Indian Pioneer Papers - Index

Indian Pioneer History Project for Oklahoma
Date: May 20, 1937
Name: George Abbot
Post Office: Caddo, Oklahoma
Residence Address: Route 3, Caddo, Oklahoma
Date of Birth: 
Place of Birth: 
Father: Shok-che-ye (John Abbot)
Place of Birth: 
Information on father: Louisiana Creek Indian; 
      buried at Elton, Alabama
Mother: Suk-we-ieke
Place of birth: 
Information on mother: one-half Creek Indian; 
      buried at Elton, Alabama
Field Worker: Pete W. Cole

My father was a Louisiana Creek Indian. His Indian name was Shok-che-ye, later changed to John Abbot, an English name, and my mother was Suk-we-ieke. She was one half Creek and lived near Kinda, Louisiana. I do not know her English name, as she died when I was small.

Unlike the Five Tribes, we were not allotted any lands in Oklahoma as we were not given the privilege to allot lands like the Choctaws or the Chickasaws. I barely remember that during the Civil War, my father fought and served in that War, and it was only a short time afterward when he died. A short time later my mother died and they are both buried at Elton, Alabama.

To this union there were born three children, Jap, myself and one girl Poncho. Winnie Abbott is her English name. She is now dead. I was born on January 15, 1862, near Nikchile, Louisiana, a small place which was close to the Mississippi line. My wife Josephine Abbot (Yohke) an Indian, was born in 1872, and was reared near Elton, Louisiana, I do not remember the date of our marriage. We do not talk Cherokee, nor Creek but a combination of both languages. We have three children born to us, two boys and one girl. One of the boys and the girl are graduates of a high school but I never spent a day in school in my life.

We did not own any land in Louisiana; therefore, we moved from place to place every year, doing odd work or renting land and farming. Often we would rent some agricultural land or move on a certain piece of unimproved land with the owner's consent, and start making improvements by clearing and putting it into a state of cultivation, building a house and barn, and digging a well and getting it into fine shape generally. True to tradition, the Indians would settle in the community and begin improving the land. After two or three years we would be served with notice to vacate as the owner of the land had another man to tend the place. Of course there was nothing for us to do, but to move as ordered.

When I first married, I lived in a one room log house. For house furniture, I had all home made affairs such as bed, chairs, and a table. I gathered moss which was abundant, and grown mostly on post oak out of the river bottoms. This moss was abundant and grew mostly on post oak trees; we used it for beds. We would make a bed sack and cook or boil the moss until thoroughly cooked, spread it out in the sunshine, and let it remain to dry, which required about three days. After it was dry we would fill the sack or bed tick, and it was ready for use. It lasted several years, and we had sheepskin for cover.

We experienced a hard and real life in those days as we lived about fifty or sixty miles from any town. Besides there was no settlement anywhere near where we could obtain work to furnish groceries and our only way to finance ourselves was to make cane baskets and sell them for fifty cents each. We charged seventy-five cents for moss blankets, but they were a slow sale, although they were our only means of buying groceries. There were several days at a time when we did not eat but once or twice a day in order to conserve our food as much as possible.

The price of groceries was high, and wages low. I remember well that many and many days I worked from sun up until sunset for fifty cents a day. A grown person was paid at that rate and twenty-five cents a day was paid for children ranging from eight to fifteen years of age. Fifty cents a hundred was paid for cotton picking, and this was a meager sum to live on. Although this was our only means of buying groceries, we made moss saddle blankets and sold them for from seventy-five cents to one dollar, and dressed buckskin sold for three dollars. We took this money and with the money for cotton chopping or picking, we bought one hundred pound sacks of coffee, flour and other groceries. We killed hogs for meat and lard and made sugar honey. We did not have to buy meat as there were all kinds of game which we killed as needed.

After large sawmills began operating throughout the country I got a job which paid seventy-five cents to one dollar a day, and later the wages increased and I was paid a dollar and a half to three dollars per day. I thought this was a good wage at that time.

I worked at this job for several years until my Uncle Paul Williams decided to come to the new country, the State of Oklahoma. I also decided to come so in 1919 we boarded a train for Oklahoma and went to Ashdown, Arkansas. We changed cars there and came to Idabel, Oklahoma, in McCurtain County. Sometime after our arrival Paul Williams died, near Kullituklo, Oklahoma.

Again we experienced hardships after coming to Oklahoma, as we were strangers in a new state. Finally we rented a piece of land from a Choctaw Indian, Solomon Jones. We farmed for one summer and have been renting since. The last four years I farmed, I lived on Moses Ward's place and because of favorable weather, I made and raised a good crop for this man. The following year I moved to Caney, Oklahoma, in Atoka County and have been living there since.

I am an experienced basket maker, and can do any kind of basketry work, but that is about all I can do now on account of my age.

Several years ago, I do not know the exact date, with the aid of the Government, these Indians got together and bought about six square miles of land which lay in Biblo Creek, and organized a community. They made improvements and today they have their own farm, school, and church. They employ and pay their teacher with the aid of the Government and today they are living and tending to their own land. They have adopted a rule against Indians marrying with other races of people, and want them to marry only among their own race.

Transcribed for OKGenWeb by Moody Dawson, May 2002.