My name is Charles Tower, and my American Indian name is White Cloud. I am named after my father and my great-grandfather, both of whom are American Indian. White Cloud is my great-grandfather, and Silver Leaf is my father. Over the years, I have heard amazing stories about my namesake that I would love to share with anyone interested in hearing about American Indian ancestors. 

White Cloud was born in Alaska to an Iroquois Indian father and an Eskimo mother. He was raised by his grandfather, living in an American Indian village in the wilderness of Canada until he was a young adult. As a boy, White Cloud’s Grandfather, who was the medicine man of the tribe, often gave his grandson herbs in honey to eat for his health. One day, the Indian scouts of the tribe came back to the village with a grizzly bear they had killed. A cub of the killed bear followed the hunters back to the village.  Eight-year-old White Cloud befriended the bear using the same honey his grandfather had given him to take his herbs. The grizzly cub took a liking to White Cloud and his sticky, honey-smeared hands.  White Cloud named him Old Boney, and he was his pet until Old Boney died at 16 years old.

White Cloud truly experienced coming of age in his early teenage years. At 11, he was sent into the wilderness for one week to learn how to survive on his own. He remembers a pack of wolves circling his fire at night, but luckily, the flames kept them away. At 13, he was sent out alone again to trap furs. He spent several months in the wilderness hunting animals. He became a proficient hunter and was honored with his grandfather’s name when he returned home and was able to wear one feather as a sign of survival. At 20, he earned a second feather for killing a panther that attacked his Indian village. When is grandfather died at 104, White Cloud was made chief of his tribe.  Another amazing job White Cloud had with his tribe was catching and taming bald eagles. The tribe would use the eagle’s feathers for their regalia. (Farlekas 20)

Soon White Clouds tribe’s lands were taken from them by lumber companies. The Allotment Act/Dawes Act of 1887 privatized tribal land and was intended to break up reservations by granting small parcels of land to individual American Indians rather than the large areas owned by the entire tribe. (Dawes Act 1887) The ultimate goal of this Act was to encourage American Indians to assimilate into the new, white civilization. (Dawes Act 1887) In the northwest, most lands were instantly transferred to timber barons after this act was passed. (Kay and Maloney).  White Cloud fled into the wilderness, not wanting the “white man” to tell him where he was going to live. While he was wandering away from government control, he found a job at an inn. Another co-worker died while he was working there. White Cloud decided to take this man’s European name, Charley Dawson, since he did not have one. 

Charley eventually married and moved to New York. He never got used to wearing the “white man's” clothes and speaking the “white man's” language. He stated, “When I was growing up, I almost never saw a white man; now I almost never see an Indian”. (Farlekas 20) My father remembers playing with White Cloud, whom they called Gramps, during his childhood. Gramps would still speak Algonquin and talk about The Great Spirit. My father grew up hearing his wonderful stories, which he has now passed down to me.

Emery Mayberry is my great-grandfather and my grandmother’s father. As I researched my American Indian ancestors, many interesting stories came to life about this side of my American Indian heritage. Emery was a Creek American Indian whose parents were originally from Kentucky. The stories of Emery’s ancestors are still falling together, but let me tell you what I have found so far.

John Mayberry and Ellen Hamilton were Emery’s grandparents. John was born in Tennessee, and Ellen in Kentucky. John Mayberry was a Creek American Indian, while Ellen Hamilton was a Chickasaw American Indian. Ellen and John had 8 children. John died in Kentucky, but Ellen eventually migrated to Oklahoma, as did all American Indians of the time. These were the years known as the “Great Removal,” which led to the “Trail of Tears.” The government at this time-period, between 1830-1900, decided they wanted the southern lands for farming. Therefore, they wanted the American Indians who resided on these lands out. They pushed all the American Indian tribes, now called the Five Civilized Tribes, which included Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole, out to Oklahoma. These tribes reside in Oklahoma to this day.  My ancestors were part of this “Great Migration” of American Indians westward. 

John and Ellen’s son, Edward Milton Mayberry, was my grandmother’s grandfather. He married Bertha Hayes Lewis. Their lives were filled with tragedy and resilience. Bertha and Edward had 5 children. They also migrated west to Oklahoma. They found a residence on the Otoe Tribe reservation where several of their children were born. The passed-down story is a bit vague, but here is what I have found so far. Edward travelled from Oklahoma to Washington State in the early 1900s. It is recalled that he was going there to help the Indians in that region. He knew how to read English, but those American Indians did not. Edward went to Washington to assist these tribes by reading the government documents they were unknowingly being asked to sign, which were taking their land away from them. Edward was reading the documents to them and encouraging them not to sign them. Very sadly, Edward was labeled a troublemaker and was hanged. (Seattle Times, 19 April 1917, 24)  The police made up a story that said he had killed a Native woman on the reservation; however, Edwards' family denied these accusations. When I recently received my Great-Great-Great Grandfather’s death certificate, the spot on the form that explains the cause of death was completely erased. You can tell there was a lot of writing in that area, but that someone had erased it. This seems very suspicious to me. 

After Edward died, Bertha became a widow with five children. Initially, Bertha’s children were taken from her and placed in an orphanage. Bertha had to find jobs to make enough money to pay for her children's release from the orphanage. She was able to get her oldest three out, but the two younger children were stuck in the orphanage. My great-grandfather, Emery, was the second youngest and endured the orphanage, where he was bullied by the other children. His older siblings would bring him food and clothes to help him during this difficult time in the orphanage. Finally, Bertha was able to get her last two children out of the orphanage. At that point, the family made their way back to Oklahoma, where they found residence in Tulsa. Two years after her husband had been hanged, Bertha lost her home in a fire that was part of the Tulsa Race Riots in 1921. Bertha was widowed and then homeless. The resilience of my Great-Great-Great-grandmother absolutely amazes me! She ended up moving to Texas and then finally, Colorado. Bertha died at 109 as the oldest resident in Colorado at the time of her death. (The Park City Daily News 3-A)

As I researched my grandmother, Lovette’s (Red Fawn), American Indian ancestors, one main theme emerged on both sides of my family. The theme was, they were unwilling to accept what was happening to their people. Neither side of my family was willing to be put on a reservation and given numbers like the government gave livestock. Neither side of my family would conform to the new government and its plans of stealing their people’s lands. Even now, my grandmother’s outlook is that of independence and pride. Another interesting fact I have realized is that two separate sides of my family are interconnected at the same time. In the early 1900’s, while my Great Great Grandfather, White Cloud, was being pushed out of his land by the lumber companies in the northwest; my Great Great Grandfather Edward was traveling to the northwest from Oklahoma to persuade and help those same northwestern American Indian tribes by instructing them to not sign their land away to the government, which he ended up being killed for. Neither of these great-great-grandfathers knew each other, but their lives were closely connected at the same time.  I will take these traits and stories with me as I go out into my life, letting them guide me as I move forward. Furthermore, I will continue researching my ancestors to learn more about my personal history and understand the traits that make me who I am. 

“Hang Indian at Spokan”. Seattle Times, 19 April 1917, p. 24

“Woman Dies at 109”. The Park City Daily News (Bowling Green, Kentucky), 16 February 1981, p. 3-A

“Colorado’s Oldest Resident Dies”. The Tyler Courier-Times (Tyler,Texas). 15 February 1981, P. 14

Farlekas, Chris. “That Indian Man has wonderful stories to tell”. The Times Herald Record, 7 August 1969, p. 20

“Dawes Act (1887).” Dawes+Act+(1887) (Print-Friendly Version), https://www.ourdocuments.gov/print_friendly.php?flash=false&page=&doc=50&title=Dawes%2BAct%2B%281887%29. 

Kay, Kira and Jason Maloney, directors. PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 16 Oct. 2021, https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/why-native-americans-are-buying-back-land-that-was-stolen-from-them. Accessed 23 Oct. 2021.

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