Elizabeth Bender Roe Cloud facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Elizabeth Bender Roe Cloud
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| Equay Zaince | |
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| Born |
Elizabeth Georgiana Bender
April 2, 1887 White Earth Indian Reservation, in northwestern Minnesota
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| Died | September 16, 1965 (aged 78) |
| Nationality | American |
| Other names | Elizabeth Roe-Cloud, Elizabeth Bender Cloud, Elizabeth G. Bender |
| Occupation | activist, educator, Native American club woman |
| Years active | 1908–1958 |
| Spouse(s) | Henry Roe Cloud (m. June 1916) |
| Children | 6; including Woesha Cloud North |
| Relatives | Chief Bender (brother) Renya K. Ramirez (granddaughter) |
Elizabeth Bender Roe Cloud (born April 2, 1887 – died September 16, 1965) was an Ojibwe activist and educator. She worked to improve life for Native American people.
Elizabeth graduated in 1907 from the Hampton Institute. This was a government boarding school in Virginia. It was part of an effort by the U.S. government to change Native American cultures. After graduating, Elizabeth taught for the Indian Service from 1908 to 1916. She taught in schools across the country.
Later, she joined her husband, Henry Roe Cloud. Together, they ran the American Indian Institute in Wichita, Kansas, for 25 years. In the 1940s, she started the Oregon Trails Women's Club. This club was for women from the Umatilla Indian Reservation.
Elizabeth became the National Chair of Indian Welfare for the General Federation of Women's Clubs. She was the first Native American to hold this important job. In 1950, she received the National Mother of the Year award. In 1952, she was honored as the "Outstanding Indian" of the year. She used her education and influence to speak up for Native American self-determination. This means Native Americans having the right to make their own decisions.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Elizabeth Georgiana Bender was born on April 2, 1887. Her native name was Equay Zaince. She was born on the White Earth Indian Reservation in northwestern Minnesota. Her mother, Mary, was from the Mississippi Chippewa band. Her father, Albertus Bliss Bender, was a German immigrant. Her mother was a healer and helped deliver babies for her tribe.
Elizabeth was one of eleven children. Five of them, including Elizabeth, went to the Hampton Institute. Her older sister Anna also became a teacher. Two of her older brothers, John and Charles Albert "Chief" Bender, were famous baseball players. Chief Bender was even put into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1953.
Elizabeth started boarding school around age nine. She attended Catholic Sisters Schools in Minnesota. From 1898 to 1902, she studied at the Pipestone Boarding School. She studied for half the day and did manual labor for the other half. In 1903, she went to the normal school (a school for training teachers) at the Hampton Institute. She finished her studies there in 1907. She then took more courses in teaching and home economics.
Career and Advocacy
In 1908, Elizabeth Bender began teaching at the Blackfeet Reservation in Browning, Montana. She taught there for two years. She also completed a nursing course in Philadelphia in 1910. She returned to the Blackfeet Reservation in 1912. The next year, she moved to the school at the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation in Montana.
At these schools, she was not only a teacher. She also served as a housemother for the students living there. Sometimes, she even cooked for them. She also treated students for eye infections like trachoma.
In 1914, Elizabeth attended a conference for the Society of American Indians. She had joined this group when she graduated. At this meeting, she met Henry Roe Cloud, a member of the Winnebago tribe. They started a relationship.
In 1915, Elizabeth taught at the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. There, she started a Camp Fire Girls program. This program helped girls learn skills for home and art. Henry Roe Cloud, meanwhile, started the Roe Institute in Wichita, Kansas. This school, later called the American Indian Institute, prepared Native American men for college. Elizabeth and Henry married on June 12, 1916.
Leading the American Indian Institute
Elizabeth and Henry made their home in Wichita. Elizabeth worked at the American Indian Institute (AII). She was the matron, which meant she managed the household. She also handled the school's money. Henry did not have much teaching experience, so Elizabeth often advised him. She played a big part in running the school for 20 years.
The AII was different from other Native American schools. It taught about indigenous cultures, along with regular school subjects. Elizabeth and Henry had six children. Their family grew to include Elizabeth Marion, Anne Woesha, Lillian Alberta, Ramona Clark, and Henry Jr. After Henry Jr. died, they adopted Jay Hunter.
In 1931, Henry started working for the Bureau of Indian Affairs. He traveled to study conditions like education and health in Native American communities. Elizabeth often managed the school when he was away. In 1932, she went back to school part-time at Wichita University. She eventually earned her bachelor's degree.
In 1937, a fire destroyed the school. After trying to stay open, the school closed in 1939. That same year, President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked Elizabeth to represent minority groups. She attended the White House Conference on Children and Youth. There, she met Sadie Orr Dunbar, who led the General Federation of Women's Clubs (GFWC).
Advocacy with Women's Clubs
In 1940, Elizabeth's family moved to the Umatilla Indian Reservation. Henry became the superintendent there. Elizabeth became involved in the Woman's club movement. She started the Oregon Trails Women's Club for women on the reservation.
In 1948, she was chosen to lead the Indian Welfare Committee for the Oregon State Federation of Women's Clubs. Her job was to help Native American women and work for equal rights for indigenous people.
Henry died in 1950. That same year, Elizabeth won the Golden Rule Foundation's Mother of the Year award. This award was partly because all four of her daughters went to college. Marion was the first Native American to graduate from Wellesley College. Anne Woesha was the first indigenous woman to graduate from Vassar. Lillian graduated from the University of Kansas, and Ramona also graduated from Vassar.
This award made Elizabeth famous. She began giving speeches and writing articles across the country. She also became the head of the national Indian Affairs Division for the GFWC. She was the first Native American to be named Mother of the Year and the first to lead this GFWC division. She led it for eight years.
Elizabeth created a "Point Four Program." This program aimed to:
- Help Native Americans join mainstream schools and opportunities.
- Provide leadership training.
- Expand cultural programs.
- Conduct studies on Native American issues.
She urged every club to create Indian Affairs committees. By 1951, 40 states had these offices. She also pushed for state organizations to offer scholarships for Native children. She traveled over 22,000 miles to assess conditions for tribes in 22 states and Alaska. She also worked as a field officer for the National Congress of American Indians (NCAI).
Fighting for Native American Rights
Elizabeth Roe Cloud used her voice to advocate for indigenous people. She believed Native Americans could be self-sufficient. But she argued that the government needed to stop taking away their power, resources, and customs.
She proposed a "Charter of Indian Rights" to the GFWC. This plan was adopted in 1952. It asked the government to:
- Work faster to end poverty and illiteracy in tribes.
- Provide good health and resource protection.
- Allow Native communities to manage their own affairs once they showed they could.
She saw her role as advising and helping communities develop their own plans. She wanted communities to set their own goals. In 1952, she was named the "Outstanding Indian" of the year by the American Indian Exposition in Anadarko, Oklahoma.
In 1953, Elizabeth helped Helen Peterson become the executive director of NCAI. She took Helen to reservations to help her understand different tribes and build connections.
When the government proposed House concurrent resolution 108, Elizabeth fought against it. This resolution aimed to end the government's responsibility for Indian lands. It also tried to force tribes to assimilate into mainstream culture. Elizabeth pressed the GFWC to oppose this law. The GFWC, along with other groups and Native American communities, fought against it. This policy was eventually defeated in the 1960s.
Legacy
Elizabeth Roe Cloud died on September 16, 1965, in Portland, Oregon. She was able to work between two different worlds during a difficult time for Native Americans. She became a role model for future activists.
Unlike some others, Elizabeth wanted to involve indigenous people in creating their own solutions. Her daughter, Anne Woesha, became an activist after her mother's death. She took part in the Occupation of Alcatraz.
