Shared Photo: the 4 generations of my family

Question

[4 generations of my family, Im the boy in chair, my mom holding my brother, my aunt Marie Stites, my grandmother standing, and sitting is the old indian lady. My granny.With Headress, she always wore that thing.]

I wanted to share this family photo of Lillie Striplin with the community. Location: picher oklahoma 1960. Date: Apr 1961. The Headress she wears is a puzzle. Does anyone recognize the tribe. We lived in quapaw terratory, but have the trail of tears story.

Click here for the image details page.

Tidbit for census buffs. These older women are listed in the census as black. The question is, did they say black over Indian? or was it a visual judgement of the census taker? 

as children several are listed that way.  But DNA says no.. I do have like subsafrican on mothers side. But like no black slaves known. My DNA to these women, is listed in my bio.

Answer 1

WOW - are you excited, or what?  Looks like you are getting ready to jump out of the chair.

What a wonderful picture for you to have, and an interesting story to pass down your family.

I live in an area where the Pottowatomie Indians were moved off of their land, and there is a trail of tears for them also. I have read the story several times, and it has never failed to make me cry.

I really don't have an answer to your question, I just wanted to tell you that I understand the story of your grandmother, and I have empathy for the Indians that were forced off of their land and made to live on reservations. I have also read the agreement that the United States made with the Indians. Shame on the United States at that time.

God bless you and yours.

Comments

Thanks for selecting my answer, Susan.

Answer 2

What a treasure! I just love those multiple generation photos!

Comments

Best time of my life.

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The first memorys I have, is that old indian lady, chasing me around with a switch. But I knew she was blind, so I could  out run her. I must have been 2 there, so I remember when I was 3.

Answer 3

4 generations of my family (c 1935).

The little boy in front, with rubber boots, is my father, Iain Gunn.

The little girl next to him is his niece, Angela Hughes.

Behind and between them is Pat Hughes, Ian's big brother, and Angela's father. Next to Pat is his first wife, Bobby Hughes.

Next to Iain, the teenage girl is his cousin , Mary Barnish.

Behind and between Pat and Bobby is Meena Gunn, Iain and Pat's mother, and Angela's  grandmother.  Next to Meena is her sister, Wendy Wood, and next to Wendy is Battiscombe Gunn, Ian's father and Meena's (then) husband.

The back row is Stephen and Florence  Meacham; Wendy and Meena's parents; Pat, Mary and Iain's grandparents; Angela's great grandparents.

The photo was on the occasion of Charles and Florence's 50th anniversary.

Comments

You look like nice city folks. But what a big family.

We owned the house. But not the land, IIndians owned it and leased to them for 1 buck a year. The baby in my photo has that baby. That is william Hughes. My half brother.

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They are not all in the picture.  Wendy had two daughters, Corra and Irallee.  Mary's mother, Bell,   had died earlier.  Wendy and Meena also had a brother, Alan, who had emigrated to Australia, and had  large family of his own.

Answer 4

What a picture. I love the people. I also like the refrigerator. Do you remember them? I bet that cute little bugger hamming it up for the camera never imagined how important the picture would become more than 50 years later. Why should he?? I mean he is having so much fun for the camera. Thank you for sharing a picture of your wonderful family.

Supposedly there is Native American blood in my tree My father's sister's father-in-law may have married a woman that was half (at least part) Native American. It is very difficult to discover and the usual sources do not appear to give much assistance. I did come across a will from somewhere in that family and he acknowledged interracial marriages but did not say what race his daughters married. There was no race mentioned in any of the census after that. I wish I could help more but if I find  any type of information I will be glad to pass it on.