Week #3: Longevity

My mom was born on March 19, 1950 in Ft. Duchesne, Utah.  The BIA hospital no longer exists but the building still stands. It sits on the hill west of the what is known as the circle. Her parents are Lena Denver and Ruben Sixkiller Sr.  My mom is the one of 11 children. My grandpa joked that the reason why they had so many children was because "It was back before TV."

Lena is a terminated Ute. Her mother is Mary Harris and was also enrolled with the Ute Tribe.  Lena's father is Elmer Denver Sr. Elmer was enrolled with the Shoshone Tribe in Ft. Hall, Idaho.  They had 11 children!

Lena attended boarding school in Whiterocks, Utah. The school sits where the Episcopal Church sits today.  She was then sent to Sherman Indian School in Riverside, California.  Grandma loved her experience at boarding school despite how most native kids were treated.  She made many life-long friends, played sports and learned how to cook, sew and clean.  Her brothers learned job skills that allowed them to work in construction, mostly masonry work.  During the summers, she would stay in California to work as a nanny or maid to movie stars and the "rich."

Ruben is an enrolled Cherokee from Miami, Oklahoma.  His mother is Myrtle T Miller.  His father is Glover Walter Sixkiller.  He died in 1923 leaving behind Ruben, his sister Pearl and his mother.  He spent a lot of time with his grandparents while his mother worked to support the young family.  The Millers and Sixkillers had ancestors that walked the Trail of Tears.  The Sixkillers were the first BIA Law Officers on the Cherokee Reservation in Oklahoma.

Ruben also attended boarding school in Schiloco, Oklahoma. His experience here is much like most native boys and girls.  Grandpa said he was beaten for speaking Cherokee when he was at school, then beaten at home when he spoke English by his grandpa.  He didn't attend school past 7th grade. Grandpa went to work to help support his family.  He helped put his sister Pearl through college.  His story reminds me of "The Legend Of Little Tree."

Ruben hitch-hiked to Utah during the Depression from Oklahoma.  His personal story is very much like the classic story, "The Grapes of Wrath."  Ruben's goal was to go to California looking for work. He and the other men hitch-hiking made it to Utah. They all married Ute women and raised their families here.