Elder Interview-Vera Wilson
Name/Title
Elder Interview-Vera WilsonEntry/Object ID
A.2008.001.500Tags
Needs Accession Sheet, Needs Location, Needs PhotoDescription
Wilson, Vera Dorothy (Skenandore) Born 06/05/1921 Parents: John "One-Arm-John" A. and Helen E. (Adams) Skenandore Maternal grandparents: John Q. and Celissa Adams Paternal grandparents: Josiah and Christine (Ninham) Skenandore Her grandparents on her father side lived on south Overland and Silas Dr. She didn’t know if her grandparents went to school. Her grandparents taught the Oneida Language to their grandchildren. Her grandma Skenandore was a homemaker and she made baskets. And her grandpa Skenandore was a farmer. Her grandparents on her mother side lived on Hwy.54 where the mini gulf course is now. They had a farm there when she was young. Her grandpa Adam had cows and horses. She think her grandpa Adam went to the Oneida Mission Boarding School, she didn’t know how much schooling her grandpa and grandma Adam have had. Her grandma Adam was a homemaker. Her dad went to the Oneida Mission Boarding School. And he went to a boarding school in Oklahoma, but she didn’t know how far he went in that school. She didn’t know if her mother went to school her mother died at the age of 32, she was 10 years old then. They still live on Overland Dr. She had to do all the house work and her brothers had helped their dad do the farm work. She uses to go to the Oneida Mission School before her mother died. When she turned 12 years old she went to Tomah Boarding School. They went to the Episcopal Church. Her dad had gotten a job with the State or the County working on the Highways. When she came home from Tomah she went and stayed by her grandparent’s house and she went to High View School, she was in the 7th or 8th grade when she went to Haskell government school for 1 year. Then she went to Pine Ridge government school in South Dakota, until she was 17 years old. Then she came back to Oneida, she went to West De Pere High School. When she got done with school she went to work at a hospital as a nurse’s aide. Then she got a job at Manpower working in the Office for 2 years. Then she went to Milwaukee to work at Allis Chalmers in the oil department. She got married to Clifford Powless, they had 2 children. They lived in Chicago but their marriage didn’t last because he drank too much. She went back to work at Dina Radio and some factory’s job. Then she got remarried to Owen Wilson he was from the Tomah area. They moved to Black River Falls, they lived there for 20 years. She and Owen had 4 children. Then they moved back to Oneida in 1977. She started to work at the Oneida Land Office. She got a job teaching the Oneida Language. Her advice to the youth is to listen to their grandparents and to their other elder’s and learn the Oneida Language.Recording Type
Audio/VisualCollection
Elder InterviewsCataloged By
Gerzetich, Courtney (Cottrell)Category
Digital Media