Indian Pioneer Papers - Index
Indian Pioneer History Project for Oklahoma
Date:
June 10, 1937
Name: Alice
Jones Folsom
Post Office: Route 1, Caney, Oklahoma
Residence Address:
Date of Birth:
Place of
Birth:
Father: Impson Jones
Information on Father:
Mother:
Jency James
Information on
Mother:
Field Worker: Etta D. Mason,
Pioneer interview
6745, WPA project
vol. 32, pg 447-450
My earliest recollections are of
playing about the yards with other children my age. My father and mother,
Impson JONES and Jency JAMES were in the removal from Mississippi and many are
the stories told us about the hardships of the removal. We are Choctaws. We
lived near Ft. Smith but in Indian Territory. There were many Indians in our
village and we children roamed the woods and learned about birds and animals.
By woods I mean the woods inside the Indian village. Far out in the open
country there were wolves and other wild animals that would have torn us to
pieces.
Many a time at night we would hear the scream of a
panther. If we were not in bed we would creep close to Father or Mother and be
afraid to even speak. If we were in bed we would crawl under the covers and
not move for minutes.
Our houses were made of logs hewed and put together
neatly. There were not many conveniences, but we were comfortable. We had
plenty to eat for there was an abundance of wild meat and we raised our corn
and vegetables. Our surplus crop was sold at Fort Smith. We bought clothing,
shoes, and such food as we could not raise on the farm.
We went to school and church in a log house. Which
had a puncheon floor and seats made of puncheons with holes bored in the ends
and pegs driven through for legs. There were no blackboards and what a thrill
it was to the lucky boy or girl who owned a slate and pencil.
We learned to ride quite young and to swim and
paddle canoes.
The Indians were very devout in their religious
beliefs, and taught us that the devil was ready to get us with his pitchfork
for any mean thing we did. On several occasions when I had stretched the truth
a little I would peep behind the doors and under the beds to see if he was
lurking around. In time I almost lost my belief in religion, but as I grew
older I understood. After a time Father moved to Armstrong Academy. Father was
caretaker of the capital.
Our trading point then was Bonham, TX.
While we lived at our old home we believed in all
the old superstitions handed down through generations. So of course we
attended, when we were invited to homes where there were sick people and where
there was supposed to be a witch doctor, or conjurer to cure the sick. Many
were the ruses imposed on the family of the sick by the witch doctor to make
them believe in their cures.
They practiced steaming the sick by cutting a hole
in the floor and burying a pot in the hole. The patient was placed on a frame
and steamed. After several steamings, if the patient was getting well the
witch doctor would show something that had been taken from the patient by her
magic, and which was supposed to cause the trouble. I can still hear the beat
of the tomtoms while this cure was going on. We children would sit in groups
too frightened to play. If one, by any chance, passed by the door of the sick
room, he or she would be dipped in cold water to drive away the evil spirit.
We buried our dead near our homes so that they would not feel as if they were
neglected.
We had all the good things we could eat. There was
hickory nut hominy. Nothing could be better; and the parched corn; and the
beaten bread, and so many other good things. I have made them often since I
have been a woman but none of them have ever tasted so good as they did when I
was a child. I am old now and have lived a full life, but those good old days
when I was a child are still dear to me and the memory of them brighten many a
day that otherwise would be dreary.
[Submitter's note: I received this from a friend. I
don't have the microfiche, so don't know if it is transcribed correctly or if
this is the entire interview.]