The subject of my interview was my mother. Her name is Willie Nixon and she is 71 years of age. Willie is of African (father) and Choctaw Indian (mother) descent. Opelika, Alabama is where she was born, in 1944. Willie was raised with her mother, siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins. The family owned the land, in which they lived. Becoming a teenager lead her to follow her older sisters to Anniston, Alabama where she currently resides and is a retired hospital Unit Secretary, which she worked for 39 years. Willie has been married for 54 years to my father, Mr. Harvey Nixon Jr., of Greensboro, Alabama.
Growing up in Opelika, Alabama was the country life. The family owned ten (10) acres of land, three (3) houses, cows, chickens and hogs. Their daily chores consisted of: gathering eggs from the chickens, milking the cows, feeding the hogs, tending the garden and picking crops. I would compared their way of living similar to a small reservation. Some of the older women had outside jobs, such as being maids for Caucasian families. There was racial tensions back then, but owning your own land and minding your own business allowed many Southerns to live at peace, at least that was the case for my family. They sold crops from their gardens, fresh eggs, beef, chicken, pork, baked goods and fresh milk. They provided a service for the community and in turn was able to secure more land for the family.
I was quite comfortable throughout the interview. There was no time that I felt uncomfortable during the interview. I found it rather fascinating to hear our family history again, and it made me excited to know more. No, this did not affect the thoroughness of my interview, to the contrary it was of assistance to dig deeper into our ancestry. This would have been different interviewing someone that was unrelated to me; due to it may not have interested me as much. Finding information about my ancestry is an adrenaline rush for me. To know where you come from is comforting and it reassures you of family. The interview gave me a sense of pride and a world of information that I may have never known; if I had not done this interview for a class assignment.
The kinship in my family would be traces descent matrilineally. This would be due to the men dying before the women on my mother's side of kinship. My grandfather died before my mother was born and she is the youngest of the children. Three (3) siblings of five (5) sisters husbands preceded them in death, while my mother is the longest living and her husband, my father is alive. The patterns I have noticed is that the women in my family was all left to raise their children together, so it helped that they lived on the family land in Opelika, Alabama, to help one another. Tending the land and crops was a family effort. There is an emphasis on the maternal lines, due to being raised mainly around my mother's side of the family. Even after my older aunts moved to Anniston, Alabama Willie shortly followed, and that is where she met Harvey. Willie and her sisters got together during holidays, birthdays, anniversaries and ancestral celebrations. Due to a difference of religion, Willie and her sisters stopped practicing African Spirituality. My aunts were not allowed to practice, and since most times they practiced together, the magic stopped. My uncles referred to as witchcraft, and in turn that ended our heritage. Currently, Willie is the only surviving sister of five (5).
The older in individuals in my family would be my cousins, because I have no grandparents, aunts or uncles left. Our family is no longer close like it use to be. We are located all over the world, including Belgium and Germany. We go not get together as often as we use to, but we still attend one another's birthday festivities. We have not had a family reunion in over 10+ years. Since my great-grandparents and grandparents dies the family is not close anymore. The younger generation in our family are lazy and feel entitled without the hard work. Most of cousins said they had it hard growing up and they do want their children to have it hard, but it only made them lazy and dependent on them for shelter, money and food.
There are ethnic differences within my family. All of us are African and Choctaw Indian mixed, some dark-skinned and some light-skinned. The only impact that affects our social interactions is my practice of African Spirituality, preferably voudou. My parents taught me the old ways and I taught my children. Some family members call us witches and have nothing to do with us, but that suits me just fine, being that I do not interact with them anyway. My father, Harvey kept our spirituality alive, because his family practiced as well. Even though my mother has not practiced in over 40 years, I do and I owe thanks to Harvey for that.
No, I do not know my father's side of the family well. They lived in Greensboro, Alabama and we did not get to visit much; due to my father and mother both working full-time jobs. However, I do know most of them and attend annual family reunions to get better acquainted. I was raised around and with my mother's side of the family, so I know them pretty well. No, I do socialize with them equally, because of the distance and I am more comfortable with my mother's side of the family. My father became estranged from his family, because of his alcohol addiction and the effects thereof. By the time he completed rehabilitation, his father and mother had passed.
Willie being the oldest living relative has the say so when it comes to family business. Her voice and wisdom is respected and called upon quite frequently. She is the owner of all the properties and land, since the passing of her siblings. Family members are treated accordingly. For example, if new family members show respect, then in turn they will be respected. We accept new members with open arms, but we expect the same in return. There are no attitudes towards family members based on gender, now my uncles have passed. In the past, my uncles frowned upon homosexuality and/or lesbianism. This was forbidden and got my cousin through out of the house. She was not allowed to come back home; until she was interested in males.
I have learned a great deal about my family, because of this assignment. I was able to see patterns, such as the men dying before the women in my family, and I never thought about that. You can see how culture is slowly removed from ones way of life, after moving to a new place and marrying someone from a different culture than yours. No matter what, I love my family and proud to be apart of such great people.
Great introduction to your mother. She had an interesting story to tell, didn't she?
ReplyDeleteGood discussion in your second section. I agree that having a personal relationship with the subject can indeed increase your interest level. That said, I'm fascinated by some of the stories all of your family members have to tell. Everyone has an interesting life to recall, and it is still interesting even though I am not personally related to them. That is likely the anthropologist in me! :-) And it is also how I feel when I conduct interviews. It doesn't matter if I know the people or not... the discussion is interesting and pushes you to ask further questions and dig deeper.
The interaction between the male and female sides of your family is fascinating. The women seem to be the driving force in the family, and yet it appears that your uncles had enough influence to stop the practice of magic by the women? Am I interpreting that correctly?
This caught my eye:
"The younger generation in our family are lazy and feel entitled without the hard work. Most of cousins said they had it hard growing up and they do want their children to have it hard, but it only made them lazy and dependent on them for shelter, money and food."
Is this your opinion or your mother's? Hard to tell here and I'm wondering if you agree with this opinion?
"There are no attitudes towards family members based on gender, now my uncles have passed."
There it is again, that reference to the "uncles" and attitudes toward women. Sounds like an interesting story to pursue. :-)
Great discussion in your fourth section. Because your family is a combination of native African and Choctaw, you have quite a mix of cultures. It would be interesting to try to parse out which cultural practices belonged to which ethnicity, to figure out which are "stronger" and more persistent. What ethnic background was your father and his side of the family? Did that produce any conflict with your mother and her side of the family?
Well done.
The women were the driving force of the family after their husbands passed. My aunts were rather submissive. However, my father is the easy going type, so my mother was free to practice her spirituality, but being that her sisters were a big part of the practices, she stopped when they did. She said that it took the fun out of it. However, I have practiced for over 20+ years and so do my husband and three (3) of our daughters.
DeleteMy mother and I share the same opinion, in regards to the cousins. She stated, "their parents believed that we were too hard on them growing up, so they coddle them by giving them everything and not making them work for it like we did and I taught you all."
My uncles were strict on my aunts and cousins, so we did not get to see them as much as we like. They made it clear that men should act like men. For example, my uncle kicked his son out when he found out that he was gay.
In our household, my mother was the strict one and my father was the easy going one. My mother was not the type of woman that you could control. She worked, did household chores, raised the four (4) children, took care of my father and never got in trouble a day in her life. She ran a tight ship took very good care of us growing up.
My father background is African. My love of African Spirituality comes from both parents. Both have a connection to nature through which I learned to love. My father loved to hunt, fish and grow our crops. My mother complimented him by growing flowers, preparing the food grown and storing it for future use. Due to my father's alcohol addiction and the problems it caused with his father, we were not close to his side of the family; except his aunt, uncle and a few cousins.
Melissa,
ReplyDeleteWhat a fascinating and rich family background you have! Even the geographic location Opelika, Alabama, sounds mysterious, and deep deep into the south. I couldn't help it so I check it out in wikipedia, "After the removal of the native Creek (Muscogee) peoples by federal troops in 1836-37, the area became known as "Opelika." This word taken from the Muskogee language means "large swamp". Settlement was sporadic until the late 1840s, when the railroad reached the town. This stimulated development of Opelika as a commercial center." Even today it is very small town in Alabama. I like how you get into the particulars of your kinship. One question: why did the males in your kinship would die so young? was it health, genes? It was puzzling to me. Women are strong and are the line that binds all your kinship. Very interesting to read your story.
Alicia.
Opelika, Alabama is where my mother and her family grew up. It was a beautiful country town I love and miss very much. I have not visited in over 35+ years. Once my grandmother passed, the only time we went back was to distribute properties among the family. I was born and raised in Anniston, Alabama.
DeleteThe males in my family did not die at young ages, to the contrary they live to be over 60+. It was just the matter of my aunts married older men, so they would bring me the conclusion of why they all died before my aunts; except two that are presently alive.
I must agree with you, that the women in my kinship are strong. My aunts worked hard all their lives to raise their families, in the mist of abusive relationships. That never deterred them and that is admirable in my eyes.