A Beloved Michigan Neighbor

What's your favorite memory of living in a small town?

"Growing up as a little girl in Hazel Park, just a few doors down from us, there was a man by the name of Chief Redbird, who was Native American, and who had made Indian headdresses, eagle feathers, for the residents up until that time, and I'm soon to be 68, so we're talking over 60 years ago. He would let us wear the bonnets; he would let us have the drums; he would let us use the rattles with the turtle shells. And, he would teach us some of the dances and some of the songs.

He even had a television program, "Tom Tom That Night"(?), and he let the children in the neighborhood go on it. He also had a piano. My parents were very musical. He played various instruments, and so we grew up with the old songs. And, he was just an incredibly wonderful man. And, they had a young girl. They called her Princess Stella, and she is still my friend on Facebook all these many years later. We all took trips to Belle Isle, many, many barbecues there with many kinds of families. I had a rich, rich history."

Asset ID: 7005

Museum on Main Street storytelling platforms provide an opportunity for small and rural communities and their residents to share their thoughts, opinions, and anecdotes. However, the opinions and ideas expressed by individual storytellers’ may not necessarily be those maintained by the Smithsonian. Individual storytellers’ and their collaborators are solely responsible for the content of their narratives and stories.