Topic: Ray Family Stories
Yesterday, I visited two of my grandparents, Jerry and Ella Ann Begay. While I was jogging yesterday, I ran into them by Tse Sijaa' and told them of my interests of visiting them.
From Ella Begay, I gained alot of information concerning my ancestry. Her great-grandmother was named 'Asdzaa To 'Aheedliinii (Water-Flows-Together Woman). She is the cousin of my grandmother's great-grandmother, Hastiin Alts'isi Ba 'Asdzaa (Wife of Old Little Man). This would make Hastiin Alts'isi Ba 'Asdzaa my great-great-great grandmother.
When Hastiin Alts'isi Ba 'Asdzaa was born, her mother was in labor for 9 days. Apparently, the baby was lying side-to-side in the mother's stomach rather than with the head downward, thereby making this pregnancy difficult. Since no one couldn't deliver the baby, it was decided that the mother's stomach would be cut opened to deliver it. By chance, a man came by and noticed how much pain the mother was in and asked "Doesn't anyone of you know how to turn the baby around?" He positioned the baby properly and the baby was naturally delivered. Not only was the mother swollen and purple from all this, the baby itself was swollen and bruised all over from this ordeal.
Because of the difficult pregnancy, the mother of Hastiin Alts'isi Ba 'Asdzaa did not want the baby. So, 'Asdzaa To 'Aheedliinii adopted her cousin as her own child. The time-frame of this is unknown since birth records were only given in the early 1900's, when Chapter Houses were established across the reservation. Still, this pre-dates the Long Walk.
I hear that the younger brother and sister of Shinali (My Paternal Grandfather) currently lives north of Draper's Ranch. My next goal is to interview them next.