Longhouse School

(Lolita, in Oliver. BTW, “Oliver” is the name Kitten and I gave to the small previously owned “all-seasons” RV manufactured by the Oliver Travel Trailers that we had bought. Oh, and Kitten is my pet name for Heidi! Benita and Percy Maracle are Lori’s parents and my next door neighbors. They invited me over for brunch. Heading over soon.)

My day off! I have so much coursework to finish. I love being an ethnographer (in training). There are so many stories to document about Longhouse Elem. I don’t want to forget any of them!

At any rate, I got up bright and early as always, dressed, did Gongyo, and left Oliver to walk to the newly opened Field. Lo and behold, there was Lori joining me. She just grabbed my hand and off we walked. By agreement, the Field does not open to the Town or School District until 8am on Sundays, so we had it to ourselves.

“Can I lead warm-up today?” she asked. Sure, and so she did. “Can I go over the rules?” Sure, and so she did. “And don’t forget to hydrate yourself, Ms. Lolita.” I promised I would. And off we went. She ran with her beautiful stride and didn’t stop for a walk break until she was about to start her third lap. Altogether about ¾ of a mile!

When we finished, we sat down and talked on the beautiful “Do not walk on the lawn” infield. The sign doesn’t say “Do not sit on the infield,” she pointed out. If no one notices, we giggled, were we ever really here?

“It’s too long, Ms. Lolita.” What’s too long, honey? You did just great! I’m sure you will be able to do a full mile very soon! “No! That’s not what I meant. It’s just too long, Ms. Lolita.” I don’t get it, what’s too long? “Ms. Lolita.” What about Ms. Lolita? “It’s too long.” Huh?

Finally, I got it. You mean “Ms. Lolita” has four syllables and that’s too long! “Exactly, that’s what I just said!” she replied. “My name has only two syllables. Even three syllables is too long, Lo-Li-Ta. Two syllables max. I mean, ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad’—both one syllable, perfect. ‘Lo-ri,’ OK, I can deal with two. But three or more: No! Especially since you are now my Big Sister and I will have to use your name a lot.”

She had this all figured out. “In school I will call you ‘Ms. Lolita’ like all the other kids. I know, people think that shows respect. I think respect goes deeper than the number of syllables in a name. But I can go along with it. And you really mustn’t show me any favoritism. In fact, you should be stricter to me than anyone else!” She shared with me a long story about decision-making among her people, but I’ll save that for another time.

“But when we are together, just the two of us, can I call you ‘Lo’ or ‘Lee’?” I told her that would be fine with me with her parents’ permission. I shared that for many years people called me ‘Lita.’ “OK, I’ll take it, good compromise,” she said. I told her that we will have this conversation with her parents and see if they agree.

She was happy. “Tag!!! You’re It!” She raced to the pool. I let her win, barely. “Can I swim naked?” I gave her The Look and she moved on. “OK, but you never said I couldn’t do THIS!” She kicked off her sneakers and just jumped into the pool with all her clothes! “Come on in! It’s fun, *Lo-li-ta!” Splashing me, she asked, “Do you actually think that our Indigenous children ancestors had bathing suits from Walmart?” What the heck, I was soaked already from her splashing. I took off my sneakers and jumped in. It wasn’t until getting back in Oliver that I looked it up and learned that in Europe, as a drowning prevention measure, kids take lessons swimming fully clothed.

Going back to yesterday, I volunteered to babysit for Lori while her parents had a counseling session in town. They dropped us off at the library and she asked to see their collection on the Haudenosaunee. She pulled out books from both the children and the adult shelves. I was amazed how well she could read aloud! Shame on me, I had no idea! Why was she wasting time on “learning to read” workbooks? She should be “reading to learn”!

Kitten and I talked and texted for hours last night. We watched Star Trek: Strange New Worlds together (S3E6), texting away at highlights. Sometimes being apart is more interactive than being together! What an amazing surprise ending in this episode!

Off to breakfast with the Maracles. They had told me I was in for a big treat. I also guess we are going to have that maybe uncomfortable conversation about “Ms. Lolita.”