May 3, 2021

Dear Family, Friends and all who may be reading this blog,

Hello! I hope everyone is well and all are receiving or have received their Covid 19 Vaccines. This pandemic has taught me to appreciate little things in life. For example, there was a bee on my back porch. Normally, I would have killed it. Instead I picked it up carefully with a kleenex and put the bee safely outside. My Great Grandmother, Sophia Huff, who attended the Carlisle Indian Industrial Boarding School in 1891, loved to grow Gladiolas. I thought of her when I saved that bee. Since it is May, here is a photo of Sophia’s flower. Happy Spring to all!

Some people have asked me why I named my book, Sky Woman Lives in Me? Good Question! In 2016 when I finished my book, I did not have a title! I asked my husband, sons, friends, relatives, “What should I name my book? My younger son, Patrick, suggested a title: Sky Woman Lives in Me. I wasn’t sure why he suggested this title? Why? Because I knew little of my Oneida Culture and even less about the Oneida Creation Story. Patrick’s title suggestion encouraged me to learn more about the Oneida Culture. I have learned there are many different creation stories from the Oneida and other tribes. The title of my book comes from this short, summarized story version: “The Great Spirit pulls a tree out of the ground by it’s roots. He commands his daughter to look into the hole created from the tree being ripped out. She sees a lower world below her, covered by water and clouds. She is dropped into the hole by the Great Spirit! She falls way way down onto the back of a turtle. Animals saw she had fallen from the sky above. The animals put dirt onto the turtle, which then grew and grew. This turtle represents North America here on Earth. Since Sophia was Oneida and part of the clan called, The Turtle Clan, I too am part of the Turtle Clan. I learned the Turtle Clan shares information to the people. Thus, my book title, Sky Woman Lives in Me, came to fruition. I thank my son, Patrick. Here is a picture from the Haudenosaunee (Oneida) Creation Story, as told online from the Oneida Indian Nation of New York State. The Oneida Tribe of Wisconsin is formerly from the State of New York. Wisconsin Oneidas were forced to relocate to Wisconsin so New York lands could be made available to non-Indian settlers.

I am excited that Senator Elizabeth Warren is preparing for the re-introduction of a bill to create the first-of-it’s-kind U.S. Commission, to document and acknowledge past injustices of the U.S. Government of cultural genocide and assimilation practices. On September 29, 2020 a bill called H.R. 8420, Truth and Healing Commission on Indian Boarding School Policy Act was initially introduced by Senator Warren and Representative, Deb Haaland. It is my hope this commission will be established. There are many stories, like my book, Sky Woman Lives in Me, that shares true history about Indian Boarding Schools. Hopefully, more people will come forward and share their stories. My friend, Lisa Gammon Olson’s book, Remembering Green, also shares an accurate account of an Ojibwa Boarding School on the Lac du Flambeau Indian Reservation. Both of these books are available for purchase. Please feel free to share my blog. Thank you for reading it. Stay safe and please wear Red in Honor of MMIW May 5th. You will be honoring Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women. To contact me directly, please write to: bobbie@skywomanlivesinme.blog