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Lora E. and Eleanor Tom, Cedar Band
- Utah State University Press
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75 It’s appropriate that this interview takes place in a conference room dominated by a painted portrait of Isaac Haight, one of the prime perpetrators of the Mountain Meadows Massacre. As chairwoman of the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, Lora became deeply involved with resolving the massacre’s ongoing issues, most importantly the cover-up story blaming the Southern Paiute. She organized a three-day conference of elders to specifically address those issues and delivered a pointed speech at the commemorations of the one hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the massacre, which received a standing ovation. She met with LDS President Gordon Hinckley to begin seeking resolution. Through all this, her mother, Eleanor, was by her side. They are inseparable. eleanor: I learned to read from the comic books. I used to go up there to the dump every morning, me and other Indian girls. We’d take our little sacks and wait for each dump. We’d stay there all day, digging. Sometimes I’d find something good to eat and take it home. That’s how I got my shoes and clothes. I think all the Indians lived like that. Sometimes I’d find old comic books. Little Lulu was my favorite. I’d look at them over and over, over and over. I’d see what that little guy was doing and I’d figure it out. I remember going from door to door with my little sack with my gramma and begging . I remember not having enough food. People would give us bread, whatever they could share with me and my grams. lora: Anger doesn’t get you anywhere. It affects your health: high blood pressure, ulcers, a bunch of things. What I see when I go to meetings with other tribes is that we all share the same losses, the same problems: alcoholism, suicide, apathy. I can’t make things right for the older people; I can’t make it right for them. But what I can change is the attitudes with the younger people. I have to focus on them. I listen to my mom, the stories she tells me about hate. Same as anger; it’s not good to hate. To lead, I need to be healthy; I need to have a positive attitude. But I’ll always remember the hard times they went through, not having enough to eat. I remember going on a picnic and watching my mom eat a watermelon all the way down. We’d ask why she’d eat it all, and she said she had to. She’d just get one piece as a kid. It breaks my heart. It’s just watermelon. She didn’t have that. Eleanor Tom cedar band, born 1942 Lora E. Tom cedar band, born 1963 76 eleanor: To the young: go get your education. Go to school. Go to college. That way you’ll be able to go forward. I want to see the young children grow up and graduate. Be somebody . I’m just a gramma and a mommy. I didn’t have that education. I never finished grade school. I went to seventh grade once. Just sat there and looked, pretended I knew what was going on. If I had an education, I’d be in an office bossing people around. Not making beds. That’s what I did to bring bread into the house, do the dirty work. My husband is the same way. Digging ditch. Odd jobs. We’re not educated. To us, it’s a job, but we’re proud of our work. I have five beautiful children, a beautiful husband who cares for me, and six grandkids. lora: Way back they didn’t have women leaders. We sat back and listened. It changed when Geneal [Anderson, previous PITU chairwoman] came on. The people looked up to her because she was always fighting for her people, always standing up for her people. To have Geneal or others, as Gloria Bulletts-Benson, Marguerite Teller, Beverly Snow, and Claudia “Dee” Benn, these women have a strong voice and heart. It continues and I see it in the younger women. You just show them you believe in them. Whether it’s raising a family or serving your tribe, it’s just a matter of having confidence in yourself. For me it wasn’t a radical change; I was lucky and it was natural. I always had the support of my family. eleanor: When I asked Gramma what she...