November 2009 - Citizen Potawatomi Nation

6 HowNiKan November (Giwse Gises) 2009, vol. 30 issue 7
Elder of The Month: : Wanda Navarre Scarbrough
Reported and written by Sheila Hughes
Wanda Maureen Navarre Scarbrough is
the Citizen Potawatomi Nation’s honored
elder of the month. “I was born at home in
Harrah, Oklahoma on April 21, 1936,”
Wanda said. Her great-great-great-grandparents
were Pierre Navarre and Angelique
(Kechouckquah).
Angelique is said to be the daughter of
the Potawatomi Indian Chief Warbansee
( N i n o c o b - I n - n a - N i n o c o b - i n - n a ) .
Angelique and Pierre Navarre were married
in 1820 in ‘the woods’ and lived in a
small cabin Pierre built for his bride. It was
located on the riverside in South Bend,
Indiana.
Navarre, who was also Potawatomi and
a fur trader for the American Fur
Company, made a fortune for its owner,
John Jacob Astor. Alex Coqillard took over
Pierre’s fur trading license and prospered,
as Pierre chose to ‘live like the Indian’, not
taking more than was needed to live.
After having several children, Angelique
walked on in 1838; records indicate
that she is buried in the Cedar Grove
Cemetery at Notre Dame University. That
same year, the Potawatomis in Marshall
and Fulton counties of Indiana were forced
to walk to Kansas, a migration now known
as ‘The Trail Of Death’.
In 1840, Indians around the South Bend
area also had to go west. Some accounts
state that Navarre accompanied his children
from Indiana, but returned, as he was
the founder of South Bend. He spent his
last days in his daughter Frances’ home in
Monroe, Michigan, walking on in 1864.
He is also buried at Cedar Grove, in South
Bend Indiana, a Potawatomi burial site.
Pierre Navarre’s old cabin became a
‘cow barn’. For many years, it seemed
South Bend residents had nearly forgotten
their founder. The cabin was given to the
Northern Indiana Historical Society in
1900, then restored and moved to Leeper
Park. It fell into disrepair and was again
restored, this time by the South Bend
Garden Club. Each spring it is the site of
‘Cabin Days’ for schoolchildren to learn
about pioneer ways such as candle-dipping,
cooking over an open fire, basketweaving,
and hunting.
Anthony Navarre, Pierre’s and Angelique’s
son, had previously owned the land
that is now Rossville, Kansas. Also, Lewis,
Anthony’s son, sold his allotted land to a
man named Frank Harrah. That land is the
site of Harrah, Oklahoma, in eastern
Oklahoma County. Lewis and his wife
Julia were the parents of Edward Navarre,
Elder–of-the-Month Wanda’s grandfather.
Our honoree’s grandparents, Edward
and Alta Navarre, lived in Harrah in a oneroom
home with no modern convinces.
Born to this couple were Jesse Marie,
Wanda, Ramona, and Emery Leroy,
Wanda’s father. Wanda says she visited her
grandparents quite often, seeking wisdom
and receiving unconditional love. “I was
named after my aunt Wanda,” she said.
Edward and Alta Navarre lived in the
small home until 1960. At that time,
Wanda’s grandparents moved to a modern
rent-house about a block away, as Edward
had suffered a stroke, which left him paralyzed
on one side.
On January 3, 1935, Emery Navarre
married Virginia Herron. Virginia bore
three children, our honoree Wanda
Maureen, Ronald (Sonny), and Carolyn
Sue. The three were very close, and they
“palled around” throughout their childhood.
Living in Harrah, Oklahoma, Wanda
recalled, “We had a wood burning stove
until I was about 10 years old, then we got
electricity and gas.”
She continued, “I went to Harrah
School, but didn’t graduate because I got
married to Ray Vernon Scarbrough when I
was 16. We met at the movies in McLoud,
(Oklahoma), where Ray lived.”
The young couple had a quaint marriage
ceremony at Ray’s sister’s home. “We didn’t
have much money and didn’t own a
car,” Wanda said. She and Ray traveled to
San Antonio, Texas. “Ray was stationed at
Randolph Air Fore Base. I missed my family,
I was kind of a momma’s baby, and I
cried when I left home,” she said with a
laugh.
Soon, Ray was shipped to Okinawa,
and Wanda returned to Harrah to live with
her parents during the 18 months of his
absence. “When he got back, we were stationed
at Vance AFB in Enid,” Wanda
recalled. Their first child, Terry Ray was
born at the base.
They resided there for one year, until
her husband once again left American soil
to serve in Istanbul, Turkey. “Not long
after he went, me and the baby went over
there, too,” Wanda said. “I enjoyed the
year we spent in Turkey. We lived in a twostory
apartment on the second floor. You
see, the higher up you lived the more influence
you had.”
She continued, “I even had a maid. They
were very inexpensive, and that was the
custom for military families. I really
enjoyed the beautiful countryside, too.”
She added. “I was pregnant, and I was
glad I didn’t have to go to the hospital over
there. We lived on an outpost, so you had
to fly on Turkish airlines, and when you
got there, you just had to wait in line.”
Upon returning to America, Ray
received an honorable discharge in May of
1962.
On August 3 of that year, Ronnie Lee,
the Scarbroughs’ second son, was born at
St. Anthony’s Hospital in Oklahoma City.
“When he was 10 years old, he was diagnosed
with juvenile diabetes. I wish I had
a dime for every time we spent at the emergency
room with Ronnie.” Wanda said.