Week #6: Nickname

My mother’s given name is Kathleen Sixkiller Olsen. Most people did not now my mother by her given name. Mom was better known as Deedle. This name was given to her by her older sister. Pearl was two years old when Mom was born. She could not say, “Kathleen.” Some how “Deedle” was pronounced and it stuck. The only person that ever called Mom by “Kathleen” was her mother.  Once in awhile her dad would do the same.

When I was a young kid my dad would recycle copper, lead and car batteries. The money he earned would pay for school clothe
s each August. As a family we would ride around to different communities for my dad to look for batteries. We had stopped at a home on the Whiterocks highway. We heard the kids in the yard yelling, “Deedle, Deedle! Come here Deedle.” Mom kept looking around to see who was yelling at her. Come to find out, there was  young child there names ‘Deedle.’ It was a given name, not a nickname.

On another occasion, we ran into a family who’s pet dog was named “Deedle.” And since then, there is a TV production company named, “Deedle Dee Productions.”

During the 80’s when I was in junior and senior high, my parents ran a store in Whiterocks. They named it, “Deedle’s.” My mom ran the store while my dad work at Moon Lake Electric. On Saturdays and summers, I worked in the store. Later, my dad retired from Moon Lake and bought the Neola Store.

The funniest story about Mom’s nickname is how the Utes addressed her. Her Rez Cuzzins and friends always called her “Deedles.” For some reason in the Rez, our family seems to pluralize most things like “mines, minses, fishes, deers, etc.” Once in awhile, her cousins and classmates called her, “Deedle Dee.”

Mom had another unofficial nickname: “Tar Baby.” Her brother Henry (aka Hank) gave her that name because if her dark completion. Mom loved to be outdoors resulting in her tan complexion.

For Christmas, mom and her siblings would draw names. Uncle Hank drew Mom’s name. He bought Mom a Tiny Tears doll. He thought he was being funny when he bought the “black” version of the doll. The tide was turned when Mom opened the doll and it was her favorite gift.