Eddie Joe lived about an hours ride on a well travelled wooded trail. He was the son of Ida Jones and Willie Smith. Ida and Willie had adopted Eddie Joe from Ida's older sister Sally. Sally already had 5 kids and Ida had none so it was just the thing to do. It is a custom that is very common in this part of the world. No one seems to go through any legal entanglements and everyone knows whom everyone is. No surprises later in life.
Their cabin was not as nice as the one we have and not as well kept. Ida and Willie have more important things to do, like make sure they have enough food on hand to get through the winter and are able to stretch their state dividend check far enough to buy ammunition, gasoline and things like that till the next dividend check or the Indian Corporation money comes in from the yearly profit sharing.
Ida and Willie were very hospitable and welcomed me as a long lost cousin. Eddie Joe and I talked for awhile just to get to know each other. I soon learned that Eddie Joe was pretty well versed in English and math. He did not know a whole lot about government or history other than his tribes history but even then only locally. His former teacher had left me notes about Eddie Joe and they were very accurate.
I gave him his assignment for next week along with my email address and told him if he needed any guidance along the way to please contact me.
I asked Willie about how to get to my next stop and he showed me on the map and put aside my fears that the map may not be all that accurate. After a cup of tea and a biscuit we bid farewell. My next stop was to be Sally and Sara Meaghan, the twins. It was another hour away.
No comments:
Post a Comment