Catherine_howard_introduction.mp4

My name is Katherine Howard I’m in row member from the Spirit Lake nation and I’m 70 years old and my Indian name is why whoa can we helps other woman I got this dakota name from my grandma because my dad was a good hunter and when my dad brought back any kind of like deer beaver anything we never ate it alone we used to I was Mike Graham after they finish butchering and stuff and then they passed it to the neighbors and my grandma was blind and one day she sat down and named me while --whoa kill me because my dad is always helping the neighbors mom was always making moccasins and gloves for the neighbors kids you know so that’s how I got my Indian name and as I grew older and I said grew up my dad and my mom divorced on Austrey years old and I got my grandma took over on me and I got raised by my grandmother and when I was 13 years old my grandma passed away so then they transferred me back to my sister’s house Sylvia Browne Joe and I got to know my mom then I didn’t know who my mom was and they never told me I don’t know why they never told me who my mom was until I went on 13 years old I knew who my mom was and I got to move in with my mom and I stayed with my mom and closer and then but I still had to stay in Sylvia Browne juice home she’s the one I pushed me to school it was a lot of fun was I growing up and I graduated from the 8th grade and I was gonna push myself into ninth grade him and my dad had a home I have an older sister for mine and her name is Christine Cavanaugh she I was an alcoholic singer husband was an alcoholic and nobody could raise those kids you know didn’t want to put him in a foster home so my dad told me to quit school and a help Ries my sister with the kids I did four so on I couldn’t handle all of them so and I moved out it at home an article must have been about 14 years old about a year ago after I quit then I moved back to my sister’s house I said I couldn’t handle that all those kids and so my kid my sister lost all her tits to foster homes you know and then I stay didn’t graduate and I worked here precious bases and then when I was 50 I think I must spend about 42 years old when I went back and got my GED I finished my GED then I started working um I worked a lot of places on the rez I did a lot of work since I didn’t I got married when I was my first marriage when I got married on all 16 this guy came back from the army and then we went out they always had powwows and out had round dances go home and he and then I got married you know 16 I didn’t know what I was putting myself into you know I never knew anybody telling me that they loved me or cared for me all that time you know and this guy kind of dude he was and I went back to the army when he came back to furlough that’s when we got married I was 16 years old and I got married there’s I was pretty young I didn’t my sister was kind of hesitating you know you’re too young to do this thing but you know at that age myself I thought I knew it all and you know and I stayed we got married and I think a year after we got married that we moved to Cleveland in Ohio used to send down the families on relocation if you want to get educated or something so we went on relocation and I he stayed over there about a year and then about that year I got pregt with my oldest boy and we stayed over there about two years and he’s drinking he started drinking and stuff and my niece was over there she said she was coming back to the reservation so I caught a ride back with her and when I got back to the reservation I told my dad I said it was hard staying in a big cities and I didn’t wanna stay and so him and I got our divorce my dad paid for my divorce then I stayed on the rez worked hours worked I never ever depended on in anybody I was challenging myself to look forward push myself and I was an alcoholic I drank I drank a lot when I was young and then it went on till I meant my second oldest boys that we never got married we were going to get married but my dad said you did it once and he never worked out and your chick and you’re still drinking and dude he said I advise you not to get married so we never got married but from that from that guy had a boy and a girl but we lost our girl I think that’s when I am separated because I don’t know it’s just like when I blamed him you know so I separated it from him I didn’t marry that guy and then I had my boy and my mom and my dad reason I went potato pickin to get his school clothes and you know and stuff and I lived her to my mom and it was a hard life you know sometimes you think back when I think back I’ll tell my boys in a work you know don’t sit back and depend on somebody else because it’s not gonna work out and my mom used to always tell me find a place to stay if you don’t find a place to stay to call your home she says that people are donut people or hate you if you stay at their house no matter what you do you never satisfied him shell says that so I’ve always fought to find her a home when and that first thing I do is I find a place to stay and I keep my kid my boy in there then after I had after I had um Ivan then I had my third boy and my sect my fort boy and I got married and I married people’s Melvin people’s he was an alcoholic but he was a he was a good father he helped a lot of the children and I worked and he worked and I worked and we managed until drinking God in a way again with the drank too much time he drank he abused me so then when my boy I even got a older he tries to help me you know when he tries to hit me and I didn’t want my son to get hurt so then I went to my sister Gladys Peltier and I asked if she could take him in and I said so I left my boy Durr and then I will moved back with his other two boys I lasted about a year and a half and then I divorced him we got a divorce right on his birthday and never and I never ever thought that I’ll ever do that and I year after that he passed away from cirrhosis and I know that’s what they say but I don’t believe it I think he got hurt when the cops picked him up and because they said they battered him in that drunk tank and he when they brought his body off his head was bleeding in and when he was in his casket pillow was all full of blood that next day you know so I don’t know how tight all the boys is up to you guys if you guys want to press charges on the cop but they never did so we just went off and then when I was forty fifty when I was 51 1995 1994 I got went back to Four Winds school and I’d put my I put in as teacher’s aide I worked during local optin there at Four Winds and the kids were going to school dean doofen II came up to me one time he said you know captured he said you should make use of your Dakota language he said you speak it you ride it and you tell good stories he said what are you waiting for you know I said what do you mean as a would he go back to school I looked at him you know I don’t have to go back to school to learn my dad quarter language why should I go back to school I mean isn’t that’s the reason why I’m telling you this he said get an education so you could come back into the school and teach these children yeah didn’t believe it and I just went on finally in 1954 Todd Walker and teachers were all telling me psych I took calm I went back to school and when I came here and I went to Grand Forks I went to Newtown they sent us all over to take art so I got in 1950 57 I think I got my teachers degree from the state of North Dakota and I accomplished sometimes I did it I told I told Dean see you could do it he said you know I was scared because I can speak my Dakota language real I mean you know and I cannot beat anybody talking but I can never save my English is like the big words I was time trying to skip it you know I don’t do you fight or know it the students in my class are how do you say this now they say it for me you know they finally found out that sometimes I make a mistake on my day and my English and then I went out 50 I think is 57 when I went back and got my degree and then I went on and on nine in 1959 I went and got my driver’s license all this years I think it wasn’t I don’t know what do you result but I lost my driver’s license from my drinking driving with driving on the influence of alcohol I got picked up in all that years I drove for my parents when they won my sister’s when they want to go two weeks I go take all the years I drove without driver’s license but you know when we’re gonna take off my sister’s will pray you know we get to save free come back maybe took on shouldn’t help me you know all but I got my driver’s license back I think I wasn’t it was 1915 when I got my dread and I still had my driver’s license so I accomplished those on into my life you know and it was fun in teaching that the quota language at the school in high school when I started I was in kinder I would teach kindergarten to fifth grade then they trust me from fifth grade to eighth grade then I teach there for about like five like seven years and in high school was trying to hire a teacher to teach the high school junior to senior but there was nobody that couldn’t qualify for it so then the principal’s got together and in one day they how would you say they barred me down there I am still further I still work for the middle school they barred me not for one year until they could and I’m down there 20s like what I think it’s 17 years I’m teaching in high school they still I’m still down there but I’m under the middle school you know but it’s fun all right some people I’ll say is how can you handle to teach the high school but I survived but they all know me you know so that kids and it’s fun teaching them some of the some of the students will come in there I teach them or some of them that have are ready to have a baby or they’re pregt and when I saw my education you get educated you’re gonna be good you can support your child you know encourage them to come back into so I think I from that time I worked I think I graduated gave credit to about 11 parents you know the women the girls some of them coming here they’re 1415 years old to have a baby don’t give up you pick that choice so you’re not doing this for yourself as you’re doing for that baby and when you grow up you know and some of the students that I told them to work at that casino I go over and congratulate them you know hey gee I’m glad you’re doing good you know keep up the good work my friend you know Khushi you know I got a job you know everybody calls me Khushi that’s grandma and it’s just like a family you know sometimes when I when I don’t go to work if I get sick I missed a student like I miss the students everyday because in their summer time and the students is just like a family you know some days you know you feel down you go to you go to work the student what’s wrong Khushi you know what anybody same thing to you know they know are you radaway so it’s fun to be a teacher I’ll say I’m gonna retire but I don’t know when that’s gonna come because if I retire I’m going to miss those students and it’s it’s fun a lot of the high school especially they have they come into with lot of problems you know some of them have to babysit when the parents are drink is some of them gamble the parents have to go it doesn’t know how you always tell them you know you don’t have to have a new dresses new coats new to have education come in the way you are I said I teach here many years but you don’t see me dress up with fancy clothes I said I come the way I feel like and that’s the way that’s the most important from it’s the way you are don’t ever try to be anybody else you know and they believe that and they come into class at times that sometimes when you think about it education is important I said I learned that the hard way I said when Dean told me that you can do it you know and I argued him about not getting my education but after I got my teacher nice I can control my own class do whatever I want so it’s nice that we you know and then the high school we work our seven values and the seven values is for a very important it’ll change your life when we worked on our seven values when that tea when the students I don’t read it every day but I haven’t hanging on the wall talk about certain ones sometimes some of the peers some of the students that come in there were heavy chewers and heavy smokers by time nine months come I want to have two of them that smoke and the rest and one two once they’ll quit you know and it’s not telling them every day just what they see what we talked about I have a coffee can in my class Monday morning when the students come in how many of you guys broke the circle during the weekend with alcohol gossiping and all that don’t tell me but write it down what all you did they write down what all they do bad during the week tear it up they put inside that coffee cap Friday I all the students we go outside we stand in a circle we ask the gardener for forgiveness for breaking a circle and we burn everything so nobody knows what they put in there so that helps the students you know and so they bring out their feeling they don’t want to tell anybody they don’t trust you but they trust the conscience so the smoke that goes up to caution here’s your prayers and you’re gonna be stronger you know so there is a lot of stuff that I do I live my culture class sometimes you wonder you know why we’re here we’re here because we want educate ourselves aren’t we the students were all smiling sometimes I tell them jokes you know make them feel good that they’re in my class so there is a lot of things that I enjoy teaching and I don’t think I’ll ever give up my teaching and when the students camp they have culture camp for the last eight years I never missed one of them even if I don’t put him application they still hire you mean they’re you know as a counselor so I work with them so there is a lot of fun and working with students you know