Peacock Women: Elsie and Nancy Weeks, Mother and Daughter…

FROM THIS CORNER
By
Glenna J. Wallace

PEACOCK WOMEN: ELSIE AND NANCY WEEKS, MOTHER AND DAUGHTER DYNAMIC DUO

Elsie Weeks in her early twenties

It’s a whole lot of energy, a whole lot of history and a whole lot of living packed together in this two-bedroom duplex located at the Woodlands, the Eastern Shawnee Elders Complex in rural Oklahoma. That’s because the dynamic mother-daughter duo of Elsie Weeks, 86-year mother, and Nancy Weeks, daughter, live together.
Let’s begin with Elsa or Elsie, as most people know her. Born January 3, 1933, this 86-year-old matriarch is the youngest of six children born to Alex and Amy Peacock. Those six were Ernestine Peacock Bradley, Margaret Peacock Dry, William Reid Peacock, Helen Peacock Gray, Harvey Peacock and Elsie Peacock Weeks. A combination of Eastern Shawnee and Wyandotte, Elsie proudly stretches out her hand and gesturing along her torso proclaims, “From the tip of my toe to the top of my head, I am Indian blood.” Some people refer to that as “full blood” while others use the terminology of “four-fourths (4/4)”, meaning that full blood refers to exclusively one tribe while four-fourths means all Indian but more than one tribe. Either way, few people can make that statement, so Elsie has every reason to be proud.

Another unique aspect of Elsie is that she attended the Wyandotte Indian School years 6, 7, 8, and 9 then transferred to Chilocco Indian School for grades 10, 11, and 12 graduating in 1951. She was quick to add that she didn’t like attending Chilocco, primarily because she had to be away from her mother. Particularly close to her mother, Elsie didn’t want to leave to get her education but her mother insisted. Elsie described her mother as “being a tough cookie, a firm believer in education,” so firm that all six of the children graduated from high school, a rarity in those days. Elsie’s favorite memories of childhood included picking wild onions and blackberries with her grandmother, Carrie BlueJacket, and the green grape pies she made. She also fondly remembers her parents speaking in Shawnee to keep the kids from knowing what they were saying but unfortunately Elsie and her siblings didn’t learn the language. Elsie also reflected upon memories of neighbor and newphew John Peacock who had just walked on the week I visited Elsie nd Nancy. Elsie recalled that John and his mother lived in Miami, Oklahoma when Elsie’s mother and father did. In fact John frequently stayed at their house and was best friends with Elsie and Helen Patricia or Patti. Elsie’s love and respect for John was evident as she told how at the age of 8 or 9 John had a paper route and he used that money to take care of his mother when she wasn’t able to work because of a broken tail bone due to her missing a chair when she went to sit down. “He was a mama’s boy, such a little bitty thing, taking care of his mom, even financially with his own money,” she recalled, wiping tears from her eyes as she spoke.

Concentrating on Home Economics and Secretarial courses at Chilocco, Elsie and her friend Edna Howerton went to Washington D.C. following graduation, where both worked for the government in an office job. When asked specifically what she did, Elsie jokingly responded, “Oh jack of all trades and master of none.” Later she stated she worked in D & B. Not knowing what that meant, I asked Elsie to explain and she laughingly said, “Death and Birth.”
On August 6, 1953, two years after arriving in DC, Elsie married her husband Keith, who was always known as Joe. It was the beginning of a new career for Elsie, a military wife. Her husband was a career man in the Marine Corps which necessitated their moving frequently, causing daughter Nancy to interject and describe their life as nomads or gypsies, living in various places both in the US and abroad. Ultimately Elsie and her husband became parents to three daughters: Wauleah, Nancy Lee and Debra.

At this point the story line turned to daughter Nancy who also lived a nomadic, gypsy style life due to her career in Commercial Aviation, specifically regulatory compliance. Never married, work became Nancy’s life and an interesting life it was. She was one of the first females to make a career in Commercial Aviation. In 1985 she was parking planes at Dulles Airport in Washington. “Those were really big planes, planes holding four to five hundred passengers. Few women did this and the bias was rampant. I was promoted to lead agent within six months, one of 11 women in a fleet of 700 employees. My work took me to live in Philadelphia, then Cleveland, on to Houston where I did safety manuals. Ultimately I focused on regulatory compliance involving 18 international airports and agencies such as OSHA, EPA, NTSP and others. Then Southwest offered me a job supervising fourteen employees in drug and alcohol testing which I did for fourteen years. Never once in that time did I have a notice of violation. Life was interesting. I was never a domesticated goddess. In fact, I must be the worst cook in the world. I ate mostly in hotels, ate good too. Made good money too. But then Dad and Mom’s health wasn’t very good and they needed help. I retired in 2008, to take care of my parents. So here was this female who has traveled the entire world, fifty plus in age, having her father teach her how to cook. Oh brother! I did get a little help from Mom and today I excel at fried rice, do a mean Yankee Pot Roast, but with Dad’s military background, SOS was his favorite.”

Nancy’s dad passed away in 2014. Lovingly she recalled details of his funeral at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, the maroon and gold colors of the Marine Corps, the 21-gun volley associated with deaths of Presidents but also signifying the highest of military honor. Looking over at her mother Elsie, Nancy softly added, “When her time comes, she will be cremated, taken back and placed with him.”

Nancy Weeks, Daughter of Joe and Elsie Weeks

When asked why she and her mother chose to move from Virginia where they had lived so long to the Woodlands near Wyandotte, Oklahoma, Nancy said health care has put them in the poor house. Nancy has rheumatology which requires extensive treatment and medication. She explained that with her previous insurance her co-pay went from $35 to $75, with $5,000 out of pocket per treatment plus, within 4 months she was $20,000 in the hole. Here she is able to access the Indian Health Care at Bearskin Clinic, jointly owned by the Wyandotte and Eastern Shawnee. Her final comment was, “It’s been quite an adjustment. When people are older and in poor health, insurance companies put the premiums up so high that people can’t afford it. Thank goodness for the tribe.”

Nancy went on to praise other aspects of the tribe, saying everyone is so friendly. She praised neighbors Gary, recently deceased John and Joe and Norma Kraus. She was especially complimentary of the nutrition centers’ employees, Susan Patterson and Leia Foster, who deliver meals to Nancy and Elsie. “Not only do they bring good food (you remember what I said about my being a domestic goddess), but they are absolutely wonderful. You couldn’t have better employees. Mom and I both have extreme difficulty getting around and when Susan or Leia deliver the meals, they always ask, “Are you OK? Do you need anything? Do we need to put something away for you? Do we need to feed the dog?’ Then smilingly Nancy adds, “Plus the Outpost Casino is right here and on weekends when we don’t get meals delivered, we are able to drive there and eat. They have great food. Mom loves the ribs and I like the mushrooms. They have good sandwiches too.” About that time the little dog affectionately known as “The Beast” rouses, begins barking and Nancy states, “Plus you can have a dog and everybody knows, ‘Life’s better with a ShihTzu.”
The entire time Elsie or Nancy talked, Nancy was intermittently on the computer. I asked her if she happened to be playing a game. She smiled, nodded her head and said, “Yes, it’s League of Angels. I play with people around the world.” So appropriate for two dynamic ladies who spent much of their lives traveling the world.