<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<itemContainer xmlns="http://omeka.org/schemas/omeka-xml/v5" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance" xsi:schemaLocation="http://omeka.org/schemas/omeka-xml/v5 http://omeka.org/schemas/omeka-xml/v5/omeka-xml-5-0.xsd" uri="https://voicesofignacio.cvlcollections.org/items/browse?collection=8&amp;output=omeka-xml&amp;page=2" accessDate="2026-06-09T02:54:50+00:00">
  <miscellaneousContainer>
    <pagination>
      <pageNumber>2</pageNumber>
      <perPage>10</perPage>
      <totalResults>12</totalResults>
    </pagination>
  </miscellaneousContainer>
  <item itemId="222" public="1" featured="0">
    <fileContainer>
      <file fileId="284">
        <src>https://voicesofignacio.cvlcollections.org/files/original/aabae97023dd0d087a464de99a4c692f.pdf</src>
        <authentication>7661f6ebed4876be2c5ea861e26f5893</authentication>
        <elementSetContainer>
          <elementSet elementSetId="4">
            <name>PDF Text</name>
            <description/>
            <elementContainer>
              <element elementId="94">
                <name>Text</name>
                <description/>
                <elementTextContainer>
                  <elementText elementTextId="2555">
                    <text>Annie Bettini
(Southern Ute Tribal Elder)

Somewhere around here: I don't really know where I was born. I wasn't born in a
hospital. I was born in somebody's home. No one ever told me where I was born, and I never
'- -a'ske"d. ''At thanime, ybu didn't ask qirestiofis. -'Septemo1sr 1,cl:1~22 fAnnte·s'bfrtn'da)'j. My
dad's name was Hickey William. My mother's name was Isabelle, but I can't remember her last
name. She was Spanish, and my dad was full-blooded Ute. I have one sister, Arabella, who
lives next door to me here. I have another sister, Mary-Anne, who lives in the mobile home right
over here. I had a brother, but he died. I guess there was a girl before I was born, but she died.
My mother and father separated when I was five, or something like that (I can't remember), and I
was raised by my grandmother: Dorkis William. She raised all ofus, all three us. So, we grew
up with her. I had a half-brother, who passed away about six years ago, I think. And, I had a
sister who passed away before he did. Then, I have two sisters left. I didn't get to know them
until I was way up in my thirties, I think. So, I finally got to know them. We've basically lived
around here. The Weasel Skin Bridge is named after our family. Our family name was 'Weasel
Skin' until they changed it to 'William.'
I grew up speaking Ute totally. Then, when I went to school I began to speak English
language. I started off school down below here, there was a one-room schoolhouse down by a
place called La Posta. I started off school there until I don't know how old I was. They had the
boarding school in Ignacio and they transferred us over there; which was very hard on us. I
don't remember, it must have been around ... See, in those days we didn't start school until we
were six. In those days they didn't require children to go to school at five. We basically started
at six. But, we were kind of devastated to be taken away from home. But, in the course of time I
got used to it. We graduated from there; they called it the Ute Vocational School. But, you
know, school wasn't half as hard as it was in those days. We just learned the basics, and I don't
remember all that I learned. I don't remember having trigonometry. We had fractions, but we
didn't get into all that other stuff I guess it was just the basics.
After I got used to it [boarding school life] I just took it as it was. It did something to me
that bothers me today. It made me become insensitive to me grandmother and to my dad. I
wanted to get away from this life that we had. We were poor, we were very poor. We didn't
own any furniture. We slept on the floor, we ate on the floor. We only had one chair and one
little folding bed. When I went to boarding school it showed me all of those things. I guess it
kind of made me go away from all of that, and made me forget about my grandmother and my
dad. Then, from there I went on th work in Denver. As a young person I Didn't realize that was
the wrong thing. To me, now, it was wrong: I became insensitive. That's the way I looked at it.
From that point on I went into the Army, and I found out that that wasn't what I really should
have done. There was a lot of discrimination there. That kind of shocked me, too. I wrote
letters back, and in those letters I wrote my dad things I didn't like about it. He started to work
things out and talked to some of his neighbors to help him get me out of there. I came home for
a little while, and then I found out I wasn't happy anymore. I needed to work and I needed to
support myself My grandmother and my dad couldn't do it. I realized that there were things
there that I could have that would make life easy for me. In a way it was good and in a way I
regret those days. Ifl had stayed around home, I don't know what I would have done.
Basically, go out there taught me a lot, taught me how to take care of myself; how to look after

�Page 2 of6

my own needs. Yet, at the same time, I forgot my grandmother and my dad. I'd come home and
visit, then I'd go back to my work or wherever. I worked in Nevada for a little while. To this
day I have a regret ... It's in the past; I can't go back and re-do anything. But, then, I began to
realize that I would have to support myself and do other things for myself So, that was part of
growing up I guess.
I worked in a laundry. I worked in the school in Ignacio for a while. After I got out of
the service I went to Nevada and worked in the boarding school there as a matron (looking after
the kids there). Then I came back over here and worked at the boarding school (the boarding
school was still there) in the 40s, I think. After that I got married, and then we went off to
California. We came back and lived a little ways from here. We built a little house over there,
but my husband couldn't find a job. He was not a tribal member; he was Italian. He worked in
the mines with his dad for a while, but the wages just weren't very good. So, one of his sisters
lived in California, and she said, 'Come here. You can find good work here.' So, we moved
over there. Lived over there for quite awhile until he passed away. I came back here after he
passed away.
I didn't have any ofmy own [children]; I had miscarriages. I adopted a little boy. My
sister-in-law had a boy when we were living here. She had a baby boy out of wed-lock. She
gave him to me to take care of (she was working and she really didn't have a way to take care of
him). Finally, she gave him up to me. 'Here, you can have him.' She even said, 'We'll even go
through adoption with you.' At the time it cost too much, and we didn't have the money. We
just raised on our own until my husband passed away, and then I adopted him. I raised foster
children, too. I raised about twelve. I don't know where they all are. Some of them have passed
away. There are few out there that I don't know where they are. The daughter I have is my
adopted daughter. She belongs to one of the Ute ladies in Ignacio. She lives not too far from
here with her husband and her children.
We lived in Buena Park, CA My husband found work there. He became a foreman for a
mobile home construction place. Then, he passed away in California. After he passed away, we
moved over here. Then my son passed away in 1972; he had cancer of the bone.
We had sheep ... sheep and goats. We herded sheep all over the hills here. At that time,
there were no restrictions anywhere. We could go anywhere, except we couldn't go over into
that fence that is privately owned. Sometimes the goats and sheep would get in there, and we'd
have to go over there and chase them out. There was alfalfa there and alfalfa bloats the animals.
We just roamed all over. Went fishing. Played.
We didn't have any toys that I remember. We played with rocks, and mud, and sticks;
whatever we could find to play with. We had pets. We had animals like a goat or a lamb for a
pet, kitties and doggies; those were our enjoyment. I only remember my grandmother got me a
little doll for Christmas one time. My dad got me a little teddy bear. I don't think the other kids
ever got anything for Christmas. We didn't know what Christmas was all about. We didn't
know what the holidays were all about. We didn't get to the Sun Dances or the Bear Dances
often; once in a great while, maybe. We had to travel over there by horse and buggy or wagon.
My dad didn't have a car until a little later on.
He bought a Model T Ford. He had to go to work far away, too. Sometimes he had to go
to work in Towaoc and sometimes he worked around here on the farms. Sometimes they'd have
to clean ditches; now they don't do that anymore. He found odd jobs here and there that didn't
pay very well.

�Page 3 of6

We would go to Ignacio once a month for commodities. That would last us. We had to
use it very sparingly. Then we had our goats and sheep that we could kill: not in the summer
time. My grandmother was very hard about that, because the meat spoiled (we didn't have a
refrigerator). Not what I have here today: nothing ... nothing. Sometimes we were ragged. They
had the C.C. camps [Conservation Corps]. They worked up in the hills. One day this man (I
remember his last name, it was Aspen; like the trees) came and he said, 'Come here, girls.' We
were kind of afraid to go. My grandmother was there. He said, 'I'm not going to hurt you. I just
want to measure your feet.' I said, 'Measure my feet? For what?' So, he measured our feet and
he measured my grandmother's feet. The next day or so he came and he brought us tennis shoes,
because our shoes were all wore out. From that point on he kept an eye on us. When we needed
something, he even would bring groceries at times. He was a very kind man. I remember his
kindness very well. I guess he just felt sorry for us or something.
I basically grew up around Spanish people and Anglo people. Most of our neighbors are
Anglos. They helped out. Sometimes they would take my dad to town if he needed to get
groceries. They would pick him up and take him to town. They were very helpful. Dad grew
wheat, at times, and they'd come and thrash his wheat for him. Then my dad would take the
wheat to, I don't know if it was Cortez, but they had a milling place. He'd take it and have it
turned into flour. Then he would come back with sacks of flour; which we stored in a big,
upstanding box. So, that kind of kept us with flour through the winter months.
Our diet was basically meat, beans, and potatoes (meat when we could get it, depending
on when it was not winter time). When we went to Ignacio they'd give us cans of meat, and that
helped during the summer. We'd pick berries (chokecherries) and grandma dried it. Sometimes
there was a vendor that came from New Mexico with chili, with fruit or something. He was a
tall Anglo man. He would stop by, then he would leave (grandma always had a little money
from the sale of goats). He always had watermelon and cataloupe ... stuff like that. She would
buy one or two, then he would give extra. He did that for about three times. He didn't come
every week, but each time he would leave extra. The last time he came he wanted one ofus
girls, and Grandmother got so upset at him. She started talking in Spanish (she knew some
Spanish). She just chased him: 'I don't give my girls to nobody! Here, take you stuff!' He took
it, and she was so upset. He wanted one ofus. I don't remember, I think he was after Arabella.
He said, 'If she won't go ... ' Then he grabbed me like this, and Grandmother said, 'No, no, no.'
She got a stick and she was going to hit him. I don't remember all that he said (our English
wasn't all that well yet). He wanted to take one ofus with him [laughs].
All in all, we didn't complain. We took life as it was and we were happy. I don't know
how Grandmother ever felt, because whe was a quiet person. My dad was quiet. He wasn't
home much; he was out trying to earn a little biut of money. He had to buy hay for the sheep and
goats. We sheered the sheep and got a little money off of that. We sold some young goats for
people from Durango, especially the Spanish people. They would buy goats off ofus. Then the
wool from the sheep kind of helped out at times, too. Of course we had horses. In the winter
time, Dad had to feed them and buy hay. That's why he worked for some of the farmers around
here: maybe they'd give him a bale of hay with money besides. Then, he raised a little bit of hay
down on this side of the river [Animas River]; there's a piece ofland there that's kind of flat. He
raised hay, cut it, and we'd pile it. In those days you had to pile it, and we'd help him as big as
you please. We had horses to ride ... we enjoyed that.
My dad used to dance the Sun Dance; up to a point. We'd go over there ... I had two of
my aunts living with us at the time. My grandmother would go over there (the family took turns

�Page 4 of6

going over there). The family had to be there. Once in a while we got to go. I never wanted to
stay home. I always wanted to be with Grandma. I didn't really want to stay with my aunts,
except one aunt was good to me. The other one was kind of mean to me, so when she stayed
home forget it: I didn't want to stay home. But, I could stay with my aunt Margaret. We used to
do a lot of things: we used to make candy or whatever. She had a talent, but she passed away
rather young. She had a talent of making things out of whatever we had: like mixing together
sugar and peanut butter and making it into candy. She just had a talent that was amazing, but she
passed away. That I enjoyed: I enjoyed staying with her, because she could just put things
together. My other aunt was different; she was kind of grumpy at times.
My grandkids are a quarter Ute. Their father is Anglo; he works for the Finance
Department in Ignacio, for the Tribe. His name is Brian Ross. They live right over here. The
boys love spending the weekend with me, especially the little one. They call me, 'Nanni.' The
girl is the oldest (she's eleven), and she's as tall as I am. She comes home from school to me,
and the boys go to the Academy. Their mom teaches at the Academy.
They're real good kids. I had them for a whole summer, when my daughter was going to
school in Boulder. They were good. We'd go to the grocery store and people would just come
and say, 'Oh, your grandkids are so well behaved.' Or, we'd go out to a restaurant, and they
were just so good. Of course, we've taught them about the Lord, that there's a Creator. We tell
them that He expects us to behave; expects us to respect and to love others, and to care about
others.
I didn't come to know the Lord until I was in my late thirties. But, I have to say that
knowing God has been a great help to me. He has sustained me through life: kept me going, kept
me strong. I don't have any major health problems, just my feet. All in all, I have to give God
credit for just being in our lives. We just feel that the Lord was there for our little, little boy.
Their house is in area that has lots of rocks and sagebrush, and there're rattlesnakes over there.
One Saturday, the kids were out playing around and dad was working out in the yard. The little
boy goes to his father and said, 'Dad. Look. Baby snake.' Guess what it was ... a baby rattler.
We feel it was a miracle that that little rattler didn't bite him. His dad flicked it off his hand and,
he happened to have a shovel, killed it. We tell them to watch themselves. But, that was just a
miracle in itself I was coming from town and I stopped at their house. My daughter came
running out, crying. I thought something terrible had happened. She said, 'Cody had a baby
rattler in his hand, and I'm just thanking God for not biting him.' So, we believe that God is
very present if you connect with him. There has to be a relationship there.
I give God for my strength and for just sustaining me, because it's kind of lonely living
by yourself You get up by yourself, eat by yourself, go to bed by yourself The kids come, but
they have their own home. And, He provides you with other people, other believers that you
connect with. That helps. That's a big help in my life. I say to myself, 'I want my grandkids to
keep on going to church, to keep on building their relationship with the Lord.' So that they, too,
will know that there's someone who will protect them and help them along life's way.
I think my belief in God, and knowing that there is a Creator there, has really helped me.
It made me overcome the regrets that I had. Sometimes I get to where I feel as though someone
is telling me, 'It's in the past. There's nothing you can do about it now.' It's now that counts.
It's now, what you do, that counts. I've been involved in translating the Bible into Ute language;
mostly it's on videos. I'm becoming a songwriter, too. A Native American tune will be coming
to me and I don't have words for it, so pretty soon words will be coming out of the Bible, the
Scriptures. We have some that we've recorded on CDs. Some are in Ute and some are in

�Page 5 of6

English, because I have to do it in both. That's something good that I'm doing. I feel like the
Lord is blessing me. He's blessing my family, too. I just have to give God credit. Truly, we
have a Creator. Truly, there's somebody out there that takes care ofus. So, I'm happy about
that, because I know one day I'll be going over there. Ifl can just do what the Lord wants me to
do here, then He'll accept me.
Last year I involved myself quite a bit with the Academy. I went into the classroom and
showed the children how to make generic cradle boards. I made it out of cardboard and material,
and talked about it (the history of the cradleboard and how women used it; how it was helpful to
them). But, this year I haven't gone over there at all.

***
Basically, I'm thankful I have a home. I'm thankful that I have a warm place live;
thankful that I have enough to eat; thankful that I have my health. I don't have to cimplain about
anything. I really don't need the money. I've always had to live on as little as possible. Money
comes and I save it ... I don't spend it. I don't have nothing to spend it on. I spend most of my
money on my grandchildren. When they need something, I'm here to help them. But, as far as
needing anything more: I don't need anything. I have a nice car to drive. What more does a
person want? I don't go gambling, because I feel like that's just throwing your money away.
The best thing to do is to just spend it on your grandchildren and have a little enjoyment
yourself.
I don't go to the General Meetings anymore, because all they do is argue and complain.
We shouldn't. I think most of the Ute people were poor, and now we're 'prosperous'.
Sometimes I hear people say, 'that money is ours.' It isn't ours until it's in my hand, it's in my
name, and it's in my bank. As long as it's there, I don't claim it; it's not my money. Ifl have to
go chop my wood in the hills, I will. You know, we did it when we were kids. My sister and I
even used to hitch up our dad's wagon when we ran out of wood, and go up in the hills to gather
wood. We'd bring those big, long logs, and we'd chop them. I'm old but I can still chop wood.
I may get tired faster, but I can still do it. There's no use complaining. There are too many
things in this world that are happening, that are terrible. We're not even secure in this country
anymore. We just have to pray to the Lord that He'll keep His hands upon us. But as far as
complaining, what's to comlplain about?

***
One thing my dad taught me about money: don't ever borrow money, or anything from
anybody, unless you have a way to replace it. And, if you borrow money from anybody, you
have to pay it back. I've kept to that. My grandmother always told me, 'Some day you are
going to have things. Some day you are going to live the white man's ways. But, I want you to
remember this: take care of what you have. Always take care of what you have.' And, I have.
Those two things have been a big blessing to me, and I try to teach my grandchildren that: take
care of what you have, and respect your family, respect all the people around you; no matter who
they are. So, those things I've always held on to, and that was a good lesson. They stick out
right in front of you, as big as your face.

�Page 6 of6

So, you could say we are pretty close. I've taken Cecilia [her daughter] as my very own.
She feels the same way, too. One time I mentioned something about her being adopted. Oh, she
got so upset. She said, 'Mom, you are the only mom I've ever known. I don't want you going
around telling people I'm adopted.' And I said, 'Well, I'm sorry.' I thank God for her. She
came into my life. Otherwise, I feel old; I wouldn't have any little ones hanging around.

***
Interviewed by Michael G.
Miller (VISTA) on March
15th, 2004 in her home.

�</text>
                  </elementText>
                </elementTextContainer>
              </element>
            </elementContainer>
          </elementSet>
        </elementSetContainer>
      </file>
    </fileContainer>
    <collection collectionId="8">
      <elementSetContainer>
        <elementSet elementSetId="1">
          <name>Dublin Core</name>
          <description>The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.</description>
          <elementContainer>
            <element elementId="50">
              <name>Title</name>
              <description>A name given to the resource</description>
              <elementTextContainer>
                <elementText elementTextId="2538">
                  <text>Michael Miller Interviews</text>
                </elementText>
              </elementTextContainer>
            </element>
            <element elementId="47">
              <name>Rights</name>
              <description>Information about rights held in and over the resource</description>
              <elementTextContainer>
                <elementText elementTextId="2539">
                  <text>http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/</text>
                </elementText>
              </elementTextContainer>
            </element>
            <element elementId="56">
              <name>Date Created</name>
              <description>Date of creation of the resource.</description>
              <elementTextContainer>
                <elementText elementTextId="2540">
                  <text>2003-2004</text>
                </elementText>
              </elementTextContainer>
            </element>
            <element elementId="49">
              <name>Subject</name>
              <description>The topic of the resource</description>
              <elementTextContainer>
                <elementText elementTextId="2541">
                  <text>Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado</text>
                </elementText>
              </elementTextContainer>
            </element>
            <element elementId="41">
              <name>Description</name>
              <description>An account of the resource</description>
              <elementTextContainer>
                <elementText elementTextId="2542">
                  <text>Collection of twelve biographies written by VISTA worker Michael G. Miller of prominent people in the Ignacio community. Based on interviews conducted by Miller between December 9, 2003 and March 15, 2004. Some contain the additional attribution "for the Ignacio Historical Society."</text>
                </elementText>
              </elementTextContainer>
            </element>
            <element elementId="81">
              <name>Spatial Coverage</name>
              <description>Spatial characteristics of the resource.</description>
              <elementTextContainer>
                <elementText elementTextId="2543">
                  <text>Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado</text>
                </elementText>
              </elementTextContainer>
            </element>
            <element elementId="51">
              <name>Type</name>
              <description>The nature or genre of the resource</description>
              <elementTextContainer>
                <elementText elementTextId="2544">
                  <text>Text</text>
                </elementText>
              </elementTextContainer>
            </element>
            <element elementId="37">
              <name>Contributor</name>
              <description>An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource</description>
              <elementTextContainer>
                <elementText elementTextId="2545">
                  <text>Miller, Michael G.</text>
                </elementText>
              </elementTextContainer>
            </element>
          </elementContainer>
        </elementSet>
      </elementSetContainer>
    </collection>
    <itemType itemTypeId="1">
      <name>Text</name>
      <description>A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.</description>
    </itemType>
    <elementSetContainer>
      <elementSet elementSetId="1">
        <name>Dublin Core</name>
        <description>The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.</description>
        <elementContainer>
          <element elementId="50">
            <name>Title</name>
            <description>A name given to the resource</description>
            <elementTextContainer>
              <elementText elementTextId="2556">
                <text>Annie Bettini Biography</text>
              </elementText>
            </elementTextContainer>
          </element>
          <element elementId="56">
            <name>Date Created</name>
            <description>Date of creation of the resource.</description>
            <elementTextContainer>
              <elementText elementTextId="2557">
                <text>2004-03-15</text>
              </elementText>
            </elementTextContainer>
          </element>
          <element elementId="49">
            <name>Subject</name>
            <description>The topic of the resource</description>
            <elementTextContainer>
              <elementText elementTextId="2558">
                <text>Bettini, Annie; Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado</text>
              </elementText>
            </elementTextContainer>
          </element>
          <element elementId="41">
            <name>Description</name>
            <description>An account of the resource</description>
            <elementTextContainer>
              <elementText elementTextId="2559">
                <text>Biography of Annie Bettini written by VISTA worker Michael Miller and based on an interview conducted by Miller on March, 15, 2004.</text>
              </elementText>
            </elementTextContainer>
          </element>
          <element elementId="81">
            <name>Spatial Coverage</name>
            <description>Spatial characteristics of the resource.</description>
            <elementTextContainer>
              <elementText elementTextId="2560">
                <text>Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado</text>
              </elementText>
            </elementTextContainer>
          </element>
          <element elementId="51">
            <name>Type</name>
            <description>The nature or genre of the resource</description>
            <elementTextContainer>
              <elementText elementTextId="2561">
                <text>Text</text>
              </elementText>
            </elementTextContainer>
          </element>
          <element elementId="39">
            <name>Creator</name>
            <description>An entity primarily responsible for making the resource</description>
            <elementTextContainer>
              <elementText elementTextId="2562">
                <text>Bettini, Annie</text>
              </elementText>
            </elementTextContainer>
          </element>
          <element elementId="78">
            <name>Extent</name>
            <description>The size or duration of the resource.</description>
            <elementTextContainer>
              <elementText elementTextId="2563">
                <text>6 pages</text>
              </elementText>
            </elementTextContainer>
          </element>
        </elementContainer>
      </elementSet>
    </elementSetContainer>
  </item>
  <item itemId="221" public="1" featured="0">
    <fileContainer>
      <file fileId="283">
        <src>https://voicesofignacio.cvlcollections.org/files/original/c87cfe96f50f865ce81969db59a99464.pdf</src>
        <authentication>10bab603218f4beca6714a9c2cfd002e</authentication>
        <elementSetContainer>
          <elementSet elementSetId="4">
            <name>PDF Text</name>
            <description/>
            <elementContainer>
              <element elementId="94">
                <name>Text</name>
                <description/>
                <elementTextContainer>
                  <elementText elementTextId="2546">
                    <text>Anna Mae Alires
-(Navajo)

My name is Anna Mae Alires. I was born in Shiprock, NM. I am 72 years old. I had
been in boarding school most of my life. I ended up here at the Ute Vocational School back in
1946 and graduated on my birthday in 1950. After that I worked in Durango cleaning people's
houses. Then, I got married and had a daughter, but I got divorced about a year after that. I
entered Fort. Lewis College (the old Fort Lewis in Hesperus). I lived in Durango and rode the
school bus to the college every day. I just went a couple of years there, and then I got a job at
Mercy Hospital for about a month until I applied for a job here at the Bureau of Indian Affairs
[BIA]. I was hired as secretary for the Branch of Education.
When I was going to school here it was a vocational school where we learned how to
cook, how to sew, how to be a homemaker. They boys learned farming: they took care of the
garden and the chickens, and milked the cows. In the fall they would bring in the vegetables
from the field. The girls would learn how to can. The boys would kill the chickens so that we
could learn how to clean and dress them. We learned how to cook in our home economics class.
Then, I graduated and I left. In '55 I got my job here at Bureau oflndian Affairs with Branch of
Education. I really don't remember when they integrated with the public schools. Instead of
going to school here at Ute Vocational, they started going down to the public school. We just
stayed open to let them board and room here. We took in students (Indian students) from Crown
Point area; that's in NM, and Ute Mountain. But, I enjoyed my work with Branc·h of Education.
We dealt with the children and everything, and there were some that were ornery; we'd have to
deal with them. I would have to take them home and tum them over to their parents, and their
parents would have to return them to the school. Like I say, I enjoyed that work, but then it
closed in '81, September 1981. The dorms closed entirely, and so I transferred over to Branch of
Forestry up 'til 1990. I retired from there, but while I was working for the BIA, I had a part-time
job as a dispatcher for the Southern Ute Police Department. I retired from that job on August
.-.ro23rJ~2002.

I came up here from St. Michael's in Arizona, and I really wasn't too happy there. It was
a boarding school, too. The food wasn't that great. So, when I came to Ute Vocational this gal
named Elsie Watts (she was from Ute Mountain) said, 'if you want to, you can room with me,'
because here there were two to a room. When I was at St. Michael's it was a big room with a
bunch of beds; you didn't have that much privacy. When I came here she said you can room
with me, and I went up to the room and there were only two to a room; that was really
something. And then she took me over to the dining hall. I was amazed, because the food ... I
could not believe they were serving salad, mashed potatoes, gravy, meat, and all that. It was so
different from St. Michael's. I really liked this place, because it was homier than that place. I
had fun: I was a cheerleader (Elsie and I were). And, you know Stella Santistevan? I was a
cheerleader with her sister.
I stayed, because I liked this part of the country. So, I got my jobs here and I stayed, and
all of my children were raised here. We don't know too much about our traditional way of life. I
was orphaned when I was ... When I was born, my mom died. My dad didn't want me to be
ratSed on the Navajo Reservation raising- sheep-; he didn't want me to have-a dozen kids raising

�Page 2 of 3

sheep. He wanted me to get out and get educated, to get off the reservation. This German lady,
she was on her way to take a bunch of children to Good Shepard Mission in Arizona. They
didn't have any parents and it was an orphanage. My dad was late in bringing me in and she
couldn't wait, so she took the other babies. But, when she came back I was in a room waiting for
her. She never gave me up: she kept me, raised me until I got married. I was happy to have her
take me, but I was never able to learn my language or to really learn about their traditions until
later. When I was young it didn't really interest me, but now it does. I've been reading about
the Navajo traditions and the Ute culture. I'm finding a lot on the Internet now. There is a lot on
the Internet that you can read.
We couldn't speak in our native languages at the Ute Vocational School. If you talked in
you native language, you were punished (I was punished). I did learn a few words, and one was,
'shut up.' I would say that to the instructor and I got punished. They'd make you stand in the
comer or something. But, all the time that I was going to school, we weren't really severely
treated, we weren't treated harsh or anything.
At Fort Lewis I wanted to become a secretary. I studied shorthand, typing, grammar and
al that. And, then, I had to take other courses: Western Civilization. I don't remember what
others, but I just took it long enough to where I'd be able to get a job. I didn't graduate or
anything, or get a degree.
I've got three children: one girl and two boys, and they were all raised here in Ignacio. I
have got 13 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. They're all being raised here in
Ignacio except for my youngest son's children; he moved to Cortez. That's about it, I retired and
I'm enjoying my grandchildren. I was telling my children; when I was growing up, working and
trying to raise them, I really didn't spend too much time with them. Because, they would be at
school and I would be at work, we'd do our chores, and then they'd get ready for bed.
Sometimes I took them to the movies. But, it seems like I'm spending a lot of time with my
grandchildren, and I'm really enjoying it. All parents go through that, you know? (Especially
when you're a single parent.) I've been telling my children what I went through, and I tell my
grandchildren about how it was when I was growing up. I always dept a diary, and I started
putting it on my computer. I told Tom [Anna Mae's son], 'if any of you guys are interested,
make a copy and read it.' It is a diary from when they were growing up. I would write the funny
little things they'd say. Now I'm retired, living in the Senior Center's apartments.
I had a half-sister, I didn't know here, and I knew I had brothers. When I was here in
Ignacio, at the Ute Vocational School, I found out I had a brother, and my cousin got him to
write letters to me. He couldn't speak English, so he had somebody that would write for him.
And then, all of a sudden, I didn't know what was going on. He was working in Portland, on the
railroad. Two years later, after I got married, I asked my cousin what happened to my brother.
She told me he had died in a railroad car fire. I said I didn't even know: nobody notified me.
Then I found out that I had a half-sister, and I didn't meet her until after she had children and
after I had children. There was a girl at the school here that was related to her husband, and she
came and told me that my sister is back in Shiprock. She went to school at Riverside Boarding
School. I don't remember how many years it was, but I loaded my kids up, went to Shiprock,
and found her. Her kids were-as- s-mall as- my kids-. &amp;he-doesn't know much about our father,

�Page 3 of3

because he died when I was six years old and she was three. So,she doesn't know anything
about my father. My foster mother didn't know much about my father, either. My son and I did
go down to see my cousin a couple of years ago to find out more about my family. But, she
didn't seem to know, either. She did tell us my clan name. The Navajos have clans. She told
me what clan I came from. But, I don't know any of my relatives now. One time she got me
down there to meet my grandfather. I went down to Newcomb (between Shiprock and Gallup)
and met my grandfather. But he was elderly, and he couldn't speak much English and I couldn't
speak Navajo. I remember him crying and she was translating for him. I don't know really if he
was from my mother's or father's side. I wish I had paid more attention now that I'm older.
My maiden name is Todae: on my birth certificate it's spelled T-0-D-E-A; my foster
mother spelled it T-0-D-A-E, and that's how I went. I had brothers and sisters, a few of them
died from tuberculosis; that was bad on the reservation back then. But, I didn't know them
because I was the last one born. They told me they died of tuberculosis when I was a young
child.

Interviewed by Michael G. Miller,
VISTA worker, on January 161\
2004.

�</text>
                  </elementText>
                </elementTextContainer>
              </element>
            </elementContainer>
          </elementSet>
        </elementSetContainer>
      </file>
    </fileContainer>
    <collection collectionId="8">
      <elementSetContainer>
        <elementSet elementSetId="1">
          <name>Dublin Core</name>
          <description>The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.</description>
          <elementContainer>
            <element elementId="50">
              <name>Title</name>
              <description>A name given to the resource</description>
              <elementTextContainer>
                <elementText elementTextId="2538">
                  <text>Michael Miller Interviews</text>
                </elementText>
              </elementTextContainer>
            </element>
            <element elementId="47">
              <name>Rights</name>
              <description>Information about rights held in and over the resource</description>
              <elementTextContainer>
                <elementText elementTextId="2539">
                  <text>http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/CNE/1.0/</text>
                </elementText>
              </elementTextContainer>
            </element>
            <element elementId="56">
              <name>Date Created</name>
              <description>Date of creation of the resource.</description>
              <elementTextContainer>
                <elementText elementTextId="2540">
                  <text>2003-2004</text>
                </elementText>
              </elementTextContainer>
            </element>
            <element elementId="49">
              <name>Subject</name>
              <description>The topic of the resource</description>
              <elementTextContainer>
                <elementText elementTextId="2541">
                  <text>Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado</text>
                </elementText>
              </elementTextContainer>
            </element>
            <element elementId="41">
              <name>Description</name>
              <description>An account of the resource</description>
              <elementTextContainer>
                <elementText elementTextId="2542">
                  <text>Collection of twelve biographies written by VISTA worker Michael G. Miller of prominent people in the Ignacio community. Based on interviews conducted by Miller between December 9, 2003 and March 15, 2004. Some contain the additional attribution "for the Ignacio Historical Society."</text>
                </elementText>
              </elementTextContainer>
            </element>
            <element elementId="81">
              <name>Spatial Coverage</name>
              <description>Spatial characteristics of the resource.</description>
              <elementTextContainer>
                <elementText elementTextId="2543">
                  <text>Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado</text>
                </elementText>
              </elementTextContainer>
            </element>
            <element elementId="51">
              <name>Type</name>
              <description>The nature or genre of the resource</description>
              <elementTextContainer>
                <elementText elementTextId="2544">
                  <text>Text</text>
                </elementText>
              </elementTextContainer>
            </element>
            <element elementId="37">
              <name>Contributor</name>
              <description>An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource</description>
              <elementTextContainer>
                <elementText elementTextId="2545">
                  <text>Miller, Michael G.</text>
                </elementText>
              </elementTextContainer>
            </element>
          </elementContainer>
        </elementSet>
      </elementSetContainer>
    </collection>
    <itemType itemTypeId="1">
      <name>Text</name>
      <description>A resource consisting primarily of words for reading. Examples include books, letters, dissertations, poems, newspapers, articles, archives of mailing lists. Note that facsimiles or images of texts are still of the genre Text.</description>
    </itemType>
    <elementSetContainer>
      <elementSet elementSetId="1">
        <name>Dublin Core</name>
        <description>The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.</description>
        <elementContainer>
          <element elementId="50">
            <name>Title</name>
            <description>A name given to the resource</description>
            <elementTextContainer>
              <elementText elementTextId="2547">
                <text>Anna Alires Biography</text>
              </elementText>
            </elementTextContainer>
          </element>
          <element elementId="56">
            <name>Date Created</name>
            <description>Date of creation of the resource.</description>
            <elementTextContainer>
              <elementText elementTextId="2548">
                <text>2004-01-16</text>
              </elementText>
            </elementTextContainer>
          </element>
          <element elementId="49">
            <name>Subject</name>
            <description>The topic of the resource</description>
            <elementTextContainer>
              <elementText elementTextId="2549">
                <text>Alires, Anna; Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado</text>
              </elementText>
            </elementTextContainer>
          </element>
          <element elementId="41">
            <name>Description</name>
            <description>An account of the resource</description>
            <elementTextContainer>
              <elementText elementTextId="2550">
                <text>Biography of Anna Alires written by VISTA worker Michael G. Miller and based on an interview conducted by Miller on January 16, 2004. </text>
              </elementText>
            </elementTextContainer>
          </element>
          <element elementId="81">
            <name>Spatial Coverage</name>
            <description>Spatial characteristics of the resource.</description>
            <elementTextContainer>
              <elementText elementTextId="2551">
                <text>Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado</text>
              </elementText>
            </elementTextContainer>
          </element>
          <element elementId="51">
            <name>Type</name>
            <description>The nature or genre of the resource</description>
            <elementTextContainer>
              <elementText elementTextId="2552">
                <text>Text</text>
              </elementText>
            </elementTextContainer>
          </element>
          <element elementId="39">
            <name>Creator</name>
            <description>An entity primarily responsible for making the resource</description>
            <elementTextContainer>
              <elementText elementTextId="2553">
                <text>Alires, Anna</text>
              </elementText>
            </elementTextContainer>
          </element>
          <element elementId="78">
            <name>Extent</name>
            <description>The size or duration of the resource.</description>
            <elementTextContainer>
              <elementText elementTextId="2554">
                <text>3 pages</text>
              </elementText>
            </elementTextContainer>
          </element>
        </elementContainer>
      </elementSet>
    </elementSetContainer>
  </item>
</itemContainer>
