Content area
Full Text
WITH RESPECT: Vivien Hailstone (1913-2000)
Beverly R. Ortiz
Vivien Risling Hailstone and her seven siblings were born to Geneva Orcutt (Yurok/Karuk) and David Risling (Karuk and a member of the Hoopa Tribe) in Morek, California, on the lower Klamath River. During Vivien's youth, there were no stores in this area, and it wasn't until Vivien started school that she first saw a non-Indian, the school teacher. The family grew fruit trees, gardened vegetables, and butchered farm animals; they hunted, fished, and gathered native berries and teas. For income, Vivien's father fished and logged. These early years taught Vivien respect, and provided the foundation for her later achievements. Vivien's niece Darlene Marshall spoke about these years at the funeral:
Her first adventure was as a little girl going with [her oldest brother] Anthony on horseback from Morek to Johnsons to take supplies to Grandpa Pop. This was not an easy feat in those days. There were no roads--just a trail--and they were very little. They were to ride to Ryersons and have someone there cinch the horse again if it were needed and then travel on. I marvelled at her story and Grandma's trust. Today we couldn't send a small child anywhere. She loved to tell us about those early years that were the preparation for the challenges she would face later in her life. You could make do. There were no stores to run to. You made what you needed.
Vivien's maternal great-grandmother Jane Young (Yurok), parents, and elders educated her in the traditions which would sustain her throughout her lifetime, especially songs, basketry, and Jane Young's stories. David Risling moved ten-year-old Vivien and the rest of the family to Hoopa when he decided to establish a sawmill there. Vivien was enrolled in the BIA-operated boarding school at Hoopa, where her culture was suddenly and cruelly suppressed. Two years later Vivien's father obtained a position on the board and led a successful effort to change the school to day-time attendance.
Following her eighth-grade graduation Vivien worked in her father's sawmill, doing whatever was needed, from manual labor, including helping to fell trees, to keeping books. Vivien married Hoopa resident Albert Hailstone (Wintu) on May 22, 1940. During World War II, after Albert joined the Navy,...