[Goodpasture]

Originally Posted by TheComputerGuy

Unfortunately... We'll become known as "The Laters".
(And I know for a fact YOU weren't there back in the land run days... Not even your ancestors.)

M.

Well, my grandmother (dad's side) WAS in the land rush. Mom's mother was there to greet them.

[TheComputerGuy]

Originally Posted by Nameless

I attribute that outlook to come from growing up in a great place with wonderful friends and family. I could care less if we have hollywood movies or broadway plays here. We've got everything you really need. Anything we don't have is just down the road in Dallas anyway.

That's EXACTLY why we left MA and took our kids to a rural area to grow up in.
Their values are nothing like the MTV generation we left behind...

Looks like it did you a world of good.

M.

[TheComputerGuy]

Originally Posted by Goodpasture

Well, my grandmother (dad's side) WAS in the land rush. Mom's mother was there to greet them.

Gee... I'm batting -002 here....
Maybe I mistook you for schousse...
I thought YOU came to OK from Cape Cod.
I'm just going to shut up now. (CG fades into the woodwork...)

M.

[Goodpasture]

Originally Posted by TheComputerGuy

Gee... I'm batting -002 here....
Maybe I mistook you for schousse...
I thought YOU came to OK from Cape Cod.
I'm just going to shut up now. (CG fades into the woodwork...)

M.

Not a problem. schousse IS from Cape Cod, and is a Dutch citizen (she has a green card and has been here over 25 years). I, on the other hand was born in Enid, raised in Tulsa, graduated HS in New Mexico, and spent 25 years elsewhere.

My dad's mom and dad were land rush folks.....Scot/Irish/Swiss......as little kids. My mom's dad was Hawaiian who came here in 1920 as part of a Hawaiian band, and my mom's mom was born in Paris Texas, raised in the Hot Springs, Arkansas area, and moved to Tulsa as a young woman. Her family name is on the Old Settler roles of the pre-trail of tears Cherokee settlers.

Got to remember that although women were given the right to vote in 1920, it wasn't until 1924 that NA's got the right to vote (Utah took till 1954 to legalize the Indian vote). A lot of my families heritage was lost during the days when being NA made you a third class citizen.

[_redbird_]

And many Indian kids were taken and placed in boarding schools -without- parental permission.

My father was 5 when some white people came out to his grandmother's and took him. His father and grandmother were not even TOLD until later. It was kidnapping. Some kids were punished severely in Boarding schoos for speaking their language, some even died. *There is a great film on Indian Boarding Schools, that I will try and find. It is heart wrenching.

Then when my father became an adult, there was the Indian Relocation project, wherein many young Indians were moved off reservations to L.A. Frisco, Minneapolis, Chicago, thereby removing THEIR children from their cultural heritage.

It is a part of our American history that few hear about.

[TheComputerGuy]

Originally Posted by Goodpasture

Not a problem. schousse IS from Cape Cod, and is a Dutch citizen (she has a green card and has been here over 25 years).

Women HATE when you make statements that contain implications as to their possible age... She's gonna hurt you!

Originally Posted by Goodpasture

I, on the other hand was born in Enid, raised in Tulsa, graduated HS in New Mexico, and spent 25 years elsewhere.

So what caused you to leave the Mid-West?
I DID notice that you came back though.

Originally Posted by Goodpasture

My dad's mom and dad were land rush folks.....Scot/Irish/Swiss......as little kids. My mom's dad was Hawaiian who came here in 1920 as part of a Hawaiian band,

Scotch, Irish and musician ancestors... I have 2 friends sharing that heritage... One even goes WAY back to my musician days. We get along great and I'm frequently in touch with both of them even though we've scattered about New England over time.

You and I probably have a lot in common... Except that you're probably a LOT older than I am. (Is that schousse I hear laughing?)

Originally Posted by Goodpasture

and my mom's mom was born in Paris Texas, raised in the Hot Springs, Arkansas area, and moved to Tulsa as a young woman. Her family name is on the Old Settler roles of the pre-trail of tears Cherokee settlers.

Got to remember that although women were given the right to vote in 1920, it wasn't until 1924 that NA's got the right to vote (Utah took till 1954 to legalize the Indian vote). A lot of my families heritage was lost during the days when being NA made you a third class citizen.

I have some Native American blood on my father's side, but no idea which tribe... It was one of the ones who took off to Canada and ended up in Quebec.
The record keeping in the small Quebec farming communities left a lot to be desired. (But if you look at that side of the family, there's no doubt that they have NA bloodlines.)

My wife also has NA heritage, but her father left when she was 1, so she has no details either and her mother has no clue...

As far as the right to vote goes...
While it's possible to cast an ineffective vote for anyone you like, we always seem to get stuck trying to pick the lesser of 2 evils. As of the last election, I'm all finished with that. If I can't vote for a candidate I believe in, I won't vote for the lesser evil again. Evil is evil... But I digress... (What else is new?)

So, y'all are a REAL Okie. Cool!

M.

[TheComputerGuy]

Originally Posted by redbird4848

And many Indian kids were taken and placed in boarding schools -without- parental permission.

My father was 5 when some white people came out to his grandmother's and took him. His father and grandmother were not even TOLD until later. It was kidnapping. Some kids were punished severely in Boarding schoos for speaking their language, some even died. *There is a great film on Indian Boarding Schools, that I will try and find. It is heart wrenching.

Then when my father became an adult, there was the Indian Relocation project, wherein many young Indians were moved off reservations to L.A. Frisco, Minneapolis, Chicago, thereby removing THEIR children from their cultural heritage.

It is a part of our American history that few hear about.

That's HORRIBLE!
People really s*cked back then... Come to think of it, a lot of people still s*ck.
That's one of a few really shameful parts of our history in the US.

I feel so awful about the way those noble people got shafted. They had their stuff together. There is still MUCH to be learned from their way of life. They were truly at one with the land.

M.

[Synopsis]

It is horrible how the Native Americans were shafted, again, and again, and again. The stigma and trauma from those events have impacted Native Americans from all tribes ever since. I think only recently have the Native American tribes been able to demonstrate to the world their pride and heritage and be recognized for their rich history and civilization.

[peggydavis]

Everyone has to memorize the lyrics to Oklahoma to be an Okie.

Oklahoma, where the wind comes sweepin' down the plain
And the wavin' wheat can sure smell sweet
When the wind comes right behind the rain.
Oklahoma,
Ev'ry night my honey lamb and I
Sit alone and talk and watch a hawk
Makin' lazy circles in the sky.
We know we belong to the land
And the land we belong to is grand!
And when we say
Yeeow! Ayipioeeay!
We're only sayin'
You're doin' fine,
Oklahoma!
Oklahoma O.K.

I like it better when the ending goes O K L A H O M A Oklahoma!

[francisan]

Back to the idea of moving to Oklahoma. I think it's a great idea for others to move here! After all, unless you're native american, we are all "transplants" to some degree. (whether it be first or tenth generation) So for that reason, I think it's a bad idea for us lifetime okies to get our feathers ruffled when someone moves in down the road and buys that 80 acres we've had our eye on for years (expecting to pay reasonable prices for it and seeing it sell for way above market price).

If someone wants to sell their California one-acre ranch and come here with their proceeds and purchase a one-hundred acre farm that's fine by me. What is not fine by me; however, is to bring the "california tree-hugging" mentality with them. If someone comes from another state or geographic area to become an "okie", they need to accept the dead cars on blocks in my front yard when they get here.

Once again, I'll restate it. I think this is the best possible place in the world to raise my family and I'm glad others choose to do so. Just let me live the way I was living before you moved here and don't expect me to become something you used to be.