APACHE PRISONER OF WAR, MILDRED, SERVED AS CHAIRPERSON OF THE OKLAHOMA INDIAN AFFAIRS COMMISSION AT FORT SILL. SHE HAS BEEN HANDCRAFTING RAG DOLLS WEITH BEADWORK FOR OVER FIFTY YEARS. THEY ARE REPLICAS OF AUTHENTIC COSTUMES DATING FROM 1900 AND EARLIER. THERY ARE IN MANY MUSEUMS INCLUDING THE SMITHSONIAN INSTITUTION. SHE HELPED DESIGN THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE AMERICAN INDIAN IN WASHINGTON.
HER GRANDPA WAS GEORGE WRATTEN A WHITE MAN WHO LIVED ON THE RESERVATION AND SPOKE THE APACHE LANGUAGE VERY WELL. I GUESS HE RODE WITH GERONIMO AND WAS AN INTERPRETER. GERONIMO SURRENDERED IN 1887 TO THE ARMY AND THAT ENDED GUERRILLA WARFARE IN THE US. MILDRED'S COUSIN MADE A SCULPTURE OF GERONIMO AND HE WON A MEDAL OF THE ARTS .
MILDRED CAME FROM FORT SILL, OKLAHOMA. SHE WAS BORN IN 1910 IN PRISON OF WAR CAMP. THERE LIVED 3 YEARS. HER FATHER WAS MOVED TO SAINT AUGUSTINE , FLORIDA. THEY STAYED A YEAR AND THEY BECAME ILL. AND MANY DIED.
TWO NUNS TOOK ACTION TO HELP CONDITIONS AND THE CHILDREN. THEY GOT PERMISSION TO USE A CELL FOR A CLASSROOM. THEY TAUGHT THEM ENGLISH AND RELIGION. THEY HAD THE REMAINING PEOPLE MOVED TO MT. VERNON IN ALABAMA UNTIL 1894. THEY MOVED TO FORT SILL WHERE WE LIVED UNTIL 1913. THEN THEY WERE GIVEN A CHOICE OF GOING TO MESCALERO, NEW MEXICO OR GETTING ALLOTMENTS IN OKLAHOMA. 82 STAYED IN OKLAHOMA, AND THE REST WENT TO NEW MEXICO. SHE MOVED TO THE FARM. HER PARENTS STAYED AT FORT SILL. KIOWA. COMANCHE, AND APACHE WERE ALL LOCATED THERE. WHEN THEY WANTED TO VISIT RELATIVES THEY TOOK A 12 MILE
RIDE IN A HORSE AND WAGON.
SHE WENT TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS. THERE WERE ONLY FIVE INDIANS THERE. SHE GOT MARRIED IN 1949 TO OTO CLEGHORN. SHE WENT TO A COLLEGE AND GOT A DEGREE IN HOME ECONOMICS AND BECAME A HOME DEMONSTRATION AGENT.
SHE HAD BEEN IN KANSAS AND THEN TRANSFERRED TO OKLAHOMA.
IN THE LATE 70'S SHE GOT INVOLVED IN TRIBAL AFFAIRS. I FELT I NEEDED TO HELP OUR PEOPLE. I HAVE ALWAYS BEEN INTERESTED IN MY TRIBE AND IN MY CHURCH.
FRANK WRIGHT, A CHOCTAW, ESTABLISHED AN ORPHANAGE IN 1895 AT FORT SILL FOR THE REFORMED CHURCH. THEY WEREN'T ALLOWED TO DO THEIR CEREMONIES.
IN 1976 THEY ORGANIZED AT THE FORT SILL APACHE TRIBE AND MILDRED WAS ELECTED CHAIRPERSON.
SHE HELPS KIDS GET LOANS FOR SCHOOL AND PEOPLE GET HOUSING. IN 1980 THEY GOT A LAND GRANT , AN OFFICE, AN ALL PURPOSE BUILDING WITH A GYM. THERE WAS A TOTAL OF 350 PEOPLE. HONESTY WAS A MUST FOR THIS GROUP. THEIR SPIRITUAL LIFE WAS NOURISHED BY THE REFORMED CHURCH. IT'S AMAZING HOW THE VALUES THEY LIVED BY THEIR INDIAN FAITH WERE SIMILAR TO THOSE IN THE BIBLE. WHEN THEY DANCE AROUND THE FIRE. EVEN THOUGH THE APACHES WERE LATER BROUGHT UP WITH THE CHRISTIAN FAITH THEY STILL HAD HISTORIC CEREMONIES.
THE PUBERTY FEAST IS ONE OF OUR MAIN CEREMONIES. IT LASTS FOR EIGHT DAYS IN PUBLIC AND 4 DAYS ALONE WITH THE IMMEDIATE FAMILY. A MEDICINE LADY TAKES CARE OF THE CEREMONY AND IS LIKE A GODMOTHER. SHE DRESSES HER AND DOES HER HAIR. THEY USE PAINT AND CORN POLLEN, WHICH IS OUR MEDICINE . SHE IS HER TEACHER AND MUST TEACH THE GIRL HOW TO LIVE.
THEY HAVE A FOUR DAY DANCE OF THE MOUNTAIN SPIRITS. THE GIRLS WEAR BUCKSKIN DRESSES, SKIRTS, AND BLOUSES. THE MEN WEAR THE SAME TYPE OF SKIRTS IN THEIR DANCE WITH HEADPIECES. THE PEOPLE EXCHANGE GIFTS.
THESE NATIVES HAD MEDICINE FOR TUBERCULOSIS. AND THE PATIENT HAD TO BELIEVE THAT IT WOULD WORK. THEY USED SONGS AND POLLEN AND THEY STILL DO TODAY. YOU GIVE AND YOU GET AND THAT'S WHAT THEY BELIEVE.
SANDY JOHNSON
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