Interviewer: Michele Teruya
Interview Date: July 2, 1986
Location: Walkinstik-Man-Alone residence, Philomath, Oregon
Duration: 1:25:00
In this interview, Ed Walkinstik-Man-Alone details some of the many indignations his people have suffered at the hands of the U.S. government. For one, his own U.S. birth certificate is off by five years, despite the one issued by his tribe showing the correct date. He also describes his experiences growing up in a government-run boarding school for Native American children and then in a Christian orphanage, and details some of the abuse that he suffered and witnessed at the hands of his caretakers. He likewise notes that now he travels the country teaching people in impoverished rural communities how to work with technology, build their own equipment, and utilize alternative energy sources, including wind and solar power as well as bio-fuels.
From there Walkinstik-Man-Alone describes the origins of his name and his clan, and explains why he prefers the term “Native American” over the historical misnomer “Indian.” He also extrapolates on his tribe’s matriarchal culture and contrasts it with white American culture. He then segues into the subject of Christianity, expressing distaste for the white man’s religion and criticizing the Christian tradition of tithes and offerings, saying that it is wrong to tell people they have to pay money to get into heaven. He plays with the word “prophet,” asking the interviewer if it is supposed to be the word “profit.” He then touches on multiple topics ranging from his health issues, to his current educational path, to the children he has helped raise, to his own children’s deaths, and his parent’s backgrounds. Walkinstik-Man-Alone also mentions specific incidents where the U.S. government broke treaties they had made with Native Americans. He recounts being involved in protests related to the Nisqually tribe’s fishing rights in the Pacific Northwest and the sale of Alcatraz Island by U.S. government officials despite the fact that it was legally owned by a Native American tribe.
The interview ends with Walkinstik-Man-Alone expressing his wish that white people would start listening rather than dictating other people’s lives. In so doing, he suggests that until white communities are willing to listen and learn, the legacy of betrayal, distrust, and animosity between white Americans and Native Americans can never be healed.
Ed Walkinstik-Man-Alone (Dubdehono Eskiyadoka) was born in Sacramento, California in 1933, although the U.S. government officially lists his birth year as 1938. His father brought him to live on the Choctaw reservation in Oklahoma shortly after he was born. He was raised primarily by his great-grandfather for the first seven years of his life, until the U.S. government forced the tribe off their reservation and sent the children to government schools. After most of the schools were closed, Walkinstik-Man-Alone and some of the other children were sent to cotton cottages and later put in Christian orphanages in Sacramento. Walkinstik-Man-Alone eventually left the orphanage and traveled around the world as a folk musician and folk music collector.
Walkinstik-Man-Alone also worked as a radar and electronics specialist for the U.S. Department of Defense and the Department of Transportation, and in the Navy and the Coast Guard. After suffering 70% hearing loss from a work-related injury, he returned to Sacramento and enrolled at American River College to pursue an associate’s degree in art and special education art. His research on three-dimensional teaching devices for the hearing impaired, led to a Distinguished Service Award and lifetime membership in California’s Scholastic Honor Society, Alpha Gamma Sigma. Walkinstik-Man-Alone was also known for the “Solar Chariot”, one of many mobile homes fueled with alternative fuels that he built. Walkinstik-Man-Alone lived in Philomath, Oregon and, later, Bainbridge Island in Washington state. He passed away in May 2017.
Content Warning: Please be aware that some of the contents of the Ed Walkinstik-Man-Alone oral history interview may be disturbing or activating. Throughout the interview, the narrator shares stories of persecution, abuse and subjugation of indigenous peoples. Connected to this are stories of trauma, both personal and community-wide. At one point in the interview, the narrator also uses racist, derogatory language to describe African Americans that is reflective of a broader culture of racism.
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From there Walkinstik-Man-Alone describes the origins of his name and his clan, and explains why he prefers the term “Native American” over the historical misnomer “Indian.” He also extrapolates on his tribe’s matriarchal culture and contrasts it with white American culture. He then segues into the subject of Christianity, expressing distaste for the white man’s religion and criticizing the Christian tradition of tithes and offerings, saying that it is wrong to tell people they have to pay money to get into heaven. He plays with the word “prophet,” asking the interviewer if it is supposed to be the word “profit.” He then touches on multiple topics ranging from his health issues, to his current educational path, to the children he has helped raise, to his own children’s deaths, and his parent’s backgrounds. Walkinstik-Man-Alone also mentions specific incidents where the U.S. government broke treaties they had made with Native Americans. He recounts being involved in protests related to the Nisqually tribe’s fishing rights in the Pacific Northwest and the sale of Alcatraz Island by U.S. government officials despite the fact that it was legally owned by a Native American tribe.
The interview ends with Walkinstik-Man-Alone expressing his wish that white people would start listening rather than dictating other people’s lives. In so doing, he suggests that until white communities are willing to listen and learn, the legacy of betrayal, distrust, and animosity between white Americans and Native Americans can never be healed.
Ed Walkinstik-Man-Alone (Dubdehono Eskiyadoka) was born in Sacramento, California in 1933, although the U.S. government officially lists his birth year as 1938. His father brought him to live on the Choctaw reservation in Oklahoma shortly after he was born. He was raised primarily by his great-grandfather for the first seven years of his life, until the U.S. government forced the tribe off their reservation and sent the children to government schools. After most of the schools were closed, Walkinstik-Man-Alone and some of the other children were sent to cotton cottages and later put in Christian orphanages in Sacramento. Walkinstik-Man-Alone eventually left the orphanage and traveled around the world as a folk musician and folk music collector.
Walkinstik-Man-Alone also worked as a radar and electronics specialist for the U.S. Department of Defense and the Department of Transportation, and in the Navy and the Coast Guard. After suffering 70% hearing loss from a work-related injury, he returned to Sacramento and enrolled at American River College to pursue an associate’s degree in art and special education art. His research on three-dimensional teaching devices for the hearing impaired, led to a Distinguished Service Award and lifetime membership in California’s Scholastic Honor Society, Alpha Gamma Sigma. Walkinstik-Man-Alone was also known for the “Solar Chariot”, one of many mobile homes fueled with alternative fuels that he built. Walkinstik-Man-Alone lived in Philomath, Oregon and, later, Bainbridge Island in Washington state. He passed away in May 2017.
Content Warning: Please be aware that some of the contents of the Ed Walkinstik-Man-Alone oral history interview may be disturbing or activating. Throughout the interview, the narrator shares stories of persecution, abuse and subjugation of indigenous peoples. Connected to this are stories of trauma, both personal and community-wide. At one point in the interview, the narrator also uses racist, derogatory language to describe African Americans that is reflective of a broader culture of racism.