Show d- d S WEE P ING S By IRIS Watching Indians in in the tC movies and ana on onT onT onT T V never ceases to amaze me I grew up upon upon upon on the tile edge of the Navajo reservation and near segments of the Ute and Piute tribes and I never heard one of them say Ugh or even How Nor have I ever seen one of them stand in what is supposed to be the classic Indian pose pose arms arms folded across the tile chest with noble chin erect The Indians I knew mostly stood with their fingers stuck in the front pockets of tight Levis dangling the thumbs Their chins were used for pointing pointing pointing point point- ing since their hands bands were otherwise occupied THE INDIANS who came to our town were a picturesque lot to say the least The Themen Themen Themen men wore hammered silver and turquoise jewelry and their women wore skirted long-skirted velveteen dresses of red yellow and purple Most of the Indians who came to town were strangers who arrived en masse for special events such as the twenty-fourth twenty of July rodeo but others we came to know well I remember Injun Charlie He Heas as an anold anold anold old Ute with a face as eroded as Monument Valley and about the same color Where he lived Jived we never knew but he at odd times through the year and always when we made our summers summer's root beer we could count on him to be there Whether he smelled it on the breeze or looked at the midda midday shadows and said to himself Ah HAh Root beer time or whether he hovered out of sight until he saw the bottles under the lawn Jawn sprinkler was a debatable point But when hen we popped the first cap there then he was grinning from ear to ear and with his hand ou outstretched 1 WE DIDN'T mind sharing our root beer with willi Injun Charlie but we were never nevel able to understand how he managed to get drunk on it il Because he did Three bottles of innocent homemade root beer and he was 6 smashed He would go staggering up ine the street waving the last empty bottle chanting chanting chanting chant chant- ing in a qui quivery very sing song voice until he disappeared from view We children used to brood about what it was he lie got out of our root beer that we Very few of the Navajos spoke English so when my brother and his wife gave a lift to a young Indian on the reservation one day they weren't surprised when he shrugged at their questions So they rode along discussing discussing discussing dis dis- dis- dis cussing the Indian and his country with complete candor AFTER A FEW miles the Indian tapped my brother on the shoulder and indicated by pointing where he want to be dropped off After he was out of the car n my y brother started up again but he lie stopped when he heard the Indian call caU He pounded up to the car opened the door and asked Just holdup hold holdup holdup up a minute Mac Forgot my suitcase And I remember John He was a Navajo Navajo Nav Nav- Navajo ajo who preferred town life ire to the reservation reservation reserva reserva- 1 tion so he moved his wives and his goats to toa toa toa a cedar grove at the edge of town where he built his hogan Kogan Here he set up housekeep housekeep- ing IT a favorite place for us children to visit We would sit some distance distance distance dis dis- tance from the hogan Kogan after a silent nod to tu the oldest wife and watch while the tile younger wives sat before their looms weaving their beautiful rugs rubes or dyed the wool sheared from their own own sheep The wives never spoke although they often smiled at us but John would sit and tell teU us in fractured Eng English e. e fish lish of his boyhood No stories ever written were so fascinating And so having grown up n near ar the Indians I have only two things s to say sav about the way they are portrayed on T T. V. V How and Ugh t r |