Notice of Copyright Published and unpublished ... - Digital Collections

' • T-621-4 - . „Fannie Good Eagle Richards, Quapaw»" ' • • ' ' ' 4'(We are at the "home of Fannie Good Eagle Richards' in Quapaw, and s&e is going to ftell us something about her family. Fann,ie can' you tell me a little bit aboutyour> mother and father and what you--ahd your brothers gjid sistiers and whattheir Indian names, were.Now what is your Indian na^ae?) ^- ' * ' • • / • - •FAMILY BACKGROUND • . • -. ' 'My-Indian name is (Indian Jiame)• I don't know the meaning of it. "(And your father was naraed>-?) . ' * "Francis Quapaw Good Eagle. ** ; ' . ' ' ' * • ' - & *4 . * ' • :' • . . . " o = -...•(And what was.your mother's name?) • • ' . , - ' ' . , / . • * '.•Ho gam ee Ho gp; ment ha ( ? ) . " . . ' ' , • , , '*< .(And could you tell me. about your brothers, -and sisters?)I had two brothers- T own brothers, Charles Good Ea^le. . His name was (Indian • •name), and my brother Merton was (Indian name). And" I had two half brpthers \; • • - - . . * ; , • • * • - . - - ; /i Good Eagle, his name was (Indian, name) and'Paul Good Eagle,"his name was/. •(Indian name). . AAd .1 have a sister, Mi^s' Gieta— Clara Mae her name Is. *,-' / > • • • :"' • . /'• „(Where were you born?) " y ' - . •/ - ,.me see—where did we say? • ••- ' ,» • ' • *(It's on Hominy Creek.)Hominy Creek. Out there in'Osage Nation. Um-huh. Osage Nation.(And'how old are you?) ' ' . ' '^ , —*, ••Vm 76." ' ' v' - • • •'" '.(And.you've lived ap here .since you. were^Tfeal young'.)/ " . •' ^' ' ' (• \ " * «.Yes I.have. Uh-in|ih. . ' .•_ .•(Did your father come badk for the allotment?)Yes. He come back here. He got allotment, her^. {sentence not clear) --Pioneerand' (Pioneer and Larsh were the.name^ of the mines on your--)Um-huh.7-There's two ml^Us on tha#. " Larsil Brothers and the othej^was calledPioneer. •• /• ', - -1- /

.-' • '* •• A- • T-621-4-, (Do you still haveteaiu. \%;•{!Ehey are not active now though.). No,EARLY(Do yoi^* remember the eariy pow-wows?) .(Could you tepJL.me about 1»hem?). 'Well, they wasn't big gatherings like they have now.They were more or lessJust camp t ing. And had stomps .and football games and ^ave out- food—gave outfood like beef and bread (not clear). -(And they ran a table?) ' • 'No. They each cook for themself.* ',(I'see. The table came later,didn't it2) :Um-huh. - * * ,'(Do you remember some of the early people who went to thos4 po -wows?Who Wchief when you .were a. little girl?) ^ . "« • • ' " * ' •QUAPAW CHIEFS . ,*• . •Tallchief I believe. ' Uh~huh.(Tallchief.'Then when he died, Victor?). * ' tPete Clabber used to oe chief.• •. ' /* ' •(Oh, Pete Clabber.) . . . / • » / . "--was^ chief too. * „ • '~ • f(And eaver—John Beaver.)I believe^so.^ ' ' t(Mary, was John Beaver a chief? (talking to'Mary Red Eagle.) ).

-3- • ' ' -IMary Red Eagle: I don't think he was. < ' ,\' '* (He wasn't?) ' v,^- -• • \ ' .Mary:. I don't think so. • " . X(Alex wasn't, bjsrtr 1^-maybe not.) . • , ~ eMary: ,1 think he was just,one of the main men, and (rest of sentence inaudible.)J . • . . .(I think Victor was 4 elected about I929.) • • ,-*•Or something like that. Um-huh.t (Mary talking in background,) ' * .»•' EDUCATION ' _- •u- *«' (Where did you go to school, Fanniei)- . .I went to s-chool to Wyandotte.There was a little mission out here,, but rdidn'^t go there. My brothers was there.They took me there when I was justa tiny little baby. And Mrs. Ray said they just-*eaj:ry me around in them (laundrybaskets from building to building,(laughter)• "(You didn'.t ge 'to the old'Catholic'.Mission?) ,No,. Huh-"Oh. ' ' * , , • •(You^ Mothers went there didn't they?) ) •/* Levi did. ^4 " .(I was thinking I. saw his picture there.) . - ,.Um-iiuii. Levi did, but he's the only or^e". And from the Catholic---from that•• * • 'Mission, I'went to Wyandotte.From Wyandotte, I went t.o Haskell'.(Oh. You went to school there didn't you? (talking to Mary.) ). '• »Mary:Lto-huh.SPEAKS IN QuAPAW IANJUAUE ' • •-\They said you jried when you went away to school., (laughter) irrelevant \conversation). All right now Fannie, we are going to talK in Quapaw.)Fannie: Speaking in. Q'uapaw- and*is joined by'Mary Red Eagle.) . y(What was it you asked her?) _ • .•Oh I I said I" was glad to see her. . • /

','• fWha"! did you say, Mary?^ ' - •' 'Mary:I saitl today* was' a. nice day and I was ^iad to, yoA» know, to' be here.' (What j.B^-1'11 ask you !^ .Well, they just make those prayers up._(Oh, they do. Ihey'are very nice. I always like' to hear Irwin (or Erving).)Mary:It's jast like the^ir preachers, you know. As they go along, they makef ' 'their prayers up.That's the same,,you know.;CUSTOMS OF MOUHMING'FOR DECEASED RELATIVES(Well, Fannie, let me ask you something.< "Mary remembers when her aunt used, to g«? «ut to a grave and ( cry. Did you ever see your folks do that*--I meanmourn?) " . ' * . ,Yes. " '(Quapaws used to do that, didn^t they?)Yeah, they did. They rnwurn quite a while. But I -never did see -ny folKs do that.(Did you, Mary?)Mary: Oh yes. I've seen--I 'ised to ^o with irjy aunt out to the graveyard, yoir-know. I .. ^3t rememoer aboul my father, you know. See, they mourn. They goout "four days and they take food out" there you know,, and they leave it out thereat the'head of the—c

-5- T-621-1+ N^0 • 'p ,(Grave.) *>Grave, you know. ',. And she used > to mo.urn and* she used to ^alk.And of coursemy aunt raised me after .my mother died.And I was oust- always with her whereevershe went, yau know. ' • * - ' . -(She'd-take you along with her. .Well, wher*e is your family cemetery, Fannie? )Over to our'old home place.^ ' ' .-(That's where the.Good' Eagle cemetery is? ' Well, what was your step-mothec-'sname, I always forget'.) .Fannie: (Indian name.)(And she' s buAed over there.)AUm-h$i.And grandma cletus is buried over there. Gi get ta (?) he'r name- is.Miss Gi get ta (?). ^ > ^-^(Well now,grandmaCletus was she one of those old Quapaw-.ladies Who lived--?)Alone? , /• • / ,* • • ' ' ( . • '(Uh-huh. Granda Cedar and grandma Cletus?) ' " ' .Um-huh.- Grandma Harrison.j(Oh, grandma Harrison. I've heard talk about them. Somebody said they hadthe last house, or the last cabin on the.reservation that didn't have a floor?Have you heard that? )'No, I didn't, know.(They said it didn't have'a floor--do-you know Mary?)•Mary; .No, I don't--I dafi't remember.'Course in the early days they didnhave their floor,- you know.Had" the dirt floor, you know and it was srnoo.thyou know. ' - •HORSES AKD A DOG THAT UNDERSTOOD QUAPAW LANGUAGE'(Well, are they the ones that had a horse they had to talk to in* Quapaw?)Well, Mrs. Harcison did, didn't she? . - ^-— - , \Mary: Well, Aunt Frances did too. < -•-_Oh, did she? \ ' -I ' . oi •Mary: And those horses used to\ know what they were saying. Just do what

f f ' •-6-. " T-621-4 • .*they wante'd them to do.1 . •;(That's what somebody told me. And if the# talkecD to them in'English and•* < •they wouldn't do anything.) . . '/\, v • - v. sMary: They were Quapa-w horses.^J —That Mrs. Harrison had a litjcle dog that understood Quapaw good.(She would talk to him in Quapaw.),Um-huh. * Horses could come close to the porch and she would say (Indian word).And the little dog was right ^.n the way.(laughter)(Isn't that good!)\ , _\ * -My brother Charley, he was over; there and (not clear)--. -- -(Holler at itfQLn Quapaw.) \ 'Uh-huh. He just love to see that little dog understand Quapaw. (laughter)(Oh, I wanted to. ask you something.Some N body--you know they say that so manyofythe Quapaw songs are lost.Reil old Quapa'w songs are lost.)Yes. \. • •QUAPAW-SONGS ' \Mary: It's just like the early days, you know. The old songs—well, you knowa lot of them are lost. -' I(But—no, who it was told me this, said that they got.:afraid and they buriesU1. 1 •/the songs. That somebody look the sqngs" and burie^ them. Have you heard thatMary?) 'Mary: No—,(—so they wouldn't be mis-tused?) \\ \(First part of Fannie' s sentence'.not clear) — I never heard it." 1(Well, Bill Connor told me. \ I don't know how he knew.)• I never did hear that.Mary:No, the—(He .said the old men were, unhappy because^ they weren 1 t--the y€ung people weren'Jfflrning--you don't know that?)

\ -'"•'" -7- • ' K-621-UMaTy: JJo, the* Quapaws always di

-8- . \ , T-621-4\down in front when—before they'd staqt.. They'd be sitting there, you know infront of'the boss who was going to run^the game/ And sometimes' they'd have. wa bead tossed inside, you know/of the"moccasin—or a marble. And they they'dr , .always pick one, you know to get up and start it.Well, they'd start the gameand then these moccasins would go around.They'd—they just went all the wayaround,, you know.It was like a card game you know, how the cards go round.And they'd be down here, and lot of times they'd change about £ou know, jastto keep them guessing like that.• > i• \ - • - . . • ' •(Did they have any kind of music?) _ . ..Mary: The singing with the dru"^. Sometimes they didn't use a drum, but justhow they felt about it, you know. They did. They would just go on like until ,finally the main guessers that had charge of the game, you iuiow.(Would* you say that was something lice the hand game, Fannie?)Uh-huh, I'think, so. The way it sounds, sounds like the hand game. J(They use the gourds don't they, in \he hartd game—to go around?)Yeah. • " »(I understand that you had quite a lot of hor.se races in the early days.)\Mary:races.Well, they did in the early days, they used to have a lot oT horseEven the women used to ride.(oh:) , . ' •'Mary: Yes, they used to ride. Aunt Frances and Jrandma, Cedar used to ride inthe early days.That's why they used to have a lot of fun if they had--they. hadponies, you know, they each had a pony and they too* care of it.-And theyunderstood the Quapaw language. Aad tfrey'd laugh, you know, be^ ^e theydidn't pay any attention to the--Jometis9J there'd be a white man that wouldcome there, you Know.and do some work for 'em--cut wood for 'em you know andhaul some of it and pat it in the house you know.And the'y had a oig fireplaceand he would carry in those.big / chunks you know and stack it there by the fireplace.And then he'd put a back log back there you know--great big logthere you know, log.-And that would just burn for days. • And,,that way, why, he

-9- - • . T-621-4\got acquainted with a lot of the games that the Quapaws played cause he wouldattend them, you know. But it's just like--it's like--well, I wouldn't say thatit's like any other game, because it's regular Indian--f •i» (It's an Indian game. That's right. Well, now why don't yoi> and Mary pretendyou are goiag dowir^to camp and tell me something you are going to cook.) (laughs)Let's see.(conversation in background between Mary, Fannie and Velma.)(How do you say fry bread?) wMary: (speaking in Quapaw). That ipeans fried in grease.Bread.^Mary: Bread fried in grease., ., . . , ~(What is that dish the Osages make and^they put slippery elm in it?)Mary.: Well, they season £hat-- ' ' -(Oh, season it.)Is that the frying lard, qr something? ' / .(Um-huh. Yeah.) y '. . \ 'Uh-huhV ^ ''•'-} • \' •(Heat.) , • :Yeah. Uh-huh. ' ' , } ' ' •'" Mary:' And they like to eat their jweet pptatoes.Boil a swqet potato youk'now and then they dip tnat in tnat instead of--like the white people use\ *" : •'butter. . ' ~ ' /,^ -(They lip it in--) , •Mary:Wh,,. tr*ey lid it in that jreaje y-^u know, "beja-se it'j jeaicnel you knowwith slippery elp. I've eaten a lot''of it. It's really.^uod.(What was the ^aapaw name for jorn:) . • -Watunja •»). Wat^n^a s".). When t:.at Vat-uiza was made ir.to 'ic-ir^,', tqey jail.- it Wai'toka ?;. / ' *:-(Did yo\i ever maxe ho.rjjiy on an old DIJJK iiKe tnat?]. Yeah. -•Angie--An € ;ie .Kenned^' and I fixed 'em one time. Cur first time'. 'laughs)

' * ' -11- * ' - T-62L-4Miry: Well, I've seen it, but I-guess I've ate it'you- know. The Indians you -know, thajl$.\£ what they would eat, -you know.(They ate a (Lot of things in those days, didn't^they?)Why like (rest of sentence not clear) . • •Mary: And wild grapes, you know. They^^oake well--well, half the time they'dcall them coon grapes, you know.Little tiny grapes--(A portion .of this tape is not clear for about the >next "5-^minutes')«(Do they have Quapaw name's for them?)Hosee -(?)• Just grapes.' Hosee (?). (Mary is talking ih background)(That's what they make the grape—)Dumpling. ' ' •/Mary:They have the grape juice you know, they k#ep it. .And that's where—that's where they—when they made their bread, why they made it kinda thin sobubbles would pop up you know and they'd kinda spirt, you know. And theywould drop them ,in the pot with grape juice, (not clear)—while it was cbo'kingin there and it woul& be kinda purplish looking. It was really good. •FOOTBALL MADE WITH DEERSKIN) - " *(I think when we talked-about fee football, I rrd^sed out on it. Now what wasit you said--how was it made, Fannie?)It's made out of deerskin.And it's'stuffed with the fur.(Who--does any special person make it?)Yeah, I think there va3 a oer^air; one that made iU Jim Shver (or Saver) used ,to make 'era quite a oit. And they all got him_.to niake their, footballs. He'sde&d and gone-r^^(Weil, now trie onawneej take that i\3oti,ail d^wn after eajh Jreen ;orn--that i.:3,they un-3taff it--; , 'J• . , . ^Stuff it, yeah. " , ji'(Did the ^uapaws do that?;Jfot that I know of. . *&(Did €hey, Mary?) . . .Mary:Hot that I know of.

Mary: They had bell, you know, (not clear) But I don't remember of a woman-12- - * T-621-4• J>(They just leare it.)Um-huh.(You don't know any particular ceremony connected with it?)•Mary:No,' I don't remember. .1 know if a football was made--if a man was asked^to make a football, why naturally they.'re going to-give, him something.And sometimesthey'll give-him_maybe a bl£ket--maybe just a blanket.Or maybe they'llgive him a-.-materlal, you know. And they be some few groceries on the side. ^_But they give him something for making it. .-They always give him something.They always give one another things. ; '(Well, what x do they mean—like when they say about these .turtle shells thatthey dance with—when they say they are doctored.)Mary: . What do you mean?. What did you say? f /. • .(They say they are- doctored—talked over.)Mary: Well, I've nej^er heardjsT that. * >(Pauline talks about it.She says those shells of hers, she wouldn't lo*anthem because they were doctore'd.)Mary: I know she'd told me that, you know.o. - •Well, the Quapaws never had any—shells. They didn.'t use them shells.Mary: They never did use them shells. That was brought in years later.(It wasn't really a Quapaw custom, thea?).No.Mary: No, we ^ust played football, you iiriow. Football game.(Well, you danced.)•Mary:.'Yeah, we danced.We--We didn't have no shell shaking of anything.Mary:We didn't have no. ^hell shaking, you know.(Ttiat's a more--maybe from the Jreeks, maybe.Yeah, she lived with the Cree/..awhile you know.Quapaws lived with the Creeks.)

'-13-putting their bells abound her ankles when they danced.that.(Biey don't do that now, do they?)JI never did remember. Mary:- Well there are some. Some Shawnees do.(Do they?) - '•.•'•Mary:Oh yes. , Hiere are some Shawnees do that.(Well, Pauline was just talking about these shells, that she didn't want to pJ.oan them .to anybody because they were doctored.And I wondered about it.Maybe-^tape i^ inaudible for about'two sentences while Mary and Tannie are; talking. )• I guess we will just have to talk to her-about it won't) we.) (laughs)(End of interview)