https://voicesofignacio.cvlcollections.org/files/original/916af43c187df0eaf773b6952c3f636b.pdf 7f3432fb882b67ba845f5c344e8c03c9 PDF Text Text (MARY) ADA (Russell) RABBITT KENT Ada Russell was born in a tepee at Breen, Colorado, in 1893. Her father, John Russell, was a member of the Moache Band of Utes. Her mother, Mary (Ada is not certain of her name), died when Ada was very young. Ada had five brothers and one sister, her identical twin. After their mother died, the family began selling the land at Breen. In the legal transactions the names of the twins were reversed. Ada originally was named Mary, but in the documents was called Ada and Ada was called Mary. Rather than disrupt the legality of the land documents, the family decided to continue calling Mary, Ada, and Ada, Mary. A short time later the original Ada died. So the original Mary, now called Ada, has preserved her sister's name for 84 years. Ada came to the Indian School at Ignacio, which she attended for 2-3 years. On a trip back to Breen, when Ada was about 10, she fell from a horse, striking her head on a rock. Shortly afterward she began to lose her vision. She was sent away to several hospitals during the next 2 years. When she was home, one of the medicine men, a sun-dance chief named Cumada, treated her. She credits him more than the hospitals for bringing a full recovery of her sight. John Russell sold the remainder of his land at Breen and moved to a farm just north of the present cluster homes north of Ignacio. Edna Russell and Sarah Pinnecoose are Ada's half sisters from her dad's 2nd marriage. Ada lived in Dulce for 5 years. She enjoyed the train rides between Lumberton and Breen. In 1911 Ada married Graves Stone Kent. His land was several miles east of Ignacio, where the Kents still live. The Kents raised cattle, chickens and horses. They gathered and dried wild herbs and wild potatoes for winter. The government supplied dried rice and beans. Winters were much worse in those days. Snow would pile halfway up the windows. The winter Isabel was born, Ada says, "You couldn't even see the fencepost." During the early years the mortality rate among all people was high. Many of Ada's relatives died of whooping cough and pneumonia. The Kent children who survived to adulthood are Bonny, Katy Seal, Ida, and Isabel. Four of the others died of the flu in 1918. Some died without names because it was not the custom to give official names to the little ones until they were enrolled in the tribe. Shortly after Ada and Graves were married, they started on a trip to Breen. Before they got far, a man came running up to them carrying a tiny, crying baby which he had found deserted in the woods. Ada could tell the little girl was no more than 1 or 2 days old and starving. She took the baby and began thinking how to feed her. The solution was rather ingenious. They returned home, caught a nanny goat and having no bottle or nipple, washed the teats of the goat and let the baby suckle it. She drank greedily. They took their live milk machine with them in the wagon to Breen and got along just fine. Ada soon figured out the baby was the illegitimate child of one of her grandfather's relatives. She raised little Annie (Ada doesn't tell her last name) until she was old enough to go to boarding school. "I went from the goat to the bottle with my own children," Ada says. "I raised my own, part of my grandchildren and never asked any pay because I love children." 92 �,..., ,..., 'l ~ 'J ,..., "My father and grandparents always taught me never to argue or fight with my husband and not to talk about him behind his back. I did what they said and we were happy. That is why it was so hard to lose him when he died." ) J ) ") ) ) ") Ada remembers how people were never alone with their work in the old days. They helped one another plant, plow and harvest. They traded and shared their food so that no one was without the necessities. Ada conceded that life today, though it is very different, is nice because it is a lot easier. She is very grateful to have lived long enough to see her grandchildren and her greatgrandchildren. J She added, "I've never been in jail and never been drunk in my life." We believe her! Ada has been a responsible, good person all her life, the kind of person who helps build up a community and leaves good memories of themselves. ) By Shelby Smith, Translated by Phoebe Cloud in December, 1977 ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) . ) _) J ..J J -.J ,.J ,.J -.J ...) J -.J J J -.J J ...J ..) 93 � 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 Ada Rabbit (Russell) Kent Biography Date Created Date of creation of the resource. 1977-12 Subject The topic of the resource Kent, Ada Rabbitt (Russell); Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Description An account of the resource Biography of Ada Rabbitt (Russell) Kent based on an interview conducted by Shelby Smith on December, 1977. Included in the book "Oral Histories of the Southern Pine River Valley" by Shelby Smith. Spatial Coverage Spatial characteristics of the resource. Ignacio, Colorado; Southwest Colorado Type The nature or genre of the resource Text Creator An entity primarily responsible for making the resource Kent, Ada Rabbitt (Russell) 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; Cloud, Phoebe