Lorraine Marquez Eiler: The Remarkable Life of a Hia-Ced O'odham Woman

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

• Lorraine Marquez Eiler:The Remarkable Life of a Hia-Ced O'odham Woman
• Gayle Harrison Hartmann (bio), Sandra Martynec (bio), and Lorraine Marquez Eiler (bio)

Introductory Note

The work on this article began in May 2021 with three long interviews that Gayle and Sandra conducted with Lorraine to document her remarkable and fascinating life. The first interview was held on Sandra and Rick Martynec's patio at Coyote Howls Campground near Why, Arizona, and the second and third were held at the Curley School in Ajo, Arizona. These initial interviews were followed by many in-person conversations, as well as phone and email communications. The commentary in first person below is by Lorraine and is taken from tapes of these interviews and other conversations. The photos are from a variety of sources, but the majority are Lorraine's and, if a photo is not credited to someone else, then it is from Lorraine's personal collection. Gayle organized the draft and wrote the figure captions as well as the bracketed notes that are in italics. Most of these notes are within the text, but a few, longer ones appear as endnotes. Each bracketed note is intended to clarify and expand upon the topic that precedes it. Sandra collected the majority of the photos and she repaired those that were old and in poor [End Page 47] condition. Sandra also helped obtain names of individuals and places and the dates for some of the photos.

Growing Up at Darby Wells and Indian Village

I was born at the hospital in Ajo on November 20, 1936, and my parents lived at Darby Wells. My birth certificate lists my first name as Hazel, but I didn't know that was my name until much later when I saw my birth certificate for the first time. As a small child my parents called me by an Indian name, Letha, but when I went to school, I was called Florence, Lorena, Lorraine, and Florina. All those names are on my report cards. I don't know where these names came from. I suppose the teachers at the school came up with them. Later when I got a job with the Indian Health Service in 1957, I had to choose a name and I chose Lorraine.

I'm the oldest of nine children. My brothers are Emeterio, William, George, Thomas, and Alfred. My sisters are Geraldine, Nancy, Shirley (later, Sherry), Bernadette, and my half-sister Delfina. Delfina is older than I am. Emeterio, George, Thomas, Alfred, Geraldine, and Bernadette are no longer living. You can see that the total number of children is really 10, but since Geraldine only lived to be three and a half years old, I usually say I'm the oldest of nine, meaning I'm the oldest of nine who grew up.

When I was a baby or a toddler we moved to Morenci. My dad worked in the mine there and we lived in Morenci for a year or two. My parents had a house there, but from what my mom said, someone in the family died at Darby Wells and so they came home for the funeral and then my great-grandmother, who more or less raised my dad, refused to let him go back. So, they never went back to Morenci to pick up their stuff. My mom said they just left it. My mom said that the only thing she missed was an old phonograph. That's the only thing she talked about that she missed. They left everything in Morenci.

And then, I don't know where we lived but I do remember that my dad got a job in Wellton with the railroad. So, we all rode the caboose from Ajo to Gila Bend and then got on the main train to Yuma and got off in Wellton. I guess I was about four or five when we moved to Wellton. I barely remember things. We lived there for a period of time, maybe a year or maybe two years. But I remember he used to drive us around to visit relatives. My great-grandmother (Maria Garcia...