Elder Interview-John Powless Jr.
A.2008.001.340 PP
Name/Title
Elder Interview-John Powless Jr.Entry/Object ID
A.2008.001.340Tags
Missing, Needs Accession Sheet, Needs Location, Needs PhotoDescription
Powless, John Edwin, Jr. Born 02/29/1948 Parents: John Powless and Lois Powless Paternal grandparents: Mark Powless and Margaret Stevens Maternal grandparents: Simon Moore and Irene Metoxen John says kid use to get whipped if they used the Oneida language in boarding schools. His uncle Percy Powless was chairperson for quite a few years. His father use to travel a lot for his jobs. John didn’t know much about his father’s work as he was growing up. His father ran away from school. He went to Pipe Stone. His father was I the Services. He was in war with Pearl Harbor. His father was in the Marines. About every 24 months they use to relocate the troops. They use to call it the old core. His father didn’t want him to get into iron-work because he wanted him to go onto life in school. He worked with his father building a bridge. They worked on that for 2 months then he went back to college. He remembers taking the ferry with their vehicles before any bridges were built. He lived with his grandparents and went to school at Seymour High School. He did a lot of sports while in high school. His grandmother had legal guardianship of him while he was in high school. He didn’t get any help from the tribe when he went to college. He paid for everything out of his own pocket. Not many Indian kids when to school when he was going. He didn’t want to come back to Oneida as a failure. He graduated from school in 1971 from B.Y.W. He focused a lot on the American Indian History. He then went into law school; he applied but couldn’t get accepted into any colleges for law. His point of view on the land claim is: where’s the starting and finishing point. He says we have the best scholarships than any other tribe around because the kids can go to school and not worry about having to pay the money back. He drives trucks for Schneider Trucking Company right now. He’s on leave from his job but will be back as soon as he is able to. His advice to the youth is stay in school and get yourself in order.Recording Type
Audio/VisualCollection
Elder InterviewsCataloged By
Gerzetich, Courtney (Cottrell)Category
Digital Media