Elder Interview-Margaret Sommers
Name/Title
Elder Interview-Margaret SommersEntry/Object ID
A.2008.001.444Tags
Needs Accession Sheet, Needs Location, Needs PhotoDescription
Sommers, Margaret Ruth (Webster) Born 12/06/1918 Parents: Noah and Celinda (Hill) Webster Maternal grandfather: Abraham Hill Paternal grandfather: August Webster She went to the Oneida Government School. Then she went to Flandreau South Dakota, she went there for 3 years then she quit. She started working at Larsen Canning Company. Then she got married to Austin Sommers on 6/12/1929. They have 7 children. She and her husband both speak the Oneida Language. Her husband was a tree surgeon from Appleton. She goes to the Oneida Language classes everyday. When she was small they lived on a farm. Her chores were to feed the animals and milk the cows and help with the house work. They didn’t have running water or electricity. They had to get their water from a well and they use kerosene lamps her dad and her brothers had to go and cut wood for their cooking and heating. They had a big garden and her mother did a lot of canning and her mother taught her to can vegetable too. She stared going to school when she was 6 years old. She remembers Oneida when she was young there were 2 groceries stores, 2 taverns, a drug store, a gas station, a post office, train station and a cheese factory. Her mother had some kind of Indian medicine made up of roots, herbs and leaves. She is a member of the Lutheran Church. She had to stay at Oneida Government School all year round. On Christmas Eve they went to midnight mass they didn’t have a Christmas tree. On the 4th of July they went to the Oneida Parade. Every summer they went to Sturgeon Bay to pick cherries. Her advice to the youth is to stay in school.Recording Type
Audio/VisualCollection
Elder InterviewsCataloged By
Gerzetich, Courtney (Cottrell)Category
Digital Media