Interview #
Field Worker:
Date: February 2, 1937
Name: Mr. J.J. Stewart
Residence:
Date of Birth:
Place of Birth:
Father:
Mother:
Autobiography of J.J. Stewart
Father moved from the state of Arkansas sometime in the eighties to the
Cherokee Nation, some twelve or fifteen miles from the town of Checotah, bringing a large
flock of sheep. He soon found the country not suited to raising sheep. The
wolves and wild dogs soon diminished his flock to a mere half dozen which he sold a
neighbor. Cattle roamed the prairies by the hundreds, fattening and wintering on the
native grass without care from the ranchers.
The event to be long remembered was the Indian Fish Fry, a day being set
for the festive event. The Indians for miles around would gather at a designated
place on the creek, all ready for the big job of catching and cooking the fish. Some
of the men would gather bunches of roots called Devil Shoestring. The roots being
beaten into a pulp and placed in sacks and dragged a few times through the water.
The fish would come to the surface. Then the fun would begin. With
spear, sometimes called a gig, they would soon have work for the women to do. The
women would be waiting on the bank with well filled baskets of bread and other good
things. They would have a frying pan already to cook the fish. Everything
moved in the best of order until everyone had his fill and the day was over.
