Elizabeth Bender Roe Cloud
Elizabeth Bender Roe Cloud | |
---|---|
Equay Zaince | |
Born | Elizabeth Georgiana Bender April 2, 1887 White Earth Indian Reservation, in northwestern Minnesota |
Died | September 16, 1965 | (aged 78)
Nationality | American |
Other names | Elizabeth Roe-Cloud, Elizabeth Bender Cloud, Elizabeth G. Bender |
Occupation(s) | activist, educator, Native American club woman |
Years active | 1908–1958 |
Spouse | Henry Roe Cloud (m. June 1916) |
Children | 6; including Woesha Cloud North |
Relatives | Chief Bender (brother) Renya K. Ramirez (granddaughter) |
Elizabeth Bender Roe Cloud (April 2, 1887 – September 16, 1965) was an
Early life
Elizabeth Georgiana Bender (native name: Equay Zaince)
Bender attended boarding schools in Minnesota, beginning her studies at around age nine at the Catholic Sisters School in St. Joseph, Minnesota. After her first year, she transferred to the Catholic Sisters School closer to home, in White Earth, for another year. Between 1898 and 1902,[11] she took courses at the Pipestone Boarding School for half a day and then performed manual labor for the other half-day.[12] She went on to join her sister Anna and further her education at the normal school of the Hampton Institute in 1903.[13][14] Both she and her sister Anna participated in the work-away summer programs, where they were paid for performing domestic services. In 1904, they were placed in separate houses near Boston, which allowed them to spend time together, as well as making a trip to watch their brother Chief play baseball.[15] Completing her studies in 1907, she remained at Hampton taking post-graduate courses in teaching and domestic science.[14][16][15]
Career
In 1908, Bender was sent to the
The couple made their home in Wichita, where Elizabeth worked at the American Indian Institute (AII), serving as matron and financial manager.
In 1940, the family relocated to the
Roe Cloud used her voice as an advocate for indigenous people, arguing that though Native Americans could learn self-sufficiency, the government had to cease efforts to victimize tribes by usurping their power, their natural resources, and their customs. She proposed a Charter of Indian Rights, developed in the AID Project to the GFWC, which was adopted in 1952. In part, the plan called for the government to speed up its efforts to help tribes eliminate poverty and illiteracy, provide adequate health and resource safeguards, and allow Native communities the autonomy to manage their own affairs once they had shown an ability to do so.[44] She saw the role of the AID Project as one of advising and assisting in developing strategy, but allowing communities to establish their own goals and management processes.[45] That same year, she was selected as the "Outstanding Indian" of the year by the American Indian Exposition of Anadarko, Oklahoma.[46] When Helen Peterson became the executive director of NCAI in 1953, Roe Cloud helped her transition into the job and took her to reservations throughout Indian country to make assessments of the various tribes and establish networking contacts.[47] With the passage of House concurrent resolution 108, designed to implement the Indian termination policy to discharge federal trustee responsibility for Indian lands and force the tribes into assimilating to mainstream culture, Roe Cloud pressed the GFWC to oppose legislation aimed at terminating tribes.[48] The GFWC leadership joined the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Legion, other organizations, and the Native American community in opposition to termination, ultimately defeating the policy in the 1960s.[49]
Death and legacy
Roe Cloud died on September 16, 1965, in Portland, Oregon.[50] Her ability to straddle two worlds, during the contentious decades of the Indian termination policies, allowed her to serve as a role model for generations which followed her activism. Rather than adopt the position of GFWG's first Indian Welfare Committee Chair, Stella Atwood, who backed American Indian rights, but proclaimed, "I will work for the Indians but not with them," Roe Cloud tried to involve indigenous people in creating their own solutions and reforms.[42][51] Her daughter, Anne Woesha, would become an activist after her mother's death, participating in the Occupation of Alcatraz.[52]
Notes
- ^ Elizabeth Roe Cloud's allotment number was 556, as shown on the 1930 Chippewa Census.[1] This allotment number is identical with that assigned to Equay Zaince on the Minnesota Historical Society Records.[2]
- ^ Tetzloff gives Bender's birth date April 2, 1887.[3] This conflicts with the date of July 1888 shown on the 1900 census;[4] but all of the dates on the 1900 census for the Bender siblings do not conform to other published dates. For example, Anna's birth date in Molin is given as February 22, 1885[5] and Chief's birth date in Kashatus is given as May 5, 1884.[6]
References
Citations
- ^ Chippewa Census 1930, p. 562.
- ^ Minnesota Historical Society 2011, p. 12.
- ^ a b c Tetzloff 2009, p. 80.
- ^ a b U. S. Census 1900, p. 5B.
- ^ a b c Molin 1988, p. 94.
- ^ a b Kashatus 2006, p. 5.
- ^ Chippewa Census 1896, p. 197.
- ^ a b Indianapolis Recorder 1950, p. 9.
- ^ Swift 2008, p. 165.
- ^ Kashatus 2006, p. 150.
- ^ Tetzloff 2009, p. 81.
- ^ Molin 1988, p. 95.
- ^ a b Gridley 1936, p. 34.
- ^ a b c d Messer 2009, p. 93.
- ^ a b Molin 1988, p. 97.
- ^ a b c d e Nesper 2014.
- ^ Tetzloff 2009, pp. 84–85.
- ^ a b Messer 2009, p. 94.
- ^ a b The Red Lake News 1915, p. 2.
- ^ Messer 2009, p. 95.
- ^ The Wichita Beacon 1921, p. 12.
- ^ Tihen 2002, pp. 2–3.
- ^ Tetzloff 2009, pp. 85–86.
- ^ The Native American 1916, p. 240.
- ^ Messer 2009, pp. 94, 102.
- ^ Tetzloff 2009, p. 90.
- ^ Messer 2009, p. 108.
- ^ Messer 2009, p. 107.
- ^ Tetzloff 2009, p. 91.
- ^ a b Tetzloff 2009, pp. 92–93.
- ^ Goodwin 2017, p. 69.
- ^ Tihen 2002, p. 3.
- ^ Tetzloff 2009, pp. 94–95.
- ^ Goodwin 2017, p. 71.
- ^ U. S. Census 1940, p. 2B.
- ^ Tetzloff 2009, p. 95.
- ^ Tetzloff 2009, p. 78.
- ^ a b Tetzloff 2009, p. 97.
- ^ Tetzloff 2009, p. 99.
- ^ Tetzloff 2009, pp. 97, 99.
- ^ a b Tetzloff 2009, p. 100.
- ^ a b Tetzloff 2009, p. 104.
- ^ Tetzloff 2009, p. 101.
- ^ Tetzloff 2009, p. 102.
- ^ Goodwin 2017, p. 97.
- ^ The Ada Weekly News 1952, p. 6.
- ^ Cowger 1999, p. 110.
- ^ Tetzloff 2009, pp. 102–103.
- ^ Tetzloff 2009, p. 103.
- ^ Statesman Journal 1965, p. 5.
- ^ Goodwin 2017, p. 120.
- ^ Tetzloff 2009, p. 105.
Bibliography
- Cowger, Thomas W. (1999). The National Congress of American Indians : the founding years. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. ISBN 0-8032-1502-9.
- Goodwin, John A. (April 2017). "Without Destroying Ourselves": American Indian Intellectual Activism for Higher Education, 1915–1978 (PDF) (PhD). Tempe, Arizona: Arizona State University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 August 2017. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
- Gridley, Marion Eleanor (1936). Indians of Today. Crawfordsville, Indiana: Lakeside Press, R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company. OCLC 2958703.
- Kashatus, William C. (2006). Money Pitcher: Chief Bender and the Tragedy of Indian Assimilation. University Park, Pennsylvania: Penn State Press. ISBN 0-271-02862-9.
- Messer, David W. (2009). Henry Roe Cloud: A Biography. Lanham, Maryland: Hamilton Books. ISBN 978-0-7618-4919-3.
- Molin, Paulette Fairbanks (Fall 1988). ""Training the hand, the head, and the heart": Indian Education at Hampton Institute" (PDF). Minnesota History. 51 (3). St. Paul, Minnesota: ISSN 0190-6348. Archived from the original(PDF) on 20 October 2012. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
- Nesper, Larry (2014). "The Society of American Indians Fourth Annual Meeting". Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies. Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin–Madison. Archived from the original on 9 March 2017. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
- Swift, Tom (2008). Chief Bender's Burden: The Silent Struggle of a Baseball Star. Lincoln, Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press. p. 165. ISBN 978-0-8032-4322-4.
- Tetzloff, Lisa (2009). "Elizabeth Bender Cloud: "Working For and With Our Indian People"". 's Academic Search Complete (subscription required)
- Tihen, Edward N., ed. (2002). "Tihen Notes: Henry Roe Cloud, American Indian Institute, Roe Indian Institute" (PDF). Wichita State University Libraries’ Department of Special Collections. Wichita, Kansas: Wichita State University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 June 2010. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
- "1896 Census: White Earth Mississippi Chippewa". Archive.org. Washington, D. C.: National Archives and Records Administration. 26 August 1896. p. 197. NARA microfilm series T595 roll 652. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
- "1900 U.S. Census: White Earth Indian Reservation, Polk County (Becker), Minnesota". FamilySearch. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. 6 June 1900. p. 5B. NARA microfilm series T623 roll 798. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
- "1930 Census: White Earth Consolidated Chippewa". Archive.org. Washington, D. C.: National Archives and Records Administration. 1 April 1930. p. 562. NARA microfilm series T595 roll 65. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
- "1940 U.S. Census: Umatilla Indian Reservation, Precinct #16, Umatilla County, Oregon". FamilySearch. Washington, D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration. 9 April 1940. p. 2B. NARA microfilm series T627 roll 3380. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
- "Indian Citizenship Day at Hampton Institute". Ada, Oklahoma: The Ada Weekly News. 21 August 1952. p. 6. Retrieved 10 August 2017 – via
- "Bender-Cloud". The Native American. 17 (13). Phoenix, Arizona: Phoenix Indian School: 240. July 1, 1916. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
- "Hampton Grad, 'Mother of 1950' Visits Campus". Indianapolis, Marion County, Indiana: Indianapolis Recorder. 10 June 1950. p. 9. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
- "Indian Citizenship Day at Hampton Institute". Red Lake, Minnesota: The Red Lake News. 1 March 1915. p. 2. Retrieved 9 August 2017 – via
- "Noted Educator Born in Wigwam". Wichita, Kansas:
- "Roe Cloud Rites Set for Monday".
- "U.S. General Land Office. Crookston Land District—Register of Indian Allotment Entries Under the Nelson Act: White Earth Reservation" (PDF). MNHS Library. St. Paul, Minnesota: Minnesota Historical Society. 2011. p. 12. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 September 2015. Retrieved 9 August 2017.