Series:

American Indian Relocation Project

Topic:

American Indian History

Biographical Note:

Cherokee. Came to Los Angeles as part of the American Indian Relocation.

Interviewer:

Luckett, Matthew

Interviewee:

Renee (pseudonym)

Persons Present:

Renee (pseudonym) and Luckett.

Place Conducted:

Indian Revival Church in Bell Gardens, California.

Supporting Documents:

Records relating to the interview are located in the office of the UCLA Library's Center for Oral History Research.

Interviewer Background and Preparation:

The interview was conducted by Matthew Luckett.

Processing of Interview:

The interviewer prepared a timed log of the audio recording of the interview. Renee was given the opportunity to review the log in order to supply missing or misspelled names and to verify the accuracy of the content but made no changes.

Language:

English

Copyright:

Regents of the University of California, UCLA Library.

Audio:

Series Statement:

The interviews in the series American Indian Relocation Project document the experience of American Indians who came to Los Angeles as part of the Bureau of Indian Affairs' urban relocation program in the 1950s and 1960s. The initial interviews were conducted by students in Professor Peter Nabokov's American Indian Studies 200A class. The Center for Oral History Research then conducted additional interviews to expand on those first student interviews.

Early life – Birth, childhood, parents — Experience at boarding school — Attending a one-room schoolhouse — Memories of her mother — Faith, language, and racism — Reasons for leaving Tahlequah — Summers in St. Louis — Going to post-graduate school in Haskell — Relocation to Los Angeles — Making a life in Los Angeles — A long-distance relationship — Maintaining ties to her family at home — Her family today — The complicated legacy of Relocation.

Grandmother’s quilting bees — A family community — The comforts of home — Her mother’s sacrifices — Speaking Cherokee — Interaction with the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) during childhood and relocation — “A happy childhood” — The journey to Los Angeles — Reflections on her career as a courtroom clerk — Raising a family in Orange County — Interactions with the BIA since relocation — Retirement — Church community — Overall appraisal of the Relocation program.