Ben Blue is born prematurely on a kitchen table in Chicago in 1956. As the tiny HoChunk Indian takes his first breath, he has no idea of the challenges that await him in life. Ben grows up amid poverty in his grandparents' Wisconsin home where he learns how to fight, face bullies, and play football. As he is shuttled between his alcoholic mother's home and his grandparents', Ben must cling to hope that he can one day overcome the despair that has haunted the American Indians for generations. When Ben moves to California with his mother, his life spirals downward after he is introduced to drugs and alcohol. After his mother dies, Ben journeys through the darkness of addiction and poverty-until he commits to sobriety, causing his life to take a turn for the better. Even as Ben finds a job, earns a college degree, marries, and has children, he must battle the lures of his addiction. As his path leads him to explore his HoChunk identity and address stereotypical images of Indians, he proudly makes a declaration that changes everything. My Name is Not Chief shares the tale of an American Indian's struggles as he attempts to overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles and find his place in the world.
My Name Is Not Chief
The Life of an American Indian
By Ben Blue, Kent KoppelmanAuthorHouse
Copyright © 2015 Kent Koppelman
All rights reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-5049-6780-8Contents
Preface, vii,
1. Against the Wind, 1,
2. Hope Town, 14,
3. A Lost Spirit, 39,
4. From First to Last, 60,
5. The Pursuit of Happiness, 72,
6. Big Soldier, 91,
7. The Commitment, 122,
8. A Fork in the Road, 148,
9. The Ho-Chunk Name, 186,
10. Indians and Chiefs, 204,
End Notes, 219,
CHAPTER 1
Against the Wind
I was born in 1956 on a kitchen table in Chicago.
The baby's mother was Beverly Rivers. She was not originally from Chicago but had grown up on the Winnebago Reservation in Nebraska before moving to Wisconsin as a teenager. She graduated from public school at Black River Falls, and then returned to the reservation and began to date Charles Cramer. "Chuck" had also grown up on the Nebraska Winnebago reservation, but he was much older than Beverly, almost ten years. There were few jobs available on reservations, but there were federal programs that encouraged Indians to leave their homes and relocate to an urban area, based on the assumption that Indians would be more likely to find gainful employment in a city. Beverly applied for and received an Eisenhower Grant that provided her with enough money to travel to Chicago and rent an apartment while she looked for work. Shortly after she found a job, her sister Alice came to live with her and was also able to find a job. There was a large American Indian community in Chicago, so in their free time the two sisters socialized with other Indians and made many new friends.
This was when Beverly got reacquainted with Chuck Cramer. He had lived in Chicago years ago trying to find work as an artist. Most of the time he had to be content with jobs requiring menial labor, but he received a few commissions to paint murals in libraries and city halls. He had decided to try his luck once again. Chuck was dark but not tall or especially handsome. Beverly liked him because he didn't push himself on her like some of the other Indian men. In time the two became intimate, but the relationship ended when Beverly became pregnant. Chuck's amiable personality underwent a dramatic transformation. He accused her of promiscuity and denied his paternity, forcing her to deal with the unanticipated dilemma of being a single mother.
Beverly was glad that she already had a job, but once the baby was born she would need help. Her salary gave her enough money to provide childcare, but she needed to find someone to take care of the baby while she was at work. In accordance with Indian ways, the word went out among the Winnebago that a baby needed someone to care for it. Most Winnebago elders knew at least one member of each other's families, and their orientation was collective not individual. A history of acting in the best interests of the community had helped them survive years of poverty. Although they usually found a family member or friend to take care of a child during hard times, it was not a choice made lightly. For American Indian families, most times were hard times.
The woman who offered to take care of this baby was Germaine, the sister of the baby's biological grandmother, Lula. Germaine lived with Milford Blue who had fathered six children with Lula. Germaine and Milford lived in the Wisconsin Dells near Beverly's older brother Leroy, whose wife Ellen was also pregnant. Ellen and Beverly joked about competing to have the first grandchild in the family. Before she married Leroy, El
