Oral Histories

Interview of Lorena Sandoval

Member of the Navajo Nation.
Series:
American Indian Studies M200A Student Interviews
Topic:
American Indian History
Biographical Note:
Member of the Navajo Nation.
Interviewer:
Fasthorse, Elizabeth
Interviewee:
Sandoval, Lorena
Persons Present:
Sandoval and Fasthorse.
Place Conducted:
Cudahy, California.
Supporting Documents:
Records relating to the interview are located in the office of the UCLA Center for Oral History Research.
Interviewer Background and Preparation:
The interview was conducted by Elizabeth Fasthorse; M.A., American Indian Studies, UCLA.Students from M200A prepared for the interviews by reviewing relevant materials pertaining to the guidelines of the Center for Oral History Research and the parameters of the course.
Processing of Interview:
The transcript is a verbatim transcription of the recording. It was transcribed by a professional transcribing agency using a list of proper names and specialized terminology supplied by the interviewer. Sandoval was then given an opportunity to review the transcript and corrections and additions. Those corrections were entered into the text without further editing or review on the part of the Center for Oral History Research staff.
Length:
2 hrs.
Language:
English
Copyright:
Regents of the University of California, UCLA Library.
Audio:
Series Statement:
The interviews in the series American Indian Studies M200A Student Interviews were done by master's students in American Indians Studies M200A. Each student conducted a life history with one person of Native ancestry. The first year the class was offered, the interviews focused on the narrators' work histories. In the second year of the class, the students conducted a more general life history.
Sandoval’s background--The Navajo reservation--Her mother and siblings--Her parents’ trades--The death of her mother and its impact on her life--Her father’s remarriage and relocation to California--Her experience of Southwest regional Indian schools--Aspirations beyond sheep herding--Work at the Phoenix Indian School--More on her impressions of the Indian school--Her experience with a medicine man--Working as a necessity--Her siblings’ education and vocations--Her job at Firestone--Learning English--More on her Firestone job--Marriage and family.
Brief introduction--Sandoval’s experience of the To’ha’lina [boarding] School--Babysitting for her aunt--The upbringing of her brother--Her move to Carson, Nevada--Attending nurse aide school--A summer visit to South Gate, California--Working at Firestone--Her brief experience as a short order cook--More on the To’ha’lina School--Her mother and the Navajo weaving and sheep herding tradition--Helping her mother with the weaving and domestic chores--Navajo semi-nomadic pastoralism--Moving past the sheep herding tradition--More on her mother’s subsistence-oriented way of life--On being bussed from Phoenix, AZ to Sheep Springs, NM--Speaking Navajo in school--Her interest in drawing--Difficulties with the English language--Her teacher as an interpreter--More on school interests, including sports and dance--The tribal demographics of the Phoenix Indian School--Non-natives and hospital work--Her brief time at Stewart Indian School--Firestone work revisited--Her marriage and family--Her divorce--Working at Certified Paper Co.--Her decade-long employment at Chase Bag Co.--The poor working conditions at Chase Bag Co.--Her lifetime work as a caretaker for the sick and elderly.