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Mah-Thee - Beautiful in form
and spirit
Mah-Thee and Velma were
friends from childhood. The aging woman was beautiful when she was a girl
with petite form and sweet personality. These two women had weathered
every storm on their own grounds. They were tied together through knowing
the ways of the old ones and their hearts were never separated from the
discipline put upon them even as children. Now, Mah-thee walked a bit
slower, wore her traditional cotton blouse and skirt but was without fail,
jovial. Not only was she beautiful in form but over time became
spiritually appealing. If she came to the house (Velma’s office) with one
of her grandchildren, as she usually did, the little one was always quiet
without demanding any attention, for no matter how long their grandmother
stayed. It was obvious the grandmother worked with and taught her
children.
“Come on in, Mah-thee.” Lee
held the door wide to welcome Velma’s old friend. Somewhere in their
history Mah-thee had evidently gained Lee’s respect. He was truly fond of
her. He never entertained his wife’s friends but Mah-thee was different.
While Velma was busy on the phone or doing some of her other duties
associated with her job, Lee and Mah-thee sat quietly, visiting in the
kitchen. What was the topic of their conversations and what were these two
aging people discussing in such an earnest way? Once in a while he might
tap his finger lightly on the table to make a point while the woman was
like a child sitting at the master’s feet, her countenance told of how
engrossed she was in what he was saying. Her visits were unhurried and
somehow it seemed they were lifted away from this place in town back to
another time when things were even slower moving at Lee and Velma’s ranch
home in the Osage where Mah-thee came with her child, for sanctuary at a
difficult time in her life.
After Velma finished her
work, she would join them. These tiny round-table discussions laid out the
planning for the first day care to be established for Native American
children. No degree from any university could have provided a better
education than Mah-thee had for taking care of children. There might have
been more psychology, method, research and whatever studies were needed
for teaching but the heart, experience, and will was what this mature
woman had. She willingly offered her commitment and without pay. Her
steadfast daily attendance to it made the project possible.
Mah-thee owned another
necessary element and that was a small, unused house close to a group of
Native American mothers. It was what was called the old shotgun house and
had no more width than a small trailer house but desirable simply because
it was available. The lack of paint on the building’s weathered exterior
and its rough interior was of no consequence. If day care for children
could have been kept with these same soft, easy-going ways, the two women
introduced, possibly less pain would have been inflicted on children and
mothers in the distant future. Later programs of Head Start and other Day
Care subsidized by the government had hard and fast rules with no quarter
given. Some children cried for a whole morning in grief from being
separated from their mother’s side. This wasn’t exactly what these women
originally had wanted to happen. Nevertheless, like so many of the
hardened ways of politicians, who had not the mother’s love for those they
governed, this did happen.
At that time Mah-thee, her
husband, Lee and Velma began to gather the necessary furnishings needed
which were simply a few tables and chairs along with an ancient cook stove
and refrigerator. They began to enlist the mothers who had small children
to join them in their efforts. Soon the group was selling meat pies, fry
bread and beans to raise money for juice and treats for the children. Each
mother contributed school supplies and sometimes, could only bring old
newspapers for the children to color but the beginnings of a first day
care was established and working. Volunteers from the non-Indian community
were enlisted and there was no end to the interesting activities these
contributed from carpenters, artists, retired teachers, so on and so
forth. Whoever had an idea and could bring it down to a child’s level, was
used. The mother’s enthusiasm, was the key to making the day care work and
they willingly contributed their time.
Some of these ideas and
plans were coming from the training Velma received from the University of
Oklahoma along with her job but the thinking and creating of individual
activities were, mostly, her own. The joint effort and combining of each
volunteer’s offering kept the movement working. Mah-Thee’s steadfast and
loyal way helped bring success, too. |
