Dear Family and Friends and Everyone else reading this blog, Hello! I hope all are having a wonderful summer. It has been over a month since I last blogged here. I am trying to blog once a month, but sometimes circumstances prevent this from happening. I have been busy taking care of my husband, Chick, who had his fourth surgery this year! He is getting better each day and I thank God, Our Creator for this.
I continue to tell my story, Sky Woman Lives in Me, to share the true history of what happened to indigenous tribes here in our country. The government decided to experiment assimilating indigenous children into the white Euro culture, by taking these children away from their families to far away boarding schools during the turn of the century. If my husband had not helped me to self-publish my story, this hidden history wouldn’t be told today. I am quite sure no popular publisher would have helped me get this hidden story out by publishing my book. The subject matter is quite taboo. Assimilation, boarding schools were and are a dark chapter in this nation’s history. And, this abuse still goes on today, with immigrant children being taken away from their parents and locked up in cages! Abuse of indigenous people and other nationalities in this country still continues. I sincerely thank my husband, Chick, for helping me share this true history that was never taught in school.
In October there will be two conferences held to commemorate the 100th Anniversary of the closing of the Carlisle Indian Industrial Boarding School in 1918. The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition (NABS) will be having a conference in Carlisle, Pennsylvania October 2-3. The second conference called Carlisle’s Journey Symposium will be held October 6-7 also in Carlisle. I will be sharing my story at the symposium. No, I am not getting paid to share my story. My payment is sharing my deceased grandmothers’ story because they cannot. Yes, it hurts to share their story, but the pain is worth it to tell the truth, not the government’s false historical version! I will do this until the day I die to honor my grandmothers’ and descendants who had to endure the governments assimilation experiments. It is my sincere hope that my sharing will inspire other to share their stories.
To all of you reading this blog, I need your help. In February of this year I blogged about my wanting to find any descendants of Grace Thumbo. Grace was a Mohave-Apache who attended Carlisle from 1899 until 1904. I want to find her relatives who may still be living and share with them what happened to Grace when she was a servant in New Jersey for a Quaker Family for years. Grace had crossed paths with my great grandmother, Sophia Huff, who was also a servant for years to a Quaker Family. Grace’s brother came to New Jersey to bring her back to Arizona and California so she wouldn’t become assimilated! She and her brother (whose name I do not know) returned to Camp McDowell, which is now called Fort McDowell in Arizona. She married a man named Max Pelchu (or Pelcher). She and Max had three sons, William, Herbert and Paul Pelchu (or Pelcher) . Eventually Grace moved to Phoenix, Arizona. I show a photo of Grace taken at the turn of the century. Her Quaker Family, Tomlinson, wrote an inscription on the back of the photo. Anyone with any information on contacting Grace’s descendants would be greatly appreciated. My e-mail is https://skywomanlivesinme.wordpress.com/ You can also reach me at https://www.facebook.com/TurtleDescendent/ 
Speaking of grandmothers…I became a grandmother for the second time this past July 3rd. Here is Luke at 11 months and Clyde who was born July 3rd! I am the lady in the pink shirt holding 1 day old Clyde!
Lastly, my book, Sky Woman Lives in Me, is discounted at 25% through Lulu Publishing. Thank you for reading this blog. Please share if you wish. Sincerely, Roberta Capasso, Author, Sky Woman Lives in Me, and a very proud member of the Oneida tribe of Wisconsin.
Sky Woman Lives in Me 