Shoshone at 21:30] Itsanai, like, you go to jail for that. And
then, [Shoshone at 21:34]. That’s some ones, there’s lot of things. Good things, but I
can’t remember them. Tsaante newe teniwaken.
C:
So, it was the facts of life.
LS:
Mmhm. [Shoshone at 21:54] Don’t be laughing at people. Don’t be laughing when
you—they might put a curse on you with this. [Shoshone at 22:05] Mmhm. There’s lot
of things, lot of—go the good way. That’s how come I don’t really care about this booze
business. This liquor? I don’t really care for it. [Shoshone at 22:20].
C:
Oh, you had a house above the hospital up there?
LS:
Mmhm. Yeah.
C:
What kind of house did you have?
LS:
I think there was a log cabin.
C:
Oh, log cabin house?
LS:
Yeah, and then [Shoshone at 22:32]. It’s a building. That’s how I, you know, [Shoshone
at 22:36]. We used to eat in cans of whatever, you know? No spoons, we have to use our
fingers. Mmhm. Then, in the springtime, when they real itto—you know this little ditch
right here? The water [Shoshone at 22:55]. Then we carry water, run over there, and
rinse our, you know, whatever we eat in. Yeah. It’s a hard, hard life, yeah, what I came
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through. [Shoshone at 23:11], you know, the people drink tease [more]. And then you
see a lot of it, and you don’t want to do that. Himpaishe.
C:
Osen suwain hakate hinna hipi [23:21], what did they drink?
LS:
I don’t know! That’s what I used to think, you know? Where did they get their liquor to
get—because I know I used to hear them say that, you know, somebody gets it for them.
Then I used to hear them—
AS:
Bootlegger ko’i.
LS:
Bootleggers like Boocher Jess, hagan tease? And Tiptoe George.
AS:
Tiptoe George. [Laughter]
LS:
Charlie the Barber. [Shoshone at 23:48]. But anyhow, a long time ago, [Shoshone
23:50].
AS:
Yeah. [Laughter] They’re the Mountain City bootleggers.
LS:
I guess so, I don’t know.
AS:
That’s where they get their drinks.
LS:
That’s what I always wonder about: where did they get their liquor—like, them folk?
[Shoshone at 23:59]. Yeah. [Shoshone at 24:05]
C:
So, when did Mountain City—do you guys remember how Mountain City came to be?
AS:
That’s long time ago. That was before my day. It was built before my day. It was long
time ago.
LS:
Did they used to have carnival, huh, way up there?
AS:
Yeah.
LS:
Or whatevers. Rodeos.
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AS:
I must been around about, maybe 14, 15 years old? But it was already up, Mountain City.
So, I…
LS:
We never go anywhere, you know. We don’t go anyplace. In 1971 was the first time I
was ever been on the highway.
AS:
And that’s when, your, the grandparents—Old man Cavanaugh? That’s when they were
kids, were riding them ponies up there to Mountain City, for that carnival. [Laughter] Old
man was drunk, he got on one of them ponies and riding around with them kids, ride!
[Laughter]
LS:
They were silly, though, them old people.
AS:
So many people laughing! [Laughter] Only big guy in a bunch of them little kids!
LS:
They were funny, though. Silly guys, himbaishe, older people. They make you laugh. It
wasn’t like this, you know. They don’t fight or anything. Not that I know of, you know?
But now when, there’s just, when they drink, there’s fighting. Long time ago, I never see
those things. Yeah.
C:
So, what did everybody do? Were they all ranchers then, or how did they survive?
Hakane [Shoshone at 26:07] or what kind of work did they do?
AS:
Well, they used to work with the CC. They call them “CC.” They built this whole
reservation. The fence line, up through north, east, south, west. That’s their job to do.
Took them quite a while to do that, finish that fencing. This, real big. Go a long ways. I
don’t know how many miles, it go from big dam on over, clear back there. And from
there, across. This way, and this way. That’s how they—they used to work for only a
dollar and a half a day. Yeah, that’s how my dad used to work, for the CC. Dollar and a
half a day.
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LS:
And some people have a wheat farm. Yeah, himpaishe. They trade with the—well, we
had to couple trade over here at Williams’ store. William [Shoshone at 27:18].
Maybe—who had it first time?
AS:
Sherman’s.
LS:
Sherman.
AS:
That old lady.
LS:
They trade with her wheat—you know, their flour. They had flour mill here, too. Yeah. I
know my grandpa and my grandma used to bring their flour here and trade for food.
Mmhm. [Shoshone at 27:36]. Yeah. And they kept garden. Now, we don’t even have
gardens. Because we have canned food. [Laughter] Yeah, that’s how I remember. They
get along real good, too. They help one another. Now come they don’t. It’s real strange.
Yeah. Sometimes, when I wake up in the nighttime, I always say, “I wonder why people
don’t get along,” you know? They should all get along. Then we used to have horse—you
know, wagon, [Shoshone at 28:14]. Then we’ll, somebody’s walking, and we’ll pick
them up. [Shoshone at 28:22] Some people have cattle. Not real lots, though, huh?
AS:
Mm-mm.
LS:
They used to have returned heifers, tsu ha. Remember?
AS:
Mmhm.
LS:
[Shoshone at 28:34] They sell their thing, and then they pay that back. [Shoshone? at
28:40]. And then they used to have a sheep in here, long time ago. [Shoshone at 28:47],
they use that money for something, I don’t know what. Mmhm, yeah. [Shoshone at
28:54] I don’t know. Everything’s really changed. And then I always think that, you
know, our elders, when they were in the council, [Shoshone at 29:07]. And then they,
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[Shoshone at 29:12]. They all get along. And so, pass it on. [Shoshone at 29:18]. They
ask the tribe. And then they used to gather over here at the resource center. Sukkuna
gather, and then they tell the people what they went for—to Washington, D.C., or
whatever. Wherever they go. And they tell the people. [Shoshone at 29:34]
AS:
Well, they had them—they had maybe two, maybe three guys go for them outside. And
then, when they come back, that one guy will get up and tell the people what they went
for. [Shoshone at 29:49]. “That’s what we went for.” And then he’ll talk English, taibo
taikwanna. Tell them in English. Pretty soon, he’ll want to tell you in Shoshone.
[Shoshone at 30:05] Tell them in Shoshone. “I’m going to tell you guys in Paiute
[Paiute? at 30:11].” So, and then he’d tell them where they’d been to in Paiute, there.
And explain everything to them—to the people, to the tribe. They used to do that, long
time ago. But now, you can’t hear nothing about that. [Laughter] They won’t tell, no
matter where they’ve been to, they wouldn’t tell you. Nobody want tell you.
LS:
[Shoshone at 30:40]
AS:
Yeah, they tell you.
LS:
[Shoshone at 30:44]
C:
So, that’s when they had their moon houses?
LS:
Yeah. [Shoshone at 31:15].
C:
The women stayed away from the family when they were—during their period?
AS:
Yeah.
LS:
Mmhm. Then, they have to take a bath in a tub before they come to the house. That’s—
had to starve. [Laughter] They wash you. Then you feel clean when you come in the
house. But I never get to do that, but when I had my baby, [Shoshone 31:39]. I had to
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stay out. For whole month. Mmhm. That’s what they’re supposed to do. [Shoshone at
31:50] They live in the houses. That’s a good way, though, you know? To keep that up.
Then you don’t [Shoshone at 32:01].
AS:
[Shoshone at 32:09], like people, they [Shoshone at 32:12]. Some of them are strong.
They can take what’s coming, and they can take it. But some others don’t. They get sick
with it, [Shoshone at 32:23].
LS:
[Shoshone at 32:25]
AS:
Yeah. [Shoshone at 32:26]. Yeah, and hurt them so bad that—
LS:
[Shoshone at 32:32]
C:
So, who were the spiritual healers? [Shoshone 32:51]?
AS:
There was, that [Shoshone at 32:56]. John Damon.
LS:
John Damon.
AS:
John Damon… What’s the other guy?
LS:
Willie Dorsey.
AS:
Willie Dorsey. Yeah, Willie Dorsey.
LS:
Hugh Thomas.
AS:
Hugh Thomas.
LS:
And Alex Cleveland.
AS:
Alex Cleveland. And then that, Nat Paddy.
LS:
Yeah, Nat. [Shoshone at 33:18]
AS:
Yeah, and those were five of them. There used to be five Indian healers here.
LS:
Mmhm. Spiritual healers.
AS:
Yeah.
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LS:
Not going, there’s nobody.
AS:
Nobody. Nobody here.
LS:
Mmhm.
AS:
Well, there—
LS:
We went to [Shoshone at 33:34].
AS:
Yeah.
LS:
[Shoshone at 33:43], nothing.
AS:
Yeah, no place. I don’t think there’s any Indian doctors. Something, maybe in the Navajo
tribes, there might be some there. But not over here. That guy from, there’s one over
there in Fort Hall that I know. But he comes down through here. And then, every time he
comes down through here, he says—it don’t look too good up this way, he said. One
time, he came around this way, he said. He came through Elko—to Wells, Elko, down
this other way. Soon as he came up here by Wild Horse, he said, been getting darker and
darker this way. The way he looked at it. Coming along by the canyon, got over here.
This whole thing was dark, he said. This whole valley. Real dark. “Don’t look to good to
me,” he said. He’s a faith healer, sort of. He’s called Indian doctor. But he try to get rid of
it some way, he said. Also, he doctored a lot of people over here [Shoshone at 34:54].
Comes around. He’s a Shoshone. Talks Shoshone with you. [Laughter] Yeah. Talk real
good.
C:
Hagan nanihante? What’s his name?
AS:
[Shoshone at 35:08] that guy that came down on the pickup?
LS:
I don’t know. Can’t remember.
AS:
Hii no naniha—I used to know his name. Can’t remember now.
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LS:
Some kind of Sweeney.
AS:
Sweeney. Yeah, Sweeney something. Yeah, he comes down. He’s got his own truck
when he comes down this way. Said, “Every time I come here, everything don’t look to
good up this way.”
LS:
[Shoshone at 35:36]?
AS:
Yeah.
C:
Did he say why it didn’t look good, or how—
LS:
Black clouds going on.
AS:
Yeah, black clouds, he said, covering this valley.
C:
What’s it from? Did he ever say?
AS:
No. I don’t know, I don’t know.
LS:
He just didn’t say. He should have at least cleared it up for us. [Shoshone at 35:56]
AS:
That other one, too, that other Indian doctor that was here before, before him. They used
to—stays over there with us guys here. [Shoshone at 36:16], you know, the one that runs
that—that [Shoshone at 36:21].
LS:
Eagleheart, huh?
AS:
Eagleheart! Yeah. He said, he was telling me the same thing. He said it’s, don’t look
right.
LS:
I always wondered why they couldn’t do anything about it.
AS:
“I don’t know why it’s like that,” he said, “but it don’t look right to me.”
LS:
[Shoshone at 36:40]
AS:
Yeah, everything dark. He said everything’s not running right, he was telling me.
LS:
[Shoshone at 36:49]
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AS:
He could see a person.
C:
[Shoshone at 36:53]
AS:
He had a black handkerchief about, like that. Just like a x-ray machine. He’ll just hold it
loosely, like that. Look at you, and he’ll tell you. See what’s wrong with you. [Laughter]
That’s how good he was! His handkerchief was x-ray! [Laughter] Yep. And then after,
when he get done there, he’ll run a sweat bath. ‘Course, he gets it real hot. I was in there
with him, once, in that sweat bath? He put too much water on that rock. I can’t hardly
breathe! [Laughter] I let him a holler, “I can’t stand this heat, so I’m going to stick my
head out!” He let me out then. Then them other guys, they took it. “Yeah. I don’t know
how you guys could stand that heat,” I said. It’s real tough in there! [Laughter]
LS:
[Shoshone at 37:57]
AS:
Yeah.
LS:
But now, go in and they’re mixed, I think. [Shoshone at 38:05].
AS:
Yeah, you’re not supposed to mix it with ladies. Just nothing but men. And if the ladies
want to do it, they can do it on their own, they said. Nothing but ladies.
LS:
But everything’s changed. Those’ll change it, yeah. It’s hard nowadays.
AS:
They’re still doing it with ladies, now. These young generation, they’re still doing it with
them girls and that. But they’re not supposed to do. But… I guess never been taught or
something.
C:
So when they did the sweats long time ago, it was just one for women and one for men,
huh?
AS:
Yeah.
C:
And was there a leader? Somebody that was in charge?
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AS:
Yeah. This one person in there prays for you in there. He’s a main man. And the ladies
do the same thing. They get one lady to be praying, do the praying for them in there. But
no man is in there with them, just ladies.
C:
So they don’t—now, they do them both together, huh?
AS:
Yeah. Yeah, it’s this young generation. They—no matter what you tell them, they won’t
believe you. [Laughter] That’s the way we view the young kids, now.
LS:
[Shoshone at 39:37] No matter how you tell, you know, them not to be doing this and
that? They won’t listen to you. This long time ago, [Shoshone at 39:48]. I said, “It isn’t.
You’re supposed to carry it on to your kids” [Shoshone? at 39:55]. But, they don’t listen.
So I tell them, don’t be, don’t go out drinking, you know/ There’s a bad disease out there
nowadays, I told them. Better watch out. Be careful. Take care of your life. Mmhm. I
said, “I’m trying my best to take care of my life. I’m an older person now. I’m still
talking!” But they don’t listen to me. Mmhm. I don’t know about my grandson, I don’t
know if he’s listening to me or what. And I will tell him, “Don’t abuse girls. That’s not
nice.” Don’t abuse one another. [Shoshone 40:41] It’s hard, nowadays. Very hard. The
kids don’t listen to you. It’s upsetting.
AS:
Now, if you do tell them something, they said, “This is 1909!” That’s what—
LS:
[19]90?
AS:
Yeah.
LS:
[Shoshone at 41:04]
AS:
Yeah, that’s what they going to say. When you talking about it, it’s past already.
[Laughter]
LS:
They will say, “This isn’t the [19]50s, or”—
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AS:
This is [20]09, they say! Not in the [19]50s, they going to say. I heard three, a few, kids
say that to me. Try to tell them something, yeah. “Well, you know, it’s [20]09, now. The
one you talking about is way past,” he said. [Laughter]
LS:
You know, if the parents, they have to stand together to raise kids. If one says no, the
other one let them have the cars. And if I say no, he’ll let them use the car. And that’s not
right at all. I told them, “You got to be together to raise kids nowadays.” Right? Mmhm.
That’s what I been saying, but they don’t listen to me at all. Of course, some of these
days, they’ll—they’ll learn I hope. Because I told my boy before he passed on, I said,
“You’re the leader. And the kids are going to follow your footsteps someday.” See, now,
doing—they’re drinking now.
C:
Okay, in summary, Alvin and Lorraine, if you were to give your words of wisdom—I
guess is, that’s what we could call it—to the young people of today, what would you like
to say to them?
AS:
[Shoshone at 42:40] like I was saying, about that drinking. First thing I would say, about
drinking. Them kids, don’t want them—I want them kids not to be doing that. And then
mixing it up with that dope. Smoking. Want them kids to stay away from that. I mean,
there’s lot of it going on around here now. Main thing—that’s the main thing I would say.
Stay away from it. Try to stay away from it. Because they might not live long doing that,
too. But they got to think about their life—ahead. If they don’t think about their life, they
might just pass on. That’s what I would say, is quit that stuff. They could quit, in their
own willpower, they’ll quit. That’s what I would say. Just like in smoking. See, if you
want to quit, you could quit. Like I did, I just quit. Been lot of offers, lot of drinks offered
to me, but I just, I told them no. I quit this stuff already. That’s passed on. Smoking, too. I
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don’t smoke. That’s what them kids got to learn. Yeah, they got to quit that on their own.
Lot of that stuff. I don’t know what kind of pills they take, too. That’s another thing.
They mix it some way. Smoke that, and they they still gets into drugs. So that’s what I
would say to the kids. They’ll be all right. If they quit, they’ll be okay. The best thing is
to quit. Might be, some of it might be going in the school, too, I don’t know. Lot of them
kids there.
C:
Is there anything you’d like to add to that, Lorraine?
LS:
[Shoshone at 44:55] Aishen kwa’i, himpa’ha ______ some of these days, they might be
sitting in the leader place. That’s the way I look at it. [Shoshone at 45:07].
C:
So they should learn to work together as a team.
LS:
Yeah, mmhm. [Shoshone at 45:13] and don’t abuse one another. [Shoshone at 45:19].
But there’s more. [Shoshone at 45:26].
C:
And then how about education?
LS:
Yeah, [Shoshone at 45:32]. They need to [Shoshone at 45:34], I had to quit for my
younger ones, when I [Shoshone at 45:40]. And then I, in seventh grade, I went to school
in seventh grade, because I had to quit school for my younger kid, younger sisters.
[Shoshone at 45:56]. Yeah, Leah Manning used to tell me to come back to school.
[Shoshone at 46:03] Because, you know, [Shoshone at 46:10]. That’s the way I grew
up. Drinking. And I sure don’t care for that. [Shoshone at 46:17] You know? Come
home, and [Shoshone at 46:24]. I lived in fear the rest of my years. Yeah. [Shoshone at
46:34]. And then Ray Allen and Dawena over there were small, [Shoshone at 46:41]. I
was just afraid, [Shoshone at 46:46], for him to come in. You know, “Come in!” [46:51]
And I was real happy. [Shoshone at 47:15]
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C:
So cedar is used for, a medicine, and praying, huh?
LS:
Mmhm.
AS:
Yeah.
LS:
[Shoshone at 47:28] That’s what I did, on my own. Yeah. [Shoshone at 47:33]. You
know? When life is, when you have no kids, it’s real lonesome. [Shoshone at 47:53].
That’s the way I got my girl. Cutting school [Shoshone at 47:59].
C:
So you guys adopted a girl, huh?
LS:
Yeah. We adopted a girl. [Shoshone at 48:24] Just kept on working and working.
[Shoshone at 48:28]. You know, go hay. Cut hay and whatever with him. [Shoshone at
48:40]. It’s just, you know—[Shoshone at 48:44] so you have to be careful. [Shoshone
at 48:49]. You got to be careful, take care of your life. Their lives. [Shoshone at 48:55]
You got to trust one another, when you’re married. You trust your woman, right? Mmhm.
[Shoshone at 49:08]. You supposed to trust one another. Don’t say you want to go see
this one, [Shoshone at 49:15]. Life was tough for us, himpaishe. [Shoshone at 49:36]
ration clothes hannikai. Ration shoes, ration, everything’s rationed. Your sugar,
whatever. You know? When it comes here, it got the [Shoshone at 49:47]. Long time
ago. Yeah.
AS:
Now, over here at Sherman’s store, there. [__inaudible at 49:57__]
LS:
You know where the courthouse is? [Shoshone at 50:01]
C:
So who was, who gave up the rations?
LS:
I don’t know. [Shoshone at 50:14] from somewhere.
AS:
Yeah, brought them in [Shoshone(?) at 50:18]. They brought it in a truck sometime.
They give us so much sugar, coffee, all of that stuff.
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LS:
You get stamps for sugar, and you get pound, maybe a pound of it.
AS:
Yeah.
LS:
Pound of sugar. Have little cards for that. Mmhm. [Shoshone at 50:39]. It was for his
shoes, he had little stamp, and then, [Shoshone at 50:47]. [Laughter] Yeah. So he’d have
to wear boots.
AS:
What you’re not supposed to do, [Shoshone at 50:53]. [Laughter]
LS:
[Shoshone at 50:55]. Then later on, I’ll tell him, “[Shoshone at 50:59].” Mmhm, yeah.
Them grandparents so nice. You just [Shoshone at 51:07].
C:
So your grandparents were nice people, then.
LS:
Mmhm. Yeah, they were kind people. Then they always say, “You feed people, whoever
come visit you. Then, if you don’t have no food, if you have coffee, give them a coffee!”
[Shoshone at 51:38]. So I’m still like that, mmhm. [Shoshone at 51:43] Yeah.
[Laughter] [Shoshone at 51:50]. [Laughter] Yeah. [Shoshone at 52:01]. Mmhm, yep.
C:
Okay, well, I guess this concludes our interview for today, and I want to thank you, and
Lorraine, thank you, and Alvin, I want to thank you, for taking the time to share these
stories and your words of wisdom with us. So…
AS:
Yeah.
LS:
That’s what I really want, is the kids to, you know, be nice to one another, don’t abuse
one another. Leave this alcohol and leave the drugs out! Yeah. Just keep it out!
[Shoshone at 52:40]. Don’t let the enne’tsi [ghost; dangerous spirit] get ‘em, let the
Devil get ‘em. [Shoshone at 52:48].
C:
Yeah, aishen tsaa. [Shoshone at 52:55]
AS:
[Shoshone at 53:00] Told about everything.
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LS:
[Shoshone at 53:08] I just know the Itsappe. No, the Bear and the Deer [Shoshone at
53:18].
C:
Oh. Okay, [Shoshone at 53:23].
AS:
Yeah. [Laughter]
LS:
[Shoshone at 53:25]
AS:
Yeah, that’s what they say.
LS:
[Shoshone at 53:29]
C:
[Shoshone at 53:33]
AS:
[Laughter]
[End of recording]
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Western Shoshone Oral Histories
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral histories of Western Shoshone elders collected by the Great Basin Indian Archive.
Description
An account of the resource
Oral histories compiled
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Basin Indian Archive, in partnership with Barrick Gold of North America
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
GBIA Oral History Collections
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Great Basin Indian Archive
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
2006-2015
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
Norm Cavanaugh
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Lorraine and Alvin Sims
Location
The location of the interview
Duck Valley Reservation (Owyhee, NV)
Original Format
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DVD and VOB format
Duration
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00:55:48
Transcription
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http://humanities.gbcnv.edu/omeka/admin/files/show/563
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
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Lorraine & Alvin Sims - Oral history (11/30/2009)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history interview with Lorraine and Alvin Sims, members of the Duck Valley (Sho-Pai) tribe on 11/30/2009
Description
An account of the resource
<p>Lorrain and Alvin Sims are both members of the Duck Valley Sho-Pai tribe. Alvin speaks first about his parents Edna Charles and Jack Sims and where they came from before moving to the Duck Valley reservation. He also spoke about how his father worked for the Conservation Corps. Moreover he speaks about his relative Captain Sam and how Duck Valley became a reservation. Both Alvin and Lorrain talk about the usage of traditional medicines, and the medicine/spiritual leaders who were traditional doctors within the tribe. Lorrain also speaks about the traditions surrounding right-of-passage and pregnancy. They both recall the traditional way that sweat lodges were also used. They also tell us about how items such as sugar, clothes, and food were rationed when they were younger. They end by cautioning the youth to keep away from drugs and alcohol.</p>
Video pending <br /> <a title="Lorraine and Alvin Sims Oral History Transcript" href="/omeka/files/original/cc71cefaafddeea7b0dfcb83d2bc679c.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Read Lorrain and Alvin Sims Oral History Transcript [pdf file]</a>
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Basin Indian Archives
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Great Basin Indian Archives - GBIA 023
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Great Basin Indian Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
11/30/2009 [11 November 2009]; 2009 November 11
Contributor
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Norm Cavanaugh [interviewer]; James Hedrick [GBIA/VHC]; University of Utah SYLAP [streaming video]; Great Basin College; BARRICK Gold of North America
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
Non-commercial scholarly and educational use only. Not to be reproduced or published without express permission. All rights reserved. Great Basin Indian Archives © 2017.
Consent form on file (administrator access only): http://humanities.gbcnv.edu/omeka/admin/items/show/id/371
Language
A language of the resource
English; Shoshoni
CCC
Community
Conservation Corps
Crossroads
Duck Valley Reservation
GBIA
medicine man
ranching
Shoshone
Story
traditional ceremony
traditional medicines
-
https://humanities.gbcnv.edu/omeka/files/original/936a902a073be326afdc466f53b7261a.jpg
2bfea5f92feb4f1db488e58f5b0b6ee4
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Western Shoshone Oral Histories
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral histories of Western Shoshone elders collected by the Great Basin Indian Archive.
Description
An account of the resource
Oral histories compiled
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Basin Indian Archive, in partnership with Barrick Gold of North America
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
GBIA Oral History Collections
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Great Basin Indian Archive
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
2006-2015
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
Norm Cavanaugh
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Toby Hilman
Location
The location of the interview
Reno, NV (Reno-Sparks Indian Colony, Senior Center)
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
Transcription in progress
Original Format
The type of object, such as painting, sculpture, paper, photo, and additional data
DVD and VOB format
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
00:56:51
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Toby Hilman - Oral history (08/11/2008)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history interview with Toby Hilman, Northern Paiute from Pyramid Lake Reservation, NV on 08/11/2008
Description
An account of the resource
Toby Hilman is a Northern Paiute from the Pyramid Lake Reservation where he grew up until he attended Stewart Indian School. He speaks about being at Stewart and the discipline that was practiced there. Although one thing that he did receive from Stewart was education in carpentry which he now uses to make traditional pipes. He relays the importance of the pipes and how they are used in traditional ceremonies such as sweat lodge and sun dance. He also speaks about having Tuberculosis (TB) and being sent to Fort Bidwell in California and afterwards sent to an Indian sanatorium in Winslow, AZ. Later in life he recalls working for the Civilian Conservation Corp and surveying parts of Wadsworth, Pyramid Lake, and Walker River reservation. He also advices the youth to stay away from drugs and alcohol as well as to partake in outdoor activities and eating healthy.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Basin Indian Archives
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Great Basin Indian Archives - GBIA 020
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Great Basin Indian Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
08/11/2008 [11 August 2008]; 2008 August 11
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Norm Cavanaugh [interviewer]; James Hedrick [GBIA/VHC]; University of Utah SYLAP [streaming video]; Great Basin College; BARRICK Gold of North America
Rights
Information about rights held in and over the resource
Non-commercial scholarly and educational use only. Not to be reproduced or published without express permission. All rights reserved. Great Basin Indian Archives © 2017.
Consent form on file (administrator access only):
Language
A language of the resource
English; some Paiute
carpentry
CCC
Community
Conservation Corps
Crossroads
GBIA
Paiute
Pyramid Lake
Stewart Indian School
Story
TB
traditional ceremony
Tuberculosis
-
https://humanities.gbcnv.edu/omeka/files/original/82e608e6e4d0c6b24fbc3b064675aca8.jpg
595aedfe98fb48f41fd399d4124ea587
https://humanities.gbcnv.edu/omeka/files/original/90464b5a0a4119cfb22d242bdcdb1531.pdf
94d5d870c85ea5361685d4b29499fb23
PDF Text
Text
Elizabeth
Brady
Great
Basin
Indian
Archive
GBIA
013
Oral
History
Interview
by
Norm
Cavanaugh
November
29,
2006
Elko,
NV
Great
Basin
College
•
Great
Basin
Indian
Archives
1500
College
Parkway
Elko,
Nevada
89801
hCp://www.gbcnv.edu/gbia/
775.738.8493
Produced
in
partnership
with
Barrick
Gold
of
North
America
�GBIA 013
Interviewee: Elizabeth Brady
Interviewer: Norm Cavanaugh
Date: November 29, 2006
C:
Hello? Today we’re going to be doing an oral history interview with one of the elders
from the Elko Colony. Her name is Elizabeth Brady, and this is part of the Great Basin
Indian Archives program, which is sponsored by the Great Basin College here in Elko,
Nevada. And my name is Norm Cavanaugh. I’m the director of the Great Basin Indian
Archives program. So, welcome to the first series of the oral histories that will be
conducted as this program continues for this year. Thank you.
[Some brief interchange about setting up the recording]
C:
Okay, we’ll go ahead and start this.
EB:
All right.
C:
Okay. Welcome to the Great Basin Indian Archives oral history recordings, the first
series of oral histories that we’re going to be beginning here for the college. Our guest
here today is Elizabeth Brady, and her daughter, Leah. And Liz will be sharing with us
what her recollections are of growing up as a child, and how things used to be, and of
what her grandmothers and elders shared with her, and told her about how things used to
be in this area before the changes have come about that are in existence today. So, she
will share with us what tribe she’s from, and what band she’s from, and a little bit about
her family to begin with. And then, from there, she’ll tell us what she recalls as she grew
up as a child, and her memory recollections. Okay, Liz. Go ahead.
LB:
You can start now.
EB:
Is he running it? My name is Elizabeth Brady, and I’m a Western Shoshone from Elk
Mountain. The Tekatekka [3:17] clan. And my parents are from Austin; my dad is from
Austin. My grandparents on my dad’s side’s from Austin. And my mother is from
�GBIA
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Beowawe. And she belonged to the Tosawihi band. It’s where my mother was raised.
And as we were small, we moved up in Antelope Valley. And I remember, I was around
four or five years old, when I was still standing in a cradle, and my tsoo, my greatgrandmother, she was babysitting me. We lived there. I don’t think we had a house. I
think it was like a shed that we lived in. But Grandma would take care of me there, while
dad and them would run mustangs. My mother rode horses. My Aunt Ida and Uncle
Harlan, and a couple of my uncles, Walter Jackson, their names, they were from Austin
area. They run horses—mustangs there. And we had lot of horses. That was in the
evening, when the corral was full of horses, when they’d bring them in. One day, a man
came over there, a white man came over there, and we—you know, Gram and I—we
didn’t know what he was talking about. My grandmother was mad. And she was bawling
him out, in her language. I guess he was telling us that we didn’t belong there, that we
would have to move. We were on his land. That’s why Grandmother’s mad. That’s when
we found out that that place where we stayed wasn’t ours. And so we moved to town,
which is Battle Mountain. None of us know how to talk English. There was a family
name, Jim Horton, that had a store there. And they took my grandmother away from
me—my great-grandmother away from us. And she went to work for them. She never
had a name. So they gave her name, Evelyn. Years, she worked there for them. And I
remember my parents going from one ranch to another. Then my grandfather, they asked
him what his name was, and he said, “My name is Something-Something.” And the guy
said that, “You can’t have two names. We’re going to give you a name.” So they gave my
grandfather a name. Something Jackson. Then I remember we went from place to place.
We didn’t know. We thought maybe we were just helping the people, but I guess that’s
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what they were doing was helping the ranchers. So, my dad joined—well, as we were
growing up, he joined the CC. And that’s why we were going to school here and there,
we never stayed in one place. But we had hardship, too, we had to go through.
NC:
Can you remember what CC stood for?
LB:
Conservation Corps.
EB:
And that’s all I can remember about my dad. We started go through Utah—later on, I
found out we were in Utah and Idaho. I know that when we got to Idaho, that they put us
in a boarding school. But we didn’t stay at the boarding school too long. Because my
brother told my folks that we were hungry, and they got us out of there. And then, my
dad went wherever they were sent. And so, I don’t know how, whether we came back to
Battle Mountain, but, I went to live in Beowawe with my grandparents. And Grandpa
died in 1931. He died. I never knew what death was. I was younger, and my grandma was
crying. She tried to explain to me what death was. I didn’t know. But then, after that, my
parents took me and we went to Owyhee. That’s where we lived, in Owyhee, until I went
to Stewart. Went to Grandma and them, they told us that they weren’t hungry, there was
always plenty out there for them to eat. Good food. I guess it’s by seasons that they
would be in there, getting food. And I think mainly, pinenuts was their main food. But we
ate. But I could remember that, it was [skip in recording] Grandma told me. When the
first white men first came, she said how scared they were. They didn’t know where they
were. And her father went down to the river—that’s the Humboldt River—and told his
family, “If I don’t come back, you know they killed me.” So they seen their father
running off at moonlight, until they couldn’t see him anymore. And all night, they waited
and waited. It was a clear moon that night, and they heard footsteps, and it was their
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father. He said, after he got them out of the cave, he told them, “They were friendly. I
don’t think they going to hurt us. But they look like us, only they”—he picked up a white
rock, and he said, “That’s the color of their skin. That’s how their duku look,” he said,
“like that rock, white rock.” And he was telling the family what he had seen. “The men
had funny—they had hair on their face!” [Laughter] The Indians never seen the hair. And
they didn’t know what cooking pots were, and they interpreted it as something black
hanging out above their fire. Then the wagon, they went on I guess. He said that the
black snake started in a straight line. He explained to them, that was the only way he
could explain to them that it was a wagon. And, “They had a foot just like us, with a hole
at the back.” That was their wooden heel. And he said that they were making “funny
noises.” That they were pounding on something—I guess that’s their music instrument.
He said, “They won’t hurt us.” We had—Grandma had never seen them. When she said
that, she was already a young woman, that’s when the Mormons were trapping along the
Humboldt, I guess. I don’t know what year that is. But seems like they were out there,
she said, “We had plenty to eat, we didn’t know what sickness was. If we slipped on
something, we would put pitch on it so to heal it up.” She said, “We lived a wonderful
life. Soon as the white man comes,” she says, “they change our way of living.” That’s
only one that Grandma that ever told me about. About living up in the caves. I said,
“Grandma, how do you keep warm?” “Well, during the day, my dad would build fire, and
heat up the rocks. And then at night, he’d put it in like a trench, like they’d fix for them to
lay in, and he’d put branches on it. We never had no blankets. Lucky if we had a skin to
cover our bodies.” So you see, it’s, that’s—I don’t know what year that’d be. I don’t
know the year. But she said, “If we had a deer skin, we had something. But we used
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rabbit skins, mostly, to cover ourself up with.” She had rabbit blankets made of rabbit
skin. I don’t know whatever happened to them.
LB:
Did she show you how to make them?
EB:
Yeah. I remember Uncle Herman trapping the coyotes, selling them for dollar a hide.
You imagine how much money they made with that. At that time, it was a lot of money!
But we lived there. We call them tsewakkate [13:05], that’s the name of the place where
we lived. We had artesian well there. Well, it was just real nice. That’s where we lived,
until that white man told us to move off of his land.
LB:
Was that wagon Beowawe?
EB:
No, no.
LB:
Where at?
EB:
Antelope Valley.
LB:
Oh, in Antelope.
EB:
In Antelope Valley there. That’s where Grandma—on my dad’s side, that’s where they
lived.
LB:
Mary Horton. She was like 120 when she died?
EB:
Hundred and fifteen. We figured a hundred and fifteen. Battle Mountain. Figured from
the time that the Hortons picked her up, and went to work for them.
C:
And were the Hortons—
EB:
Even your granddad, your grandfathers was there, too. They lived in Battle Mountain. I
remember them. Grandfathers were really a good group. Then we went to Juniper
Basin and my grandfather was still strong. He’d get up two o’clock in the morning, have
his coffee. He would be having his coffee at two in the morning. And my dad said, “Does
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he ever sleep?” But he’d go to bed early, when he’d get through. I never knew him. I
mean, I never did know the color of people, either. We were all just kids. Because we
were raised in Battle Mountain. We played with everybody. We didn’t say, “You’re
Indian!” “You’re Mexican!” We didn’t use those words. No. There were things Grandma
told us about. She said, “The Paiute—“ My huttsi tell me that the Paiute people were the
meanest. They tortured some of our people. But I don’t want to go into that, I think it’s
just too sad. That they couldn’t get along.
C:
How big were the bands? The group of people together?
EB:
That’s all I know, is that our family was—well, we were quite large. But, there were
others, I guess. Later on, the people started coming to Battle Mountain. That’s when—
when I noticed there’s people there. But we went up in that mountains, and I don’t think
there was anybody out there but us. Probably in Austin and that area. But none in
Antelope Valley. There was just us. And it was so pretty looking over the valley. When
you get up in the morning, and you look over the valley. And here we thought it was our
land! [Laughter] And it was a white man’s land, and he told us to move off of there. My
God, Harlan was so mad, he said, “I’m going to fill up that well with rocks!” I don’t
know if he ever did or not. It was a wanakanu [16:15], just dug out like that. Like an
artesian well. It was an artesian well. But, natural. That’s what I remember. I was about
four or five years old when we moved away from there. And then we come to town. But
we weren’t treated very good, either. Our people went to work for the white man. They
feed you like dogs, outside. That’s all I could remember about it. Out there, sitting. And
we were scared. We didn’t run out and talk to a white man if they came to our house. We
went and hid. But nowadays, the kids will be the first one at the door.
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C:
When you say you moved to town, was town right here where the colony is today, or
where was it?
EB:
No colony. We just lived at the edge of town. Grandpa build a home. Like a longhouses.
Two or three families living in it. And then other people start to come. I think Willie
Joaquin and Johnny Lawson, they build their home. They had nice surrounding. Rest
of them, they build, you know, little rooms. And Jim Crum had, he had a house, and he
had a barn, and horses. That’s when we we were going to learn to fly. We got on top of
that, his barn. Because Grandma told us, “Soon, they’re going to be flying.” So Clara and
I, and a bunch of us, we said, “Let’s get on top of Jim Crum’s barn and fly.” We put our
arms out like this, and we were going to fly. And we got whipping for that, because we
didn’t mind.
LB:
That’s your cousin, Clara Woodson.
EB:
Mmhm. Clara just told me last week—last week? Couple weeks ago. She said, “Do you
remember that?” [Laughter] I said no. She said, “Do you remember that lady that flew in
here, and landed there, and we wouldn’t go to her?” I barely remembered it. But I do
remember her offering us candy. It was that Amelia Earhart? She was flying, and she
stopped in Battle Mountain. [Laughter] And she went and give us candy. After she read
about it in the book, and we were the little Indian kids that were watching her. But when
she showed us the candy, we ran to her. And Clara said, “Do you remember that?” I said,
“I barely remember it.”
LB:
Where were you born?
EB:
Here in Elko. Right where the old Senior’s Center was, the taibo center up here? Right
across from our smoke shop. That used to be an Indian colony there. First it started on
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Steniger Hill. Then they keep moving them back, moving them back. Until they got on
Walnut Street, where you live now. And then, through there. But that’s where the old
Indian camp was, up on that hill. But I don’t know—I know that Louie Tom and there
that, I remember them. I don’t know who all was up there, but we’d go and visit, and play
on that hill. There was also, back in there there was some Chinamens, too, lived there, my
dad said. Because at that time, the Chinamens did the work around here, in the mines.
C:
What kind of mines did they have back then?
EB:
Silver.
C:
Silver.
EB:
Yeah. Quicksilver, my dad used to—quicksilver in the one in Tuscarora. The other was
Midas. Midas, I think is the other one. Tuscarora and Midas. Of course, they were little
mines. Not like the big mines now. I know Dad worked in one. I guess my dad worked in
almost everything.
C:
So was there any businesses in this area at that time?
EB:
Yeah. Well, we don’t know because we’re small. But I do remember Reinhart. Reinhart
was the oldest store here. And Mayer. Mayer Hotel.
C:
And what did Reinhart’s sell?
EB:
Clothing.
C:
Clothing store?
EB:
Yeah. Yeah, Reinhart sold clothing. And who else? There was Stevens. There was
another store called Stevens. And then the Kenosha Hotel wasn’t there. Just the Mayer. I
remember the Mayer Hotel, which is now Stockman. That’s all I remember, that one big
hotel. And there was small ones, like the Overland. Overland was right across by the
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Kenosha. Right behind Henderson Bank. That used to be a hotel there. I think Henderson
Bank is the one where they always used to… But there was hardly any. Pioneer.
Pioneer’s were there a long time. I had a pictures where Pioneer has got trees all around
it.
C:
So was Pioneer always a bar, or was it a café, or a restaurant?
EB:
It was a—well, it was a café. And then later on, they put a bar to it. But it was run by a
Chinaman. Old Tom. His name was Tom, the cook. They start making it bigger and
bigger. Then Capriola’s. He’s been there a long time, too. And there was Hessen.
Hessen’s store. And it was right across from, let’s see… it’s on the same street as
Capriola’s. That next street there, at the theater. Yeah, that Hessen, it was called Hessen’s
store.
LB:
It was a hardware store.
EB:
Hardware store. Used to be a hardware store. That was all there, that I remember. And we
had old laundry, which was run by a Mexican couple. I forget the name of that. It was
right by, right alongside of Puccinelli’s, at their store here. And then the laundry was in
the back. That was there a long time, too. Puccinellis had their store a long time. But rest
of them—maybe Sam. Sam had a hotel. That was later on, though. Sam Heron. He had
that. He’s a tuutaibo guy that had a restaurant. Taxi driver. And he had that.
C:
Did the railroad run through here then?
EB:
Uh-huh. Used to run right through there.
LB:
You ride on the railroad?
EB:
[Laughter] Oh, when we’d ride in the railroad, can’t even sit in the coach side. We ride
free on the railroad. I remember from Battle Mountain to Beowawe, I go home with
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Grandma, and the conductor say, “Come on, Annie, here’s your seat!” I remember he was
calling her Annie. That’s when I found out my grandma’s name was Annie! [Laughter]
But we couldn’t sit in the coach. We had to sit with them off of the, train, what do you
call it, the…
LB:
Locomotive?
C:
The engine?
EB:
No. It’s before that, my dad said. The Indians used to sit out on the back, on the flat bed
of the train. They’d just load up on there. They didn’t have to pay anything, they just get
on and go. But Grandma rode kind of classy, like when they had trains with cabs on it.
But we’d get off, and she didn’t have to pay anything. But she always had that seat. Says,
“Annie, here’s your seat.”
C:
How old was your grandma then?
EB:
Oh, she must be in her—Grandma died when she was 88. Mom was 81. And her sister
was 11 years older.
LB:
How old were you when she died?
EB:
Who, Grandma?
LB:
No, how old were you?
EB:
Grandma died 50 years ago, when you was born. Grandma Annie.
LB:
Oh, same time as Mary? Her and Mary died the same year?
EB:
Maybe. Yeah. Yeah, you were young the year that Grandma died. You were a newborn.
LB:
Must have been in 1955.
C:
What did she die from? Old age, or…?
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EB:
No, she had pneumonia. Pneumonia, and she was transferring from Owyhee to Schurz.
That’s where they were sending the people, to Schurz. And she died in Schurz.
C:
What type of diseases were affecting Indian people back then?
EB:
Well, most of the people say the TB. But none of our people had TB. No one in Battle
Mountain. I think the only one that I know of was Frank Piffero, Jr. they sent away to a
sanatorium. But, that’s all I know. When we went to school, that was first thing. We had
to get tested for TB, and drink cod liver oil. Give to all the kids. Take us from everybody.
C:
What was the cod liver oil, what was that for? What was it supposed to do?
EB:
Vitamins, I guess. I don’t know.We just did what the white man tell us to do! [Laughter]
But we did. We’d have to drink one tablespoon. We all lined up, they would give us
tablespoon. Some would throw up, but they’d make them drink some more.
LB:
Was there smallpox?
EB:
No, I don’t think so. That’s before my time.
C:
How about polio? Was pol—
EB:
No.
C:
Not polio?
EB:
There’s hardly anybody that I know of that from Battle Mountain had polio. I don’t think
so. Of course, maybe they had it, but I don’t know. But I don’t think so. I think mostly
that… Pneumonia, I think is—the TB and pneumonia.
C:
What type of wild animals were there? Was it plenty of wild animals out here then? Like,
deer, and rabbit, and—
EB:
Oh, we had deer, rabbit… Battle Mountain had wild pigs.
C:
Really?
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EB:
They were out on 25 Ranch, out in there. We only, once in a while you see them, but
there was lot of wild pigs there. Where they come from, I don’t know. But they had wild
pigs.
C:
Did the people eat the wild pigs, or…?
EB:
Well, I think it’s a pigs that turn wild. I don’t think it’s a pigs, you know, like, way back.
But 25 Ranch had lot of wild pigs. Either they were left out there and just, got more and
more… I never seen no deer. Just rabbits. Squirrels. Well, not the kind of squirrel we
have in Owyhee. It’s called ku’umpe. I don’t know what they’d call it. What they call
that? It’s not squirrels that you see in Owyhee. They’re smaller. They’re more like a
rodent, I think.
LB:
Is it the chipmunk?
EB:
They look like chipmunk, but they’re not.
LB:
Did they have that stripe on them?
EB:
Gee, I don’t know.
LB:
They’ve got little short tail?
EB:
Yeah. Yeah, like around Battle Mountain, they’ve got a lot of those. That’s what people
catch.
LB:
That’s what Melissa says.
EB:
And they weren’t fat like the squirrels. But they were longer. But Battle Mountain had a
lot of pokottsi—you know what pokottsi is. Lizard. They had lot of lizard, Battle
Mountain. But I never did see no rattlesnakes or anything, just lizard.
LB:
What’d they eat then?
EB:
I don’t know. Mice, I guess.
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LB:
Did they really live there in Battle Mountain, or is that just where they ended up at?
EB:
Who?
LB:
The people.
EB:
I think they came there.
LB:
Because of the town?
EB:
Yeah, they come to town. I think mostly, was in Austin, I believe the people that lived in
Austin when the mines closed up, I think they came to Battle Mountain. Because that’s—
I know all the old people that’s in Battle Mountain, there’s nothing but new people now.
LB:
And they all came from the Austin area.
EB:
Yeah, Austin area and Yomba.
LB:
And it’s like Beowawe.
EB:
To Beowawe. But I think most of them have just all died off. Did that for Lois and
Murphy. But Beowawe didn’t have as many people as Battle Mountain did. And then
later on, people start to move away from Battle Mountain. Guess the only ones that’s left
is Ida and them. And their kids is still there.
C:
What type of businesses was there in Battle Mountain at that time? Or—
EB:
Mining.
C:
Mining?
EB:
Mining. Yeah, the O’Neil was the biggest. And small mines. And of course there’s
ranchers. And then the mines. Mines close down. Now Battle Mountain’s gotten big. I
don’t know nobody there no more. The oldest one died here last year, that’s hundred.
Eleanor Lemaire. She was our schoolteacher. And she was hundred.
C:
She was a school teacher in Battle Mountain?
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EB:
Mmhm.
LB:
Where’d you go to school in Battle Mountain?
EB:
Next door to the white ones. We had a school of our own. We couldn’t mix up with the
white kids. We had boundary line, like this. Like this. ‘Round this side, and all our kids
on that side.
LB:
So you had Indian school?
EB:
No. They had a public school, it was a public school, but that’s how they had restricting.
We couldn’t go to school with the other kids.
C:
Were you in the same classroom, or different buildings?
EB:
Just one big whole classroom. [Laughter] Then I remember, I was eating the rice and
milk. Every day, we eat that. Nothing else but rice and milk for lunch.
C:
What did the teachers teach?
EB:
Arithmetic it was, mostly. But we couldn’t talk Indian, when the teachers talk English.
And that Marianne Glaser, Marianne Wells, she used to deliver milk from Lincoln Ranch
every morning. She’d come on horseback with a little jug hanging. Brought some milk
for our rice. She remembers that!
C:
How many students was in the classroom?
EB:
Oh, there was lot of kids. There was, oh, Bessie and Charlie Hall’s kids, and the Woods
family, and the Williams, and the Holleys. It was a big family. I don’t know when they
start going to school with the white kids. I guess after we left. But yeah, we had a
boundary line that we couldn’t step outside. If they catch us on this side, we’d be
punished.
C:
What kind of punishment did you receive?
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EB:
Stand in the corner. [Laughter] That’s the punishment. Stand in the corner with our back
towards—facing the wall, stand there. We couldn’t sit down.
C:
How long was the class day? Or, how long was each day to go to school?
EB:
Well, we just like—we go in the morning, and play in afternoon, and go back to class,
and then come home. And later on, I remember we used to run clear down to the Indian
camp, which is a mile, to go to eat lunch. That’s when it was getting better. But before
that, that’s what they used to eat: rice and milk. With little cinnamon on it. That was the
biggest meal.
C:
When you ran to the Indian camp, what did you guys go eat?
EB:
Whatever our parents got us, we would just go eat. Bread. Just, whatever’s left over. And
we didn’t say, “We don’t want to eat it.” “I don’t like this,” we didn’t say. But we were
lucky, because my dad worked at the ranch, and he always brought home some meat for
us.
LB:
What ranch did he work at?
EB:
25. 25 Ranch, it belongs to that E. R. Marvel. And my whole family worked for them,
until my Uncle Harlan retired from sheepherding.
C:
So what kind of transportation was used back then? Was it wagons? Horses? Was there
any cars?
EB:
You know, that I can’t say, because my dad had little Model T, and Uncle Harlan had one
too. I don’t remember us riding on wagons and stuff. I don’t remember that far—but I do
remember, when we got to Owyhee, we were riding a wagon. But my dad had a car, and
Guy Manning had a car. Was the only car in Owyhee, in the old quadrant. Uncle
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Ralph’s uncle, what they call him—Tuuttsupainte [37:26]. Yeah. He had a car. My
Uncle Tracy did nothing there but go and ride it.
C:
So was there gas stations for these cars, or where did they get gas? What did they use to
run on?
EB:
Gee, I think maybe Sherman Store, they owned a store that’s there yet, still sitting
there—she might’ve had some gas. I don’t remember. But I know my dad had this Model
T, or Model A, whatever it is. But Uncle Harlan had a little better one. I think he had a
kind of closed-in one.
C:
So did you guys travel from Battle Mountain to Owyhee on the car, on the Model T?
EB:
Uh-huh.
C:
How long did it take?
EB:
[Laughter] All day! My dad took all day. It takes all day from Owyhee to Elko. And
Mom used to say, “[Shoshone at 38:38]” I don’t know how you can seem this slow!
David used to run alongside of dad’s truck! But I… I lived in Owyhee until Owyhee
changed. Now, you don’t know no one.
C:
What was in Owyhee at that time? Did they have a store, or…?
EB:
You know, I remember, when we first got there, we lived up there by Jim Anay, you
know where Jim Anay used to live. Right across from that place there, on that hill.
C:
Roshtrand.
EB:
Jack Sims, and Charles lived there, Charlie McKinney. And then he even had a little
store there. The Rowan. Pete Rowan had a store there. But, I remember when we got
there, we went to a commissary, and they were giving out ration. That old commissary
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that used to sit there in Owyhee—I don’t think you remember it either. That was before
your time, I think. But they had a little commissary.
LB:
Where was it at?
EB:
You know, up here at the agency.
LB:
In that agency area?
EB:
Yeah, in that area, uh-huh. The people all gathered there to get their ration. Wasn’t much;
give you flour, sugar. That’s what they were getting. I never knew what death was, either.
When our people pass away there. I got scared, when I see them cooking groundhog, ate
it! [Laughter] I didn’t think it was that good!
C:
That commissary, was it run by the Indian agency?
EB:
Uh-huh. That’s to give them that ration. Yep.
C:
What type of food did they give out for ration?
EB:
Mostly flour, and beans. And nothing fancy. But to them, it was, you know, good. No
meat or anything, it was just—I remember Edith saying that “Have a little beans,” you
know, and like that. She’d get some beans. Nowadays, people don’t realize what the other
people have gone through to live.
C:
Do you remember from when the war started, when America went to war in World War
I?
EB:
No.
C:
Or, World War II?
EB:
Yeah, II. Yeah, II. Now, Dad went to World War I. But they just boarded the train when
the war ended. So he never got to fight. But he was drafted. Yeah, I remember World
War II. Because it was [19]62? [19]63, huh? [19]63? Yeah. I was pregnant with Maggie
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during World War II. I was in Battle Mountain, I was that sly kind of girl, I used to have
a taipo girlfriend. She always, “Come on Liz, we’ll just go to show.” I’m always getting
bigger and bigger, and she say, “Oh, I’ll help you if something happens to you!” And we
were sitting there, and she come running out of the house. “Elizabeth, we can’t go to
show! Pearl Harbor’s been attacked!” “Where’s Pearl Harbor?” I said. [Laughter] “Oh,
you dummy!” she said. And she told us then. She said, “My brothers are going to join.”
And that’s when they start shooting on that little tsappanni, Tom Tomocho.
LB:
Oh, that lived in Battle Mountain?
EB:
Yeah. Uh-huh. They were shooting up his laundry.
LB:
He was a Japanese man.
EB:
Jackie Woods’s father.
LB:
She knows a lot of the really bad stories. [Laughter]
EB:
But that was his father. Tom Tomocho, his name. His name supposed to be Jackie
Tomocho. But anyway, they shot up his place, and poor thing, his boys went to service.
And they took him to a concentration camp someplace. And he moved, I think. That’s the
last I seen of old Tom. He was a nice old man. All the Indian ladies worked for him, in
his laundry. And he’d go, “You want to eat some lice?” [Laughter] I would see him in
Battle Mountain, and come up, and I’d see him, but a lot of the people that was there is
gone. I hope to see a little longer. Try to hit 85. But I have seen lot.
C:
How old are you now, Liz?
EB:
82.
C:
82. When is your birthday?
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EB:
October 3rd. 1923, I was born. There was twelve of us in the family, six boys and six
girls. My oldest brother was killed in a snowslide in J.P. Jones. That’s when I found out
what death was. Out of the twelve, there’s only five of us left.
C:
How old are the ones that are left? Are they older than you, or younger than you?
EB:
Younger. Alfred is same age as Maggie, 63. And how old is Geraldine?
LB:
She’s younger, isn’t she? Two years? So she’s got to be 61?
EB:
And Dolores.
LB:
I think Dolores is 61.
EB:
Leonard. I don’t know.
LB:
Leonard’s the same age as Jackie [__inaudible at 45:25__].
EB:
All of us, we’re almost the same age as Charlie Hall’s kids. My brother Leo is same age
as me. And—no. No, Ivy. And then me and Martha are day apart. I was on the 3rd, and
then she was on the 4th. I don’t know how many of them are left now. I don’t know,
maybe two girls? There were three, with Lawrence. Lawrence still alive, huh? There’s
Lawrence, and Angie, and Marjorie, and Eva Neal. I think there, yeah, there three of
them left. That was a big family.
LB:
Mom’s brothers and sisters are all two years apart. Starting from 1921, so [__inaudible at
46:31__].
C:
So, how did you learn to speak English? Or how, do you remember—
EB:
[Laughter] I went to Stewart! I went to Stewart. That matron had a stick. If she hear us
talking, wham on my head! Only thing we know how to say was “Yes,” “No,” “Yes,”
“No.”
LB:
How old were you?
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EB:
I don’t know, thirteen? Twelve, thirteen.
C:
Did you know the students that went to Stewart, or was there many—many of the
students you knew, were they Shoshone, or were they from other tribes?
EB:
There were just only two tribes—three. Washoes, Paiute, and Shoshone. Then later on, I
guess, different tribe came in. But we didn’t get along with the Paiutes. And we fought
with the Washoes.
LB:
[Laughter] You didn’t get along with anybody, it sounds like!
EB:
You see? Nowadays, nobody gets along! That’s right. And I first got with Webb. She
says, “Is this your boyfriend? Do you know this fellow?” I went to school with kids in
Stewart. That’s how I know them all. I know everybody in Nixon. I said, they were my
classmate, and we used to teach each other about Stubb Frank, who is from Schurz.
Stanton Frank was his name, but somebody called him Stubb Frank. They had all crazy
names! [Laughter]
LB:
Everybody had nicknames.
EB:
Yeah.
C:
Did they have sports back then in Stewart? Did they play football? What type of sports
did they have?
EB:
They had football. And all the Jackson boys and Murphy boys were top stars over there.
Stewart was at one time hard to beat. I remember growing up, being there, going to
University of Nevada. And you could hear plenty about what those boys were playing.
And Frank Murphy was drinking when he was playing ball. He couldn’t play unless he
drank—that’s what he says. But anyway, they were tied, they went overtime. And few
seconds left, and Frank Murphy was on one end of the—the floor? Made a basket, and
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you should hear the people roar, when he made that basket! And it was ticking. That’s
Reno. Reno always wanted to beat Stewart, but it could never beat Stewart.
LB:
What did you play when you were a little girl?
EB:
Hockey and basketball. Grass hockey, we played.
LB:
What was that like?
EB:
Hurt if you get hit with it. You get hit on the leg. I got scarred up from hockey, when
those disk would hit you. You couldn’t go on ice! [Laughter] It was grass. Sherman
played the grass hockey.
C:
Was there any other games you played?
EB:
Yeah, basketball game. Baseball. Well, everything, I guess.
LB:
How about the Indian kids? Did they play different games?
EB:
No, they didn’t have no Indian games. It was already whiteman games that they know.
But back in Oklahoma, they still play Indian games, huh? We seen that when we went to
the reunion. So, they played.
LB:
You never played shinny?
EB:
Mm-mm.
LB:
You never saw them play shinny?
EB:
Mm-mm.
LB:
How about the men? Did they play any games?
EB:
I don’t know.
LB:
You don’t recall seeing any of them?
EB:
Mm-mm.
LB:
When the people got together, what did they do? Because you guys lived by yourselves.
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EB:
We never went anywhere. Our parents went, and we stayed home.
LB:
Oh. Where did they go?
EB:
To a Fandango.
LB:
Where?
EB:
Around different places in Nevada.
LB:
Was it always the same places?
EB:
Mm-mm.
LB:
Different places?
EB:
They’d have one at Ruby Valley… In fact, my dad used to say that they would ride miles
to go to Fandango, on horseback. But we never got to see that.
C:
What was the Fandango about? What did they do at the Fandangos?
EB:
They eat and dance. I don’t know why—why is it called “Fandango?”
LB:
Why is it called Fandango? It was a nayada.
EB:
They did their handgame, at night they dance.
LB:
What was the nayada?
C:
Nayaha? Nayahuu?
EB:
Naaiyawi?
C:
Naaiyawi is hand games.
EB:
Naaiyawi is hand game.
LB:
No, it’s not hand game—
EB:
Nataya’a.
LB:
Nataya’a.
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EB:
Oh, the nataya’a dances. We did that a lot, where somebody would start that—if they
want to start a dance, they would get up and start the dance. Nataya’a, they’d call it,
when everybody gets into a circle. And dances nataya’a.
LB:
And why did they do that?
EB:
Just to start dancing.
LB:
Just to start dancing? That’s why they have the dances?
EB:
Mm-hm. But just anyone could go, and—I seen them doing the Bear Dance. And… that’s
about all I guess I’ve seen, is the Bear Dance. But we never got to go to big doings.
That’s all I could remember.
C:
Okay, Liz. We have about four or five minutes left. If you were to tell your
grandchildren—your grandchildren that maybe are here, or still to come—what would
you say to them about yourself? What would you want them to remember about you?
EB:
I have tapes. [Laughter] I have tapes that my grandchildren have. Got stories. And we
sing a lot, too. We sing.
C:
What kind of songs do you sing?
EB:
Round dance songs. And night songs, and nursery rhymes.
LB:
How did you learn to sing?
C:
I hear it from my dad, and my grandfather. I could hear somebody singing, and I could
pick up that song—as long as you know what they’re singing about, you could pick it up.
But if you don’t know, like, the language—if you don’t know what they’re saying,
because they hi-yi-yi-ya. [Laughter] But Shoshones, they’ve got words. So you know. I
used to even sing in Paiute when I was going to school down in Stewart. I learned that
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Paiute songs. We used to challenge the Paiute kids to sing. We’d out-sing them, Theresa
and I.
LB:
Theresa who?
EB:
Theresa Jackson. Theresa Thomas.
LB:
Theresa Thomas?
EB:
That’s part of his foot clan. That was your mother’s sister’s daughter, huh?
C:
Yeah, Theresa.
EB:
Patsy and their mother.
LB:
I just wanted you to tell the tape that.
EB:
Oh, yeah. Her and I were the best friends. We would be in trouble in school together.
We’d run away together. That part, I don’t want to tell! [Laughter] Just, get our matrons
mad. We’d leave the building, stand around the corner, and peek at her. See which
direction she’s going to look for us. [Laughter] Harriet Packer was our matron. Yeah.
C:
Was this in Stewart?
EB:
Yeah.
C:
How did you guys get to Stewart? Did you ride on the train, or what was…?
EB:
No, big bus came and pick us up. And I forged my dad’s name on my application, and I
went. [Laughter] My dad didn’t want me to go to Stewart, because he said, “That’s no
place to go at.” He had gone there, and he ran away from there. And Theresa and I went
to Stewart. Yeah, wasn’t bad, I guess, after you get to thinking about it, like. We just, just
like daredevils, we always would cause something.
C:
Was Reno close by to Stewart then?
EB:
Huh?
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C:
How big was Reno at that time?
EB:
Oh, the university was open already. University of Nevada. Because that’s where we used
to go and play. But they used to, all different schools used to come to Stewart and play.
The boys would go out and play schools. But I didn’t go there when Earl Dunn and them
were going to school there. That’s when your dad was there. He was a top player.
C:
Okay, we got about a minute left. If there’s anything that, Leah, you would like to add to
the interview for today…
LB:
I don’t know. [Laughter] I was just going to say that, she sings a lot of songs. And she
learned because her dad would have them sing every night. And they all had to sing a
song before they could leave the table.
EB:
Oh, yeah. If we’re good, Dad would give us candy. And we’d do the dishes early, and
then we’d all get to bed while he sing. Half of us would be asleep, and my dad would still
be singing. And I’m listening, so I want to learn his songs. And I got to learn his songs.
The boys didn’t care to learn the songs.
LB:
But we’ve been recording a lot of what she’s been doing, I guess. She’s been spending
time with me, and my job, which is a lot of traveling. So she goes with me, and stays with
me on the road. And so as we’re going along, I’m having her taped, and singing. I’ve
learned that she has so many songs that I haven’t even heard them all. She’d come up
with a new one that I have no clue. And I just learned it from her. I’m a visual person,
I’ve got to see it or write it before I can learn it. Whereas, she can hear something. And
she can pick it up real easy. And she does that with other people’s songs.
EB:
I even know how explore [__inaudible at 59:00__]. I know those, but we can’t record
those.
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C:
Yeah.
LB:
So she knows a lot, and she can identify whose song something is. Just like when I keep
entering what I keep entering, when he’s singing, she knows—
EB:
You heard him singing?
C:
Uh-huh. Yeah.
EB:
I had to correct him. I have to correct him sometimes. And he’s pretty good. Sometimes,
he get on the phone. He’s singing over the phone. [Laughter]
LB:
But she’s got a lot of songs, and so I’ve been helping her record on tape. You know, at
home. I have a tape recorder. Just telling stories about things, because she’s told you very
little today. She’s got so much more to share. And so I told her if she gets it down on
tape, that we’ll always have that memory that’s she’s had. She’s got a lot of stories that
she tells. She looks at pictures, and she could tell you all about a person—who their
family is, where they came from, where they were living when she was younger. And
she’s got all that information just stored up there. So, my mother is here now. Because
sometimes when people—because she’s on enrollment, too. So she has to go through,
and, we can sit there with the Census, and she’ll look at the Census and I’ll tell her, I’ll
read it because now her eyesight’s getting worse. But she’ll be able to tell me all about
their family, who they are.
EB:
Well, I know their Indian names, too. Because a lot of them in Owyhee, they got Indian
names. I know it once I hear that name. But I couldn’t spell it out. [Laughter] I couldn’t
spell it out. But I know them.
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LB:
So that’s what we’ve been doing to help. And hopefully, we’ll keep track of all these
tapes that she’s got, because she has a bad habit of putting stuff in places we can’t find it,
so…
EB:
[Laughter] Yeah, we’re going to head for Phoenix tomorrow. So we’ll probably sing all
the way.
C:
Well, our tape’s out, so we’re out, so… Okay. Well, we probably wore you out.
LB:
Today’s her good day.
EB:
Huh?
LB:
Today’s our good day.
C:
Yeah, [Shoshone at 1:01:18]. Send one down here.
LB:
I wish we could have done the old people long time ago.
C:
Oh, I know! There was nobody doing it. We were all saying that we were going to do it.
When I was in high school, I wanted to do it, and I didn’t. And now, the old people are
gone.
LB:
I know, and that’s what’s real sad. Because we’ve lost so many, just in the last twenty
years. I just… there were people we’ve lost that had so much knowledge. And we’ve
been doing a lot of writing down, and documenting, and stuff. Trying to keep record of
everything.
C:
Yep. That’s what’s—
EB:
I never thought I’d live to see my great-great-grandmother, Meredith Adam, you know,
writing anything that she told us. But my tsoo’s mother, I seen her. She was in her second
childhood. Old Maggie used to put diapers on her. Little old lady. And when Tsoo got
sick, she told me, “[Shoshone at 1:02:35]”—
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[End of recording]
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Western Shoshone Oral Histories
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral histories of Western Shoshone elders collected by the Great Basin Indian Archive.
Description
An account of the resource
Oral histories compiled
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Basin Indian Archive, in partnership with Barrick Gold of North America
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
GBIA Oral History Collections
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Great Basin Indian Archive
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
2006-2015
Oral History
A resource containing historical information obtained in interviews with persons having firsthand knowledge.
Interviewer
The person(s) performing the interview
Norm Cavanaugh
Interviewee
The person(s) being interviewed
Elizabeth "Liz" Brady
Location
The location of the interview
Elko, NV (GBC - TV Station)
Original Format
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DVD and VOB format
Duration
Length of time involved (seconds, minutes, hours, days, class periods, etc.)
01:02:40
Transcription
Any written text transcribed from a sound
http://humanities.gbcnv.edu/omeka/admin/files/show/536
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Elizabeth "Liz" Brady - Oral history (11/29/2006)
Subject
The topic of the resource
Oral history interview with Elizabeth "Liz" Brady, Western Shoshone from Elko, NV on 11/29/2006
Description
An account of the resource
<p>Elizabeth “Liz” Brady was born in Elko, NV between the Elko Smoke Shop and I-80 where the old Elko Senior Citizens Center was located. Her father’s name was Sontag Jackson whose grandparents were from the Austin area and were part of the Dubba Diccada. Her mother was Mary Horton who belonged to the Dosa Wihi near Battle Mountain, NV. Liz talks about how she grew up around ranches while her father ran mustangs. She speaks about her experience going to Battle Mountain for grammar school, and her experience at Stewart Indian School where she was punished for speaking her language. She also speaks about how her grandfather partook in contact with the emigrants and their wagons. She also speaks about growing up in tzsogogotti (Antelope Valley) and how her family was ran out of the area. She also tells the audience about the history of Elko including the start-up of a lot of the old businesses including who ran them. She also speaks about living on the outskirts of Battle Mountain and the diseases impacting the Shoshone there.</p>
Video pending <br /> <a title="Elizabeth 'Liz' Brady Oral History Transcript" href="/omeka/files/original/90464b5a0a4119cfb22d242bdcdb1531.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Read Elizabeth 'Liz' Brady Oral History Transcript [pdf file]</a>
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Great Basin Indian Archives
Source
A related resource from which the described resource is derived
Great Basin Indian Archives - GBIA 013
Publisher
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Great Basin Indian Archives
Date
A point or period of time associated with an event in the lifecycle of the resource
11/29/2006 [29 November 2006]; 2006 November 29
Contributor
An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource
Norm Cavanaugh [interviewer]; James Hedrick [GBIA/VHC]; University of Utah SYLAP [streaming video]; Great Basin College; BARRICK Gold of North America
Rights
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Non-commercial scholarly and educational use only. Not to be reproduced or published without express permission. All rights reserved. Great Basin Indian Archives © 2017.
Consent form on file (administrator access only): http://humanities.gbcnv.edu/omeka/admin/items/show/356
Language
A language of the resource
English
Battle Mountain
Community
Conservation Corps
contact
Crossroads
Elko
Fandango
GBIA
mining
Owyhee
ranching
Shoshone
Stewart Indian School
Story
traditions