https://voicesofignacio.cvlcollections.org/files/original/fd11b908dbaf557a5e51d82217620de1.pdf 6f36d48b8f8bd2a849449e26823e2645 PDF Text Text ED AND EVA (Silva) COOK Basswood Lake on the Canadian Border in Minnesota is the traditional home of the Ft. Bois Band of the Chippewas. The band has lived there as long as anyone remembers. Edward James Cook was born there in 1907. His parents, Joseph Cook and Mary Defoe Cook lived in a log house in a small village near the lake. Edward, Sr. could have maintained a simple life at the lake, but he had different ambitions. The Duluth and Iron Railroad has branch lines to the lumber camp near the reservation. Edward, Sr. went to work for the railroad. By the time Ed, Jr. was old enough .to be interested in trains, his father was an engineer. "Many times I rode in the cab of the steam engine with my father. He'd take a load of logs to the junction of the main line, then back to the lumber camp." But once back home the Indian ways prevailed. The Chippewas practiced a seminomadic life. Each family in the village had a log house which they used in the winter. But in summer, they each brought out a tepee and headed for the woods. A choice of many beautiful campsites was available and became the subject of much debating and speculation among the clan. The clan moved several times each summer according to the whim of the leaders as to the availability of fruits, nuts, berries, etc. (Lakes, ponds, streams, meadows, and deep woods were the options). Each season of the year the north woods offered their bounty .. Fruits and berries in the summer, nuts, and wild rice in fall, deer and moose to hunt all year round and maple sugar in the spring. "I can remember my grandmother boiling the maple syrup in a large iron kettle. She made sugar cakes and regular sugar - all good. In the summer time, if someone killed a moose, he would invite the whole band (5-6 families) to come share the meat. The whole bunch would move their camp to the site of the kill, butcher the animal and begin a feast with dancing and celebrating. Any meat remaining would be smoked and dried and distributed among the families." At six years of age little Ed was sent to the B.I.A. school at Pipestone, Minn. Through the years he attended a number of schools in Minnesota and South Dakota. In 1918 the flu epidemic hit the reservation hard, but since Ed's school was in an isolated area, the students escaped the epidemic. When Ed was a young man, he came to Towaoc, Colorado, to visit his sister, Tina Ulibarri. When a job came available, Ed took it and decided to stay. The B.I.A. sent him away to Diesel School so that he could operate electric power plants on the reservations. However, the most interesting thing Ed encountered at Towaoc was not a new job, but a young lady named Eva Silva. "I was a lonely bachelor and Eva was an available young working woman. We began dating and going to the movies in Cortez. Before long we decided to get married," Maria Eva Silva is the daughter of Eliseo Silva, a Santa Clara Indian and Henrietta Johnson Silva, a Southern Ute (Henrietta's Indian name was Cora.) Eva was born at her parent's home on Red Mesa in 1915. Eliseo was a hard-working, ambitious farmer. He raised wheat, hay, and all the family food -- vegetables, turkeys, chickens, pigs, geese, 36 �r') -, 'l 'J -, l J ' J ..., ) ) ) } ) ' ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) cattle, etc. San Juan and Plata, Eva's grandparents, lived nearby. Their English names were Samuel and Phoebe Johnson. "We had a beautiful life there," Eva remembers. "In those days the La Plata was a large river (before so much irrigation water was taken from it.) We played in the meadows and under the trees by the river. It was a peaceful and beautiful life. Whenever my dad wanted to visit his family, he hitched one team to the covered wagon and the other to the buggy. We followed the La Plata River to Farmington, then to Blanco where we forded the San Juan, across country to Regina, then to Coyote , and Abiquiu and on to Santa Clara. The trip required several days. We took plenty of supplies. I clearly remember the blue enamel kerosene heater Dad used to heat the wagon if it got too cold at night. The feasts at Santa Clara were wonderful. First there was a Mass, then a procession, then Indian dancing and feasting. Visitors could go into any house to eat." In 1918 this idyllic way of life was interrupted. Eva's mother and grandmother both died in the flu epidemic. A Mexican couple came to share the work on the farm and to take care of the children. When they left, Kitty Cloud came to help take care of the children. In 1920 Eliseo died of appendicitis. Eva and her two brothers were sent to the boarding school at Towaoc. In the summers they came back to Breen to stay with their uncle, Henry Johnson, on the farm. When Eva was 14, she moved to La Boca to live with her cousin Margaret Wright. Soon afterward she was sent to the vocational school at Albuquerque. Curtis Cutthair, Nettie Unca Sam and Nettie Burch Frost were all there. After she finished school at Albuquerque, Eva returned to Towaoc and was working in the hospital when she met Ed. Ed and Eva were married in 1936. Ed's career with the Indian service took him to many locations during the next 32 years. Shiprock, Toadelena, Window Rock, and finally back to Shiprock. Eva recalls, "I enjoyed living among the Navajo. I know there was an enmity between the Utes and the Navajos a long time ago, but I liked those people." _) J _) _) J J J Eva serves as chairperson of the Board of the Southern Ute Public Housing Authority. Ed keeps himself busy maintaining a beautiful yard and garden. At least they do these things when they are not traveling, which they do often. Marvin has sent Ed and Eva plane tickets to come spend Christmas with him and his family in California. We wish them a Merry Christmas and long and happy lives. December, 1976 -- SHELBY SMITH _) J J J J J J J J J J 37 � Dublin Core 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/. Title A name given to the resource Shelby Smith Interviews Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource https://rightsstatements.org/page/NoC-NC/1.0/?language=en Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1973-1980 Subject The topic of the resource Ignacio; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Collection of biographies, predominantly of residents from the Ignacio Senior Center, based on interviews conducted by Shelby Smith from approximately 1973 to 1980. The abridged interviews were originally published as individual entries in The Thoughtful Years newsletter, published by the Ignacio Senior Center, beginning in 1973. They were later published as a whole in Smith's book: Oral Histories of the Southern Pine River Valley, from which the original scans in this collection have been derived. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smith, Shelby Text 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. Dublin Core 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/. Title A name given to the resource Ed Cook and Eva (Silva) Cook Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1976-12 Subject The topic of the resource Cook, Ed; Cook, Eva (Silva); Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Biography of Ed Cook and Eva (Silva) Cook based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith. Originally included in the December, 1976 issue of "The Thoughtful Years" newsletter published by the Ignacio Senior Center. Later included in the book "Oral Histories of the Southern Pine River Valley" by Shelby Smith. Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Cook, Ed; Cook, Eva (Silva) Extent The size or duration of the resource. 2 pages Rights Information about rights held in and over the resource http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NKC/1.0/ Contributor An entity responsible for making contributions to the resource Smith, Shelby