 This
is only one of the massive buildings on the campus of the school. Pictured
here is Home Three. The buildings were built from quarried stone after the
style of Oxford University buildings. They were massive and castle like.
Opening the section on the PONCA part of the family is this photograph
since the school was woven through the growth of the family and the tribe.
Our grandmother, Elizabeth Little Cook Pensoneau Hernandez graduated
there, our mother, Velma Louise Pensoneau Jones was an alumna. Donna Jones
Flood graduated, 1955.
The memories of the school would fill a
book all of its own. There was fun, hard work, happy times, and many of
the puppy love affairs turned into marriages between the graduated
students from the school. It was probably responsible for the greatest
mixing of the tribes than any other event in the history of the Native
American. This is where grandmother, full Ponca, met grandfather, Shawnee.
In the early days the school was a military
institution and even though later the marching to classes and uniforms had
been dropped there was still many military custom hold overs. We spoke of
the "chow line," nicknames were the rule, early sunrise
breakfasts after room inspections were the order. The floors were to be
shiny enough to see one's reflection. There were details, demerits, and
grand marches at the social affairs. |
