Who was Grandma?

Doing all kinds of things with grandma was just the way it was.

We’d get up early either for her breakfast or for some chores I didn’t like to do.

We had so many horses and cows. Sometimes I would think to myself ‘why don’t they just eat the trees, weeds, and bushes all over this valley, that way we don’t have to get up so early’.

The smell of bacon was surely the start to an awesome day though.

Some mornings it was completely dark, to hunt, to ride, to dig, to pick, to live; something always needed to get done.

We’d get to the table and none of us could eat yet.

She’d pick up her little bell and sing a song.

We’d sit around the table swinging our hands like we knew what we were doing.

The song would end, and she’d speak in Indian. I’d wonder ‘who here knows what she’s saying?’

Then, we’d say ‘ai’ after her prayer, that was our ‘amen’.

All the days were different with her.

If she were home, we were doing something.

Sometimes she’d be gone all day, all weekend. We were free though, a whole world to gather upon and a whole valley to ride, walk, explore, and discover, even if on our own.

She’d get home and we’d be back in order, telling on each other hoping to get the upper hand on the other. She’d scold us all to be nice and kind to each other. And then at the end she’d say ‘if you don’t have anything nice to say then don’t say anything at all’.

Her words were also in coloring books around the house. A couple favorite movies of ours were also the ones with her in them, talking about culture and history.

Her prayers were said in songs or words. I wasn’t as great of a grandchild as my siblings who probably picked up more than me, but grandma at least had an audience. We never over spoke her, not even her favorite, but he got to ask questions, so we got to hear a bunch of answers too.

Grandma sang all the songs to pray with, dance with, sing with, we just had to do it. But there was a bunch of other kids around too.

We’d travel around doing old Indian dances her and her sisters would sing for us. We’d try to become really great, practicing and dancing around the old Upper Dry Creek Longhouse.

Sometimes we’d poke fun at each other and laugh around at who dances or sounds funny. We’d get a smile out of our elders then too, but it wasn’t right to make fun of each other, more so them of us.

Even if grandma wasn’t around, sometimes we’d get pulled out of school to go dance for some audience afar, auntie driving.

We’d get there and grandma’d be on the mic introducing songs and significations while we giggled around at each other backstage, not even listening.

Once we heard the song or story, we knew what to do, we’d come out in formation and dance our hearts out, no competition needed.

Sometimes they’d make us owl dance with someone from the audience. I remember my older cousin got paired with a nice-looking dance partner about his age. She smiled at all of us though.

Participating wasn’t a question, it was a way of life.

Grandma would leave at times, but our aunts and uncles would assure we were doing what we needed to.

Some would even pick us up to jump in cold rivers and streams, break wild horses, clean our house, theirs, or someone else’s; would even hook a plower up to an old Lincoln and plow the fields just to do something.

Grandma would arrive and we’d be back to giving attention.

Everyone wanted time with her, so she got a lot of visitors too.

People didn’t mind our long dirt road. Their knocks at the door also meant ‘behave’. 

Years we had with grandma until she fell ill, couldn’t speak anymore, maybe diabetes, maybe something else.

She later passed, and then years passed.

I was back on the rez.

I decided to learn more history and culture. 

In most resources I found, I found her name; Verbena ‘Susuwáipam’ or ‘Beans’ Greene.

I didn’t even know; She was a teacher.