Funding for the digitization of this title was provided by the 2016 Spalding County SPLOST via the Flint River Regional Library System.
About Griffin daily news. (Griffin, Ga.) 1924-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 11, 1977)
Page 16 — Griffin Daily News Thursday, August 11,1977 Despite scorn Kickapoos cling to freedom By Tom Tiede EAGLE PASS, Texas - (NEA) — The Apaches are tourism entrepreneurs, the Crow lease land to coal com panies. the Sioux are heavy into politics But there is one Indian tribe that has refused to go the way of the 20th cen tury: the Kickapoo. perhaps the most traditional and in dependent Native Americans left on the continent Kickapoos 9 Fictionalized by cartoonist Al Capp as drunken bums with a crazed eye for the ladies of "Li'l Abner," the tribe in fact lives in a Dogpatch of sorts. The In dians are migrant workers who camp here during the harvest months in a card board shantytown under the international bridge; Moonbeam McSwine would love the filth Yet if their campsite is soil ed, their heritage isn't. The Kickapoo have constituted a sovereign nation since before ■ UjCAL F 4 - * wmS&iSkN 8 * “ Wflflflflß* - MANY EAGLE PASS residents deplore the annual immigration of the Kickapoos. They point with contempt to the tribe's cluttered, substandard campsite, and residents periodically petition authorities to have it leveled. Doc Cook’s lean & T-Shirt Shop 206 E. Solomon JEANS STARTING AT T-SHIRTS -—e AS LONG OS* AS THEY LAST Y’ALL COME! The Furniture Shop 123 N. Hill St., Downtown Griffin GOING OUT OF BUSINESS SALE CONTINUES Until The Entire Inventory Is Sold At Some Price FINAL REDUCTIONS NOW IN PROGRESS Unbelievable Values Until All Stock Is Open LIQUIDATED I Wednesdaysj NO REASONABLE OFFER REFUSED DON’T WAIT - Choose from our selection of famous BRAND NAME FURNITURE. Quasar Color Consoles & Portable T.V.’s, Litton Microwave Ovens, Freezers, Speed Queen Washers & Dryers. Priced To Move - Most Prices Below Wholesale - Dealers Welcome Excellent Selections For Each Room - - - But Quantities Are Limited. Don't Miss The Best Furniture Values Ever! on a first ■■■■■HHHMBI Delivery will be II I *fl 3 |II I | |fl | T || I available a nominal to scheduling, ☆ Budget financing will - be available R^flgj^^;flK-Tl warranty. the birth of the United States. Even now they're not recognized as U.S. citizens, nor are they subjects of Mex ico. where they spend much of their time. They are autonomous, self governing — "free." as they put it. The freedom did not come easily. Though the Kickapoo began as Algonquian stock in the area of America’s Great Lakes, wars and aggression forced them into a nomadic life. Tribal historians say many of the aggressors were frontier white men; at the time of the American Revolu tion. Kickapoos were so dis gusted with settlers they sided with the British Defeated by greater numbers, the Kickapoo tried to put permanent roots in the Oklahoma of a century ago. But they did not meld with other Indians who were for saking the past as a concilia tion to suspicious whites. The Kickapoo say they were told to change their primitive religious beliefs; instead, they found their way to Mexico. It was a raw time in Mexico then The Texas revolution had just ended, the govern ment changed virtually with the bed sheets, and the northern plains were wild and unprotected. Thus the Kickapoo formed a contract with the functionaries; in return for 9,000 acres of land in the state of Coahuila, they would stand guard against U.S raiding parties. But the tribe did not wholly abandon its native land Even then members would regular ly migrate north looking for better wages. Today they come up each spring, in numbers approaching 500, to work on farms from Califor nia to Florida; they use the in ternational bridge as a staging area, and return home again in late September. Not everyone appreciates the annual coming of the Kickapoo. Eagle Pass merchants belittle them as moochers. Others here deplore the fact that many of them are eligible for food stamps Also there is extreme contempt for the tribe’s fragile campsite; it is a festering eyesore and residents are forever asking that it be leveled Unwelcome as they may be, however, the Kickapoo can’t be barred from the U.S. Both this country and Mexico have granted the tribe eternal rights of passage" over the border. When they cross, often in long caravans of an cient pickup trucks, they are not required to submit to any formalities; even Customs will not normally detain them. Once here, the Kickapoo are expected to observe criminal laws, but not civil ones. Workers need no social securi ty cards, new babies are not recorded by the bureaucracy, children are not required to attend school. “The govern ment leaves them alone," says Eagle Pass welfare of ficer John Stockley, “and that's how it should be." Alone, the Kickapoo prac tice religious and social customs that date to antiqui ty. Stockley says they have a monistic theology tied to nature. "Religion permeates their lives. Even when they build a house their religion tells them when to do it, how to do it. and where; the specifics of it. however, are known only to them." The Kickapoo keep their secrets for good reason Chief George Whitewater says the tribe would deteriorate if it advertised. So all cermonies are off limits to non-Indians actually, whites may not visit Kickapoo camps at anytime without permission; also, mixed marriage is forbidden; Kickapoos must be at least 75 per cent pure. The Kickapoo are not ab solutely opposed to moder nization They own vehicles, some wear sunglasses, and if electricity were available the tribe would no doubt be watching television As for Chief Whitewater, he is not a chief bul a retired Air Force sergeant from Kansas whose title is given in recognition of his formal education. And too. the Kickapoo may be about to undergo additional updating The state legislature has recently recognized the Indians as the "Traditional Kickapoo Tribe of Texas.' which means money will now be ap propriated for their seasonal welfare. Some observers fear that regular aid will spoil the independence of the obscure people. But for now. particularly in matters of the spirit, the Kickapoo remain remarkably like their fathers. Most speak only Indian dialect, the tribe has an official shaman, and the old ways are iron law. Also, says Chief Whitewater, the white man is kept at bay, because: "If they get close, we will be absorbed, and if we become like them we ll be lost.” ■ft ■'•■t -— rn '■■■ ' ~ /fl T Kx «t > IWWBr fl a a MR. AND MRS. GRIFFIN Couple celebrates 64th anniversary Mr. and Mrs. J.M. Griffin were honored by their children with an informal open house in celebration of their 64th wed ding anniversary. Mr. and Mrs. Griffin were married August 10, 1913 at Pell City, Ala. At the celebration, the table was covered with a white lace cloth and was decorated with an arrangement of red and white carnations and red candles. Spring flowers were used as decoration throughout the receiving room. A 2-tiered, white cake was trimmed with red roses and featured a bride and groom in a love seat on top. Cake, punch, nuts and mints were served to the many friends who called. Mr. and Mrs. Griffin have 2 surviving children, Albert E. Griffin and Mrs. Dan Harris, Prizewinner looks back on career NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) - Robert Penn Warren, the only Pulitizer Prize winner in both fiction and poetry, says he gets little benefit from critiques of his work — even the good ones. “I’ve been in this business a long time. Bad reviews are never useful and some are counterproductive. I don’t mind them; they’re more of a nui sance than anything else,” he said. “A good one can provoke just as much contempt if it’s writ ten by a stupid simpleton,” he added. “They’re just more con venient, that’s all.” Warren, a professor emeritus at Yale University with homes in Fairfield, Conn., and Ver mont, discussed his work recently in conjunction with the publication of his novel, “A Place to Come Home To.” The Kentucky-born author, now 72 .ays he doesn’t build up challenges to meet in his re maining years. “I don’t think that way. I just think about the next poem or the next novel and when I’ll be able to get to it.” He said he had written two poems in the past three weeks. Writing has been an uneven activity for him. He said he had scrapped many story ideas because they were unmana geable and left three novels un finished after he “lost contact with them.” Many younger writers lack the perseverance to stick with an idea until they either have given it their best or have re jected it, Warren said. “Too many writers today are more concerned with the cock tail circuit and fat bank ac counts than with the actual writing,” he claimed. I both of Griffin, They also have 8 grandchildren and 5 great grandchildren. The Facts On An Individual Retirement Account Griffin Federal Pays 7 % % On Your IRA Open Your Account With The Savings Specialists! Griffin Federal Savings & Loan Association 10th & Taylor St. South Mulberry St. Griffin Jackson Records Listeners wild about Eubie By MARY CAMPBELL AP Newsfeatures Writer Eubie Blake, the ragtime pia nist and composer, knows how to wow an audience. He tells them he wrote “The Charleston Rag” in 1899 and then he plays it, showing it’s no slouch of a song and he’s no slouch of a player. Then he announces some song he wrote just a week or two ago and he plays it, and it’s no slouch of a song either. He writes songs every day, even now at 94, Blake says. “I don’t know how to do anything else. My mother used to say, 'Little Wally’ that’s what she called me, ‘do such and such — oh, never mind, you’d do it wrong! ’ All I knew was to play the piano.” But Blake doesn’t sit at the piano to write songs; he thinks of melodies in his head and writes them down. Then he works out orchestrations on the piano. “My teachers taught me that if you go to the piano to write melodies you’ll write them pianistically. And it has got to be very smooth.” On a recent evening, Blake and his wife Marian took anoth er couple to see “Unsung Cole” off-Broadway in New York and then on to supper at Michael’s Pub where trumpeter Ruby Brass was playing. Brass, seeing them come in, imme diately swung into Blake’s “You’re Lucky to Me.” Blake recalled that when he and lyricist Andy Razaf were working on “Blackbirds of 1930" for Broadway, Razaf gave him that title and told Blake to write the melody. “He thought I’d go to the piano, but I never do that. I bet him I could write the melody in half an hour. It took me 40 minutes —a 64-bar verse and 32-bar chorus.” His long-time lyricist and partner, Noble Sissle, was col lege-educated and could read music, Blake says, but Razaf couldn’t. “I’d play a melody for him, with one finger, on the pi ano, four bars at a time. He’d write the lyrics down. I never saw him, in my lifetime, to rub a line out. He might have with Fats Waller (as on ‘Honey suckle Rose’), but not with me.” The first of five Broadway shows for which Blake wrote music was with Sissle. The two had been partners since 1915 in Blake’s native Baltimore. Sissle had come there from In dianapolis and replaced Frank Brown, whose wife thought he was just too handsome to trust to the vaudeville stage and ef fected his retirement. Blake calls Sissle “a great singing actor,” although he be came better known later as a lyricist. Blake moved to New York to join conductor James Reese Europe, who wanted a pianist who could play any song that might be requested. Eu rope wanted Sissle and Blake to write a show for Broadway. A drummer stabbed Europe in the neck and killed him. Sissle and Blake continued without him. Their show, “Shuffle Along,” opened in 1921. Blake says, “Ever since 1915 we were up and down Broadway trying to get our music published. We only wrote three songs for ‘Shuffle Along’ — ‘Love Will Find a Way,’ ‘lf You’ve Never Been Vamped by a Brown Skin’ mapper FAST. fast means you get through fast, ft Here's why: * Rear catcher for easier mowing in WH I close • W • Extra large grass bag — holds 6 | i- / bushels. £ • Powerful vacuum ac ts action —for an ilkl extra clean i awn w ei gh<ed Get yours Carrier must be todav used on slopes *' WE WILL SELL YOU XT A SHARPER FOO ■ ______ iess! -J jhmawsp All models on sale — All Snapper mowers meet Ask for Jimmy A N S I. safety specifications. HUTCHINSON HARDWARE Main Street, Senoia - Phone 599-3414 and Gypsy Blues.’ You wrote 28 songs for a show. We just put in 25 songs they said wasn’t ( good enough to publish all those years.” One of those songs was “I’m Just Wild About Harry." ( “Shuffle Along” became Broadway’s first long-running all-black musical. Blake also wrote the music ’ for “Chocolate Dandies” and “Elsie” in 1924 and “Black birds of 1930.” “The next one was a flop and I ain’t going to * tell you what it was. But Victor Herbert wrote a flop, too, you know.” Other Blake songs are “Love Will Find a Way,” “Memories of You” and “You Were Meant for Me.” He continues to make records and sells them by mail. Blake’s first wife died in , 1939; they had been married 31 years. He married his present wife, Marian, in 1945. I < 111 • H • ■ * H t B > SR * > H « ■ • M • H • M • fil ■ • H » i||| > ||| • 9 ’ M I I I * ! It
