Sneaking Out the Biscuits with Kathryn Froelich

There’s just so much with since you can be four go to a powwow and you listen to the announcers they always include I don’t know sense of humor in there as part of the whole you know part of the whole celebration you might say you know and I mean it’s sense of humor is really important because I think it’s really helped tribal people overcome lots of obstacles you know to be able to laugh at the things that were so disheartening my mother tells of when she went to boarding school she went to boarding school here there’s all girl boarding school and she went to school when she was seven years old they took all these girls at Fort Berthold and put him on a train in garrison then they didn’t speak any English and then they came to Bismarck and then when they got off the train they were handed government issue closed and they didn’t realize you know what was going on and of course you know the history of not being able to speak their language and all this and that but she said they had matron and the matrons were strict of course and she said there was one day that all these girls got together and they said you know what we’re going to jump on the beds and they said okay that sounds like fun because all those beds were lined up in that room you know let’s jump on the beds so they got in there any job being on the beds jumping on the beds and my mom said all of us in the matron came in what are you doing you know and she you know corrected them and now you have to go see that the head matron the pin the principal so she gathered all those girls up and they went down there when they got down there they sing a line of kids and we’re going to have to go in to see that principle without oh and the kids were coming out and some of them are crying and all this in that and she said on one of them that came out went out to my mother and the other girls with her and said you know what I’m gonna tell you something right now when they were talking end and said you know when you go in there start crying right away and they won’t spank you hard so she said they went in there and sure enough my mom said we went in there and we started crying and crying and the way she tells it so funny and she said sure enough they didn’t even thank me they said and then they let him go so they learned you know but anyway so you know she tells that story and it is funny it’s kind of sad you know but they found humor in it you know naming today you know or she has other stories about going in and eating and you could only eat at certain times breakfast and you couldn’t take any food out lunch and then supper and the story that her and Regina Shannon door when she was still alive used to tell us was that they have knickers that they had to wear so they always got hungry when they go back to the dorms after supper time so she said we take the biscuits from the table and we drop him in our knickers she said so that when we go out you know they wouldn’t catch us and it was peanut butter on the table so they would take the peanut butter and they’d spread it on their hands because when they go out they’d have to stand can pass somebody who was checking and they’d have to go like this if turn and then they’d go out and so she said oh we had so much fun because then when we got outside and got to our room and we take out the biscuits and we take off the peanut butter wait a sec so they would laugh about that you know so humor has helped people help tribal people survive it really has