0 MARCH 1, 2011
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LOTTIE continued
from front page
school, and we thought they were
for people who missed the bus. So,
we took a couple bikes and rode
home. When we got home, we
learned that that wasn't why the
bikes were there, and that you don't
just take bikes, so we had to take
them back and apologize."
Child was the youngest of 11
siblings. Of the four still alive, two
were able to attend the celebration,
including her oldest sister, Tribal
Elder Eloise Kisor, 79, of Moses
Lake, Wash. Kisor was just getting
married when Lottie was born.
"She loved to hunt and water ski.
She did just about anything. There
wasn't anything she couldn't do,"
said Kisor. "Mom and dad had more
time by the time she came around,
and they taught her everything."
Tribal Elder Lennie Low, 65, is
Child's closest sibling.
"From the bottom of my heart," he
said, "there is no more beautiful girl
than Lottie. No matter what she
ever wanted, I tried to help her."
Low remembered when he "start
ed working in the brush" and Lottie .
was about 14. "I got her a rabbit
stole," he said. Low didn't have to
say how much she loved that gift.
"Years ago, when her house caught
on fire, that stole was the first thing
she saved," said Low, "and she still
has it today.
"She cared about people. She
cared about her Tribe. She stood
up for people, worked hard all her
life and never had a bad thing to
say about anybody."
Granddaughter Angela Chris
tian, 23, remembered cribbage and
more.
"We played a lot of cribbage and
she always beat you," Christian said.
"We did a lot of beading and leather
work,, too. She helped me make my
first regalia when I was 12."
Christian's mother, Tribal mem
ber Paula Wilkinson, 41, recalled
for the gathering that her mother
had traveled to the World's Fair in
Canada, to Mexico and that she had
lived in North Carolina.
"She's done so many wonderful
things for the people she's touched,"
Wilkinson said. "I love you, Mom,
7 """""- '
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Photos by Michelle Alaimo
Tribal member Paula Wilkinson, left- lays a cap on her mother, Tribal
Elder Lottie Child, as Tribal member Kim Contreras talks to Child during a
Celebration of Life that was held in Child's honor in the Tribal gymnasium on
Tuesday, Feb. 1 5. Child's made the cape that was once part of her regalia.
with all my heart."
As others wished Child well, a
changing cast of her children and
grandchildren, cousins, nieces and
nephews sat at the foot of the bed.
Grandson Conrad, 9, took charge of
Gizmo, Child's little Yorkie. Gizmo
spent as much time on the bed with
Child as in Conrad's arms. He took
especially good care, often carrying
the dog on a soft blanket.
Conrad's father, Tribal member
Big Farmer, 32, remembered a
Mother's Day fishing trip at Mur
phy Lake in central Oregon with
his mother when he was 9.
"It rained. We got stuck in the
mud. There were the rattlesnakes,"
he said. So, it was not such a good
time? one might ask. "Hell, no,"
said Big. "We caught a ton and had
a blast."
Jim Farmer, brother to Lottie's
second husband, George Farmer,
remembered a hunting trip with
Lottie and six men.
"When you're ready to go out and
kill something, you go with me,"
Lottie told him.
"We (the men) hunted for three
days and never caught a thing,"
he said.
So, he took her up on her offer.
"She knew right where to go. We
saw a nice forked horn, and she
said, 'Go ahead and shoot it.' So I
did, and when I went to field dress
it, I told Lottie to bring the truck
around. So, I'm out at the animal,
working on it, and I heard a crack,
like somebody shooting at me; I
looked around, and there was Lot
tie with a rifle, and I looked around
again, and not 30 yards behind me
she had shot a three-point, bigger
than mine. She got the biggest one
and laughed at everybody.
"She knew where the deer were.
She had that spirit about her. It's
something most people don't un
derstand. She had the best heart
of anybody I ever knew, except my
wife. You can't believe how special
it was to be around her."
Child worked for many years as
a dealer in the Spirit Mountain
Casino and, in 2000, ran for Tribal
Council. Again and again, people
spoke about how Child cared for
the Tribe.
Her fondest memories, she said,
went beyond the hunting and fishj
ing, cooking, beading and leather
work. "It's all the love I have for
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Family and friends gather around Tribal Elder Lottie Child and wait for their turn to talk to her during a Celebration of
Life that was held in her honor in the Tribal gymnasium on Tuesday, Feb. 1 5.
ray people," she said. "I always
wanted to be a part of our people.
They're still my family. A lot don't
understand what our people are
all about."
She said she ran for Tribal Coun
cil "because of the love I have for my
people. A lot just want the money,
but that's not what our people are
all about. We're about caring for
our people."
And she felt it all around her on
that Tuesday afternoon in Febru
ary. Her husband, Bill Child (unen
rolled Sioux), has been by her side
as the disease has taken its toll.
Though they have been separated
for many years, Bill continues to
hold her in the highest regard.
"She was my awakening," he said.
"She kind of helped me get back to
myself. We studied her people and
my people." And of the celebration,
he said, "THere's been so much
love put out by (the Grand Ronde)
people. I could see it in your faces.
It was a really good thing for my
heart. It's a good thing to see our
people doing that again."
Lottie's parents, who have passed
on, were Bud and Rose Low. Rose
was a Tribal Elder.
Among her living siblings are
her brothers Floyd "Buddy" and
Lennie Low and her sisters, June
Low Knowlton and Eloise Kisor; all
but Lennie are Tribal Elders.. Her
siblings who have walked on are
Tribal Elders Albert Low, Petrova
King, Genevieve Johnson, Betty
Nissan, along with Colleen Garcia
and Irene Biddle.
Her children are Tribal members
Brandy Farmer, Paula Wilkinson
and Big Farmer along with April
Loges. All but Loges, who lives in Ari
zona, celebrated with their mom.
Child's grandchildren are:
Brandy's children are Shyloh, 15,
Wyatt, 14, Morgan 12, Virgil, 9, and
Jenny, 8.
Paula's children are Angela 23,
and Samantha, 21.
Big's children are Coyote, 12, AJ,
11, and Conrad, 9.
April's children are Michelle, 30,
Amanda, 26, and Ben, 24.
Many from every generation
joined in the celebration.
Lighthouse and Recovery Church
of Grand Ronde Pastor Ken Haller,
who is a Grand Ronde Tribal Elder,
officiated.
"I know that our spirits don't stop
here," said Tribal member and mul
tiple Native American Music Award
winner Jan Michael Looking Wolf
Reibach. "I'll see my sister again.
Lottie, this is for you." He played
"Amazing Grace" on the flute.
. Later came a bagpipe rendition
of the same song.
Tribal members Bobby and Tra
vis Mercier, Brian Krehbiel, an'd
Santiago and Nick Atanacio made
up the Grand Ronde drum for the
celebration.
"I love you. I'll probably see you
on the other side," Tribal Elder
Marcella Selwyn told Child.
"We're starting a new tradition,"
Child said of her Celebration of Life.
"Everyone should have a chance to
say goodbye. Everyone should have
a going-away party."