Dr. Woodrow Ḵáawan Sangáa
Morrison BA, JD
After high school graduation from a Bureau of Indian Affairs Boarding High School, I enrolled at Haskell Institute, another BIA Boarding Post Highschool and Highschool at Lawrence, Kansas. The Haskell Student Body consisted of students representing 52 Indian Tribes, coming from 35 States. Thus we were a very diverse body of students and, a very diverse faculty.
My intent was to become a Welder. Unfortunately, I was not cut out to be a welder. A couple of times while doing Oxy-Accetelene welding (torch), watching the puddle of molten metal swirling I fell asleep and caught my clothes on fire. So I transferred out and into the Radio and Electronics classes, which turned out to be a very good fit for me.
Kansas University (KU) is also located in Lawrence, Kansas. One of KU's famous students was a man named Billy Mills, a Lakota who won an Olympic Gold Metal in Track and Field. From time to time the University people would hire us Haskell Indians to sell cokes and snacks at their Football Games. I do not remember how much we were paid but it was enough to entice us to do the job (probably $1/hr.).
In the Spring of 1960 I was one of the Haskell Students to work as Waiters at a KU Prom. We were paid a wage and also got something to eat. For me, the real thrill was the music for the Prom was provided by a World Famous musician, Duke Ellington.
Two of my Room Mates, Bob Martin Jr. and Raymond Peterson, and I got jobs at a Nursery that was doing a lot of Landscaping in the area. The job was about 4 miles from the School. The kitchen would make up sack lunches for the three of us and, as soon as we were out of our Class we would pick up our sack-lunches then run out to the Nursery. At first we were paid a piddling 75 Cents per hour. A lot of the work was digging up small trees for transplanting in customers' yards; called “Balling Trees”. We worked until it was too dark to see, ate our Sack Lunches then ran back to our Dorm. Oh, after a few months we got a big Raise, our pay was increased to EIGHTY-FIVE (85) CENTS per hour – about 3 hours per day.
Some of the Haskell Students worked at a Van Camp Pork-N-Beans Cannery. I don't know how many of you know what Pork-N-Beans are however, I heard from some of the workers that the stuff looked awful, but a job was a job.
Another enterprising student stumbled upon an endeavor that would gain him some money. I don't know where it was located but, apparently there was a milk dispensing machine. For a Dime (10cents) one could get a pint of milk. It took Nickles, Dimes and Quarters (25 cent pieces) and, from the Quarter the machine gave 15 Cents change. The enterprising young man figured out how to beat the machine.
He glued a length of nylon thread to a Quarter, gently inserted it into the coin-slot and slowly lowered into the machine until he heard the mechanism activated. He then retracted the Quarter; the machine dispensed the container of milk and the 15 Cents change. He repeated the process a number of times: by the 5th one, he had 75 Cent Profit. I took us an hour of digging up trees to make 75 cents. Fortunately or unfortunately, his crime-spree was short-lived.
He go caught because he was trying to drink all the milk the machine dispensed for him.
Good Night.
Áaw tláan gyaahlangáay láa g̱íidang.
That is all there is to the story.
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