Trish O'Donnell
The Queen Mary and her Trail of Tears, 2012.
Family Migration Histories
She finally received her birth certificate when she was sixty years old. In order to get social security, she had to prove she was an American citizen. Of course she was, she was full blooded Cherokee Indian, which was also why she had never received a birth certificate before. She was classified as “colored” on her birth certificate. While she was pregnant with her youngest son, she cared for a tenant that had been shot in the eye. His eye had a terrible infection which she would clean out the green puss and place clean bandages on every day. When her son was born, her full blooded Cherokee child, he had green eyes; she said he was marked by the experience of the tenant. Long after her death, her son would be blinded in the same eye. She gathered roots to boil and cured sickness. She was my grandfather’s mother. Her name was, Dora. She taught my grandmother how to make perfect braids, the only tradition that would be passed down to my sister and me from our Cherokee heritage. She was a fair skinned Native American, and so were her children; they were raised to pretend to be white. My grandmother’s mother came to the United States from Scotland on the Queen Mary. She was an opera singer on the vessel and had won several medals. She was eighteen when she moved from Dunedin to Chicago. She had a tough life after she married a full blooded Scotsman. He was an alcoholic and abused her. He sold her medals for liquor. Her name was, Helen. When she died,
of pneumonia, he blamed himself and took his own life.
Fragments of stories are all my family has left of these two women that shaped our family, but somehow they are more than just fragments to me. I never knew either great grandmother, but I feel their histories and struggles inside my soul and I know I am who I am because of them. I am deeply connected to my Native American and Scottish roots that come from my mother’s side. My Native American history is unfortunately lost in terms of historical documentation, but some of it still exists in oral tradition. My Scottish history is fully identifiable and a visit to Scotland in 2002 shed light to my mother and I on how connected we are to our Scottish cultural identity than we had previously known. As explained by Ryan Shin (2009) in his chapter, “Promotions of Ethnic and Cultural Identity through Visual and Material Culture among immigrant Koreans,”in the book, Globalization, Art, and Education, when he steps into a Korean market, “My thinking, acting, and attitude changes from that of an Americanized persona to that of a Korean” (p. 49). Similarly, when we stepped into the village where my grandmother’s parents immigrated from in Scotland, we better understood, through our five senses (Shin, 2009; Bolin and Blandy, 2003), why my grandmother was the way she was and how we had become the way we are. From the way she looked to the way she
pronounced certain words, we experienced things that we had once thought were my grandmother’s quirks, only to find out that they were just Scottish attributes.
Queen Mary and Her Trail of Tears, 2012, is a whimsical narrative discussing the combination of my Scottish and Native American roots on my mother's side; the two cultures that I identify with the most in regards to my family heritage. I may not have a large collection of personal histories for either of my great grandmothers nor had the chance to know them personally, but I know that they have greatly impacted who I have become. Both great grandmothers were extraordinary care givers and nurtures. They were highly respected by their peers, were strong, proud, and they were extremely hard workers. Their lives were not easy, but they persevered. Through their trials and hardships, they created a lineage of strong and talented women. I cannot explain how or why, but I feel a connection to both women; the legacies left behind by Dora and Helen pump through my blood stream and I will continue my search to unravel the mysteries of their lost histories.
of pneumonia, he blamed himself and took his own life.
Fragments of stories are all my family has left of these two women that shaped our family, but somehow they are more than just fragments to me. I never knew either great grandmother, but I feel their histories and struggles inside my soul and I know I am who I am because of them. I am deeply connected to my Native American and Scottish roots that come from my mother’s side. My Native American history is unfortunately lost in terms of historical documentation, but some of it still exists in oral tradition. My Scottish history is fully identifiable and a visit to Scotland in 2002 shed light to my mother and I on how connected we are to our Scottish cultural identity than we had previously known. As explained by Ryan Shin (2009) in his chapter, “Promotions of Ethnic and Cultural Identity through Visual and Material Culture among immigrant Koreans,”in the book, Globalization, Art, and Education, when he steps into a Korean market, “My thinking, acting, and attitude changes from that of an Americanized persona to that of a Korean” (p. 49). Similarly, when we stepped into the village where my grandmother’s parents immigrated from in Scotland, we better understood, through our five senses (Shin, 2009; Bolin and Blandy, 2003), why my grandmother was the way she was and how we had become the way we are. From the way she looked to the way she
pronounced certain words, we experienced things that we had once thought were my grandmother’s quirks, only to find out that they were just Scottish attributes.
Queen Mary and Her Trail of Tears, 2012, is a whimsical narrative discussing the combination of my Scottish and Native American roots on my mother's side; the two cultures that I identify with the most in regards to my family heritage. I may not have a large collection of personal histories for either of my great grandmothers nor had the chance to know them personally, but I know that they have greatly impacted who I have become. Both great grandmothers were extraordinary care givers and nurtures. They were highly respected by their peers, were strong, proud, and they were extremely hard workers. Their lives were not easy, but they persevered. Through their trials and hardships, they created a lineage of strong and talented women. I cannot explain how or why, but I feel a connection to both women; the legacies left behind by Dora and Helen pump through my blood stream and I will continue my search to unravel the mysteries of their lost histories.