Growing up, we played cowboys and Indians. All that we knew about either was from the Saturday picture show. Cowboys rode horses and shot Indians and Indians rode horses and shot cowboys.

From one picture show to the next, we swapped roles back and forth from cowboys to Indians.

Cowboys had cap guns and Indians made bows and arrows from bamboo and fishing lines. Nobody won. We just played out the Saturday picture show which ended with little bodily harm.

Out in the cow pasture, we often found broken pieces of clay pots and arrowheads, so we knew Indians once lived in the countryside.

Daddy was in the Army Air Corps during WWII and was stationed in Montana where I was born.

Daddy had pictures of Montana and of Indians, so I thought that, maybe, I was just a little Indian. My cousin Jimmy said I couldn’t be because I had a real mama and daddy.

When was 17 years old, U.S. Sen. Lister Hill recommended me for a summer job at Yellowstone National Park.  At last, I had the opportunity go “home” to Montana.

There, I worked at Fishing Bridge where tourists came to fish, ride horses and eat hamburgers.

Not one Indian did I see.

The next year, I worked as a pantry girl at large park complex making relish dishes for five thousand tourists and also flipped burgers at the 200 employees’ cafeteria.

When all park employees at Canyon Village had been served, cafeteria employees could go and serve themselves.

It was the beginning of the summer season, so I didn’t know many employees. So, I took the first empty seat. I had not even picked up my fork when a fellow cafeteria employee came and offered me a place with the cafeteria crew.

“I’m okay here,” I said.

I didn’t know I was sitting at the table reserved for the Blackfeet Indians, who sat off to themselves. For me, there was not a better seat in the whole cafeteria.

After that day, I had standing reservations at the Blackfeet Indians’ table all summer long. I learned a lot about Native Americans and gained a greater respect and admiration for them.

And the Blackfeet Indians learned to like fried “baloney “sandwiches.