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Moreno, Joseph (audio interview #2 of 3)
INTERVIEW DESCRIPTION - This is the second of three interviews conducted for an American Indian Studies class. Details of the interview process are lacking. 11/30/1978 12:00:00 AM
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- 2019-09-26
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- SUBJECT BIO - Joseph John Moreno was born in the small settlement of Green Valley in what is today Encinitas . Although baptismal records recorded his birth date as 1897, he accepted his father's claim of 1898, which was used for all his official records. His mother (Micaela Gilbert) was Chumash Indian, Irish, and Spanish from Santa Barbara, California. His father (Jose Gabriel Moreno), who was Mayo Indian and Spanish came from Sonora, Mexico to California as a boy. Moreno was raised among the Kumeyaay (Diegeno) and Payoomkachoom (Luiseno) people in the present day Pala, Escondido, and San Diego area. After his parents separated, when he was four years old, he was placed in an orphanage in Anaheim, where he remained for one year, during which time he had learned some English. After he returned to live with his father, the family moved around quite a bit and he was pulled out of school for long stretches to work. At the age of fourteen, he left home briefly and then returned and worked in the sugar beet fields until age eighteen. From 1917 to 1927, Moreno worked in construction in San Pedro and then returned home to care for his father. During the Depression, he rode the rails and worked at a variety of jobs in Arizona and Mexico. Although not discussed in his interviews, from the 1940s until the 1960s, Moreno was an active member of Piledrivers Local 2375, Wilmington - one of the few people of color to be allowed into the union - and served more than two terms as president of the Local. He was inducted into the AFL-CIO Labor Hall of Fame in 1991 and is featured in Archie Green's, Wobblies, Pile Butts and Other Heroes (University of Illinois Press, 1993). Green alludes to Moreno's Chumash heritage, mentioning "intricate walking stick topped by a carved blue sea dolphin." Moreno began to remember, explore and affirm his Chumash heritage in the 1950s after he was reconciled with his mother, before her death. Later, after his retirement in the 1970s, he moved to Banning, California with his wife, Rosita, a Tohono/Akimal O'odham woman from Arizona. They lived at the Morongo Cahuilla and Serrano Morongo Indian Reservation, where she was Director for the Food for the Aged Program. He became a known herbalist and Native artist on the reservation, making gourd rattles, bows and arrows, rabbit (throwing) sticks, shell jewelry, bone awls and needles, walking sticks and more, often selling his pieces at the annual reservation fiestas and on the intertribal Pow Wow circuit. Some of his work ended up in local museums. By the 1980s, Moreno was a well-known Elder in the intertribal Indian community, and was often asked to perform respected duties like blessing the grounds before a Pow Wow or Fiesta, conducting Naming Ceremonies, and Opening Prayers for ceremonies. He traveled to Santa Barbara with his family to attend the monthly meetings of the Coastal Band of the Chumash Nation. At the time, he was the oldest living Chumash Elder of the Coastal Band and was recognized by other Chumash groups, as well, and was one of the honored Elders at a special gathering at the Santa Ynez (Chumash) Reservation. His daughter, Georgiana Sanchez notes: "Despite the hardships and heartache of his early life, Joseph John died a Chumash man, beloved and respected by his family, the Chumash community, and the intertribal Indian community. His funeral services included Chumash ceremonies at the all-night vigil and at the gravesite." [Note: Moreno's Chumash heritage is touched upon only very briefly in his oral history, and because the interview with him was conducted in 1978, there is no record of his later activities and status as an artist and Elder. These details, as well as information about his union activism, were provided by his daughter, American Indian Studies professor and poet, Georgiana Sanchez.] TOPICS - childhood memories; moving from homestead to homestead; move to Escondido; parents' marriage and separation; and placement in orphanage in Anaheim; life in orphanage; living with father in Fullerton; schooling; working in fields; and memories of Fullerton; stepmother; termination of schooling at age twelve; stepmother burning books; leaving home in 1912; journey to Los Angeles; and living in Los Angeles;returning home from Los Angeles; working in Mexicali; and the Depression;
- *** File: aijmoreno3.mp3 Audio Segments and Topics: (0:00-3:51)... Moreno continues to recount his earliest memories and his childhood. In 1902 his family moved and he was not afraid of anything; he was attacked by a gander and it took part of his thigh but he had it by the neck trying to kill it. He and his family were moving from homestead to homestead. Moreno's father was trying to make a home for them. He was never spanked by his mother, but his father did slap him once when Moreno swore at him. (3:51-8:12)... Moreno recalls the family being at Headquarter Ranch and a man lifting him with one hand. Moreno's sister and his brothers were playing outside and he heard a sound and everything lit up like daylight. The ground shook and his mother fainted. This was approximately 1902 and a meteor had hit. It sounded like a freight train. Although some men followed the line of it, they never found where it hit. (8:12-9:22)... When Moreno's family moved to Escondido, his father and mother were on the verge of breaking, but then his mother had another baby. He recalls traveling to Escondido with his mother and the walnuts that grew on the side of the road; he still remembers the taste. (9:22-13:52)... Moreno was riding with his mother and his youngest sister. His mother was driving a wagon down the mountain when the gray mares took a notion to run away. They went to a stream for water at the bottom of the mountain. His mother drank from the stream. When they returned, her arm began to swell as well as her throat and tongue. His father sent his brother on a horse to the main ranch to get help. (13:52-25:04)... In 1903 the family moved toward Escondido. During this time, Moreno met the man who would marry his mother after his parents separated. The man worked on the same ranch as Moreno's father. Moreno remembers his parents arguing when he was a child and how hot tempered his father could be. His father would leave when they argued. His mother was fifteen and his father thirty-five when they married. She wanted a city life while he wanted a country life. Moreno's father kept four children with him and the youngest child, Georgianna, lived with Moreno's mother after his parents separated. Georgiana died when she was fourteen years old. (25:04-30:35)... When his parents split up, Moreno went with his father and siblings on the train from Escondido to Anaheim and saw the ocean for the first time. In Anaheim, Moreno's father gave him to an orphanage, where we started school. He knew something was wrong and he was taken in by the nuns there. He was five years old. He remembers always having shoes and how the sisters took care of him; he did not speak any English except for the word "water." He was given many glasses of water because it was the only word he knew. End of tape *** File: aijmoreno4.mp3 (0:00-6:31)... Note: the sound during the first two minutes of the tape is muffled. Moreno learned English and was speaking English, but it is not clear if he learned it at the orphanage. The first week there, he wet his bed as he did not know where to go to the bathroom. He was pulled outside by his ear by one of the sisters. She put the mattress on his head and told him to stand there until it was dry. One of the sisters that had taken a liking to him helped Moreno inside to breakfast and he and another boy who had wet his bed went to eat. In the orphanage, Moreno did not eat lunch; they had a big basket of bread around ten o'clock. He recalls being thirsty and drinking water when a nun yelled at him that if he drank water he would wet the bed. That same day, a pipe broke and all the boys began to drink from it, so he also had a good drink. (6:31-11:22)... Moreno recalls that in the orphanage at 10:00 am they came around with a basket of bread. Moreno's brother and stepmother came to see him and this was the first time he had seen his stepmother. His stepmother brought him marbles and candy. Shortly afterwards, his father came to visit. Moreno's spirit was broken in the orphanage; he described himself as a shell. He was there fourteen months and he knew that the nuns had to go far to break his spirit. The marbles that his stepmother brought him did not last one day before they were spilled out of the bag by the other boys and lost in the cracks of the floor. (11:22-13:03)... While he was in the orphanage, which was a Catholic boys institution, Moreno went to church every Sunday. He did not get any affection while he was in the orphanage. Although there was one sister who favored him, she never showed any physical affection. (13:03-16:14)... Moreno went home to live with his father in Fullerton. He recalls that his first night home he was at the table for dinner and everyone was eating. He did not eat because no one told him to eat. He also had nightmares from the orphanage and he had phobias for years. Moreno clarifies an earlier statement that he did learn to write and speak English in the orphanage. When his father asked him what he learned while he was there, Moreno told him that he was able to write his name. (16:14-20:40)... Moreno started school in Fullerton in the first grade when he was seven years old. The first week he was in school, a Black boy in line going into school stuck a safety pin in his arm. Moreno cussed at him and a teacher heard him and stood him in the corner. He finally told her that the boy had stuck a pin in his arm and she pulled him out of the corner. (20:40-22:09)... The next semester Moreno was pulled out of school to pick chile peppers and the family moved. The family moved again and Moreno went to Orangethorpe School until they moved again. (22:09-23:04)... The first Christmas that Moreno spent in Fullerton, he was asked by a boy what he got for Christmas. He recalls that he responded "nufing; " that is how he remembers saying the word. He also recalls a boy who was always picking on him and his brother. Moreno hit him and knocked his tooth out. (23:04-27:59)... In 1906, the people around Fullerton were mostly Protestant. Moreno had been taught in the orphanage that Protestants were of the devil. Moreno's Protestant neighbors helped his father while he was sick and hired his brother to work. Moreno was pulled out of school to work the hay bailers; his father sent him to school around October or November and pulled him out in April or May. His father was ill and the family needed Moreno to work. His father was cured without doctors; he was given a cure by a woman who was a daughter of a friend. The cure was turnips, olive oil and brandy. His father had a chance to rent ten acres and ended up making $800. (27:59-30:38)... When Moreno's father's doctor heard that he was alive and came to see him, Moreno saw a car for the first time. The doctor asked his father what he used to cure himself, but fearing that the doctor would use the cure to make money, Moreno's father would not tell him. Moreno comments how kind the neighbors were to his father while he was ill. Moreno made all of his toys and his own games as he was alone all of the time. While his brother was working Moreno would herd the cows. End of tape. *** File: aijmoreno5.mp3 (0:00-5:35)... Moreno told his father that he liked the Irish people who traveled through. He worked for a local Irish family and they paid him $1 and gave him lunch. Moreno's family had cows and chickens and pigs on the ranch. His stepmother was a city girl and wanted to leave to go back to the city. She made a deal with his father that when Antonia was eleven or twelve she would come back to raise her. Moreno went to find her when Antonia was of age and when he found her she was a country girl. She finished raising Antonia. She never liked Moreno or his brother and she never gave them a kind word although she did keep Moreno and his brother fed and clothed. She hit Moreno once in the back and he cussed her out behind the barley field when he thought he was alone. (5:35-8:01)... Moreno thought he was alone when he was cussing his stepmother out behind the barley field, and he felt a sharp hit on his bottom. He turned to find no one there and was so scared by the incident that he started praying instead of cussing her out. He had another experience like this when he was at a neighboring ranch farm. He wanted to go swimming and was about to jump into a hole that was very deep. He had his clothes off and about to jump when he felt a whack on his bottom. He put his clothes on and never said anything to his brother or sister. (8:01-12:13)... Moreno went to school on and off and only for short spells. After his stepmother left, things began to go wrong and they had to move again. They moved into a tent. Moreno's father's arm was injured and he could not work. They moved again to another place to a private part of Bixby's pastures where there were cattle and flowing wells. He and his brother and him were learning to ride their horse. Moreno bought an old mare and his father teamed the horse up with another and sold it. Moreno tried to get half the money from the sale but his father bought him another which had bad legs. His father took care of the horse, nursed it back to health and Moreno took to the horse. It was then Moreno found his love for horses, eventually his father sold the horse and it died; his father told Moreno it died of a broken heart. (12:13-17:02)... In 1910, when he was twelve years old, Moreno was pulled out in the fifth grade. His sister was about to be marry at fifteen against her father's wishes. When he was at ten years old, Moreno was taught to read and write Spanish by an Indian he knew who was very well educated but an alcoholic. Moreno had a box of books that belonged to his brother that were given to him by a neighbor. His favorite books were history and geography. He would come home from the field from doing his chores and the first thing he would do was pick up a book and read. He learned to figure arithmetic in his head with no formal training in math. (17:02-20:02)... One day Moreno came home to find his books had been burned. His father told him that he had enough education because he knew how to read and write. Moreno worked for the sugar company with his father for eight years before he left home. When he left home he had .08 cents in his pocket and some clothes. He went looking for construction work. That same year, in 1918, he met his wife. (20:02-21:45)... Moreno met his wife when she was eight years old. She promised to marry him if he would wait. He had never been in love before and had always asked many questions about the way things were in the world. (21:45-27:36)... Moreno's stepmother burned his books in 1912 and he remembers his father scolding him that day. He had an argument with his father and Moreno said that he would leave the home the next day. The next morning he left with his coat and no money. He stopped in Artesia and borrowed $2 and went to Compton on the streetcar. He eventually ended up in San Pedro and wanted to go to sea, but was kicked off the docks by some men working there. He then headed to Los Angeles to the home of a family that had worked for the Morenos at one time. He spent some time with the family but never wanted to live in Los Angeles after that experience. He heard his father was asking for him to come home and that his horses were waiting for him. End of tape *** File: aijmoreno6.mp3 (0:00-6:55)... Moreno was glad to return home after his trip to Los Angeles and swore he would never live in Los Angeles again. He did not like the big city. He worked planting sugar beets until he was eighteen years old. He continued to be scolded by his father, but by this time he was talking back to him. His father told him that when the time came that he could outwork him Moreno could leave the farm. One day while the two of them were working, a 200 pound bail fell on his father. When Moreno pulled the bail off his father, he was told he could leave farming beets because he could out-work him. Although Moreno did not want to farm sugar beets, he did not want to leave home. (6:55-11:01)... Moreno left to go to Imperial Valley with a pair of brothers who were also quitting beet farming. They stopped in San Diego in 1917 and then went to Calexico and got a job across the border. Although he did not have any papers, he didn't have any reason to worry about it. He worked at a cotton ranch weighing cotton for a while and then started working in construction. He worked from 1917 to 1927 and quit in San Pedro when he went home to care for his father. (11:01-17:01)... The Depression hit when Moreno went back home to care for his father. His father told him to go to the farming country so he would not starve and he could work for food. His father had always told him that he should feed anyone who was hungry and that a someone who was hungry was dangerous. Moreno became sick when he was home staying with his father and was in trouble; he had not eaten and was desperate for food. He met a man who was gambling and asked him for some money for food. This was a man Moreno had fed when this man was down and out. The man refused him and told him not to be a fool and help people. (17:01-21:22)... Earlier, during the time of the Mexican Revolution, Moreno volunteered with truck drivers in Mexicali and slept on the truck as an assistant. However, after three days, he decided he did not want to be there. He was paid for three days and turned his gun over to the man that gave it to him. He then got a job with the plumber in an American company, but quit after a week. Soldiers came in around 5 a.m. and he heard the war drum. The war drum he heard was beating to a man's heart beat and as they went to battle the beat was faster and faster to excite the men. It was called a Yaqi War Drum; a simple drum with no decorations. (21:22-24:31)... Moreno was still in Mexicali , but wouldn't talk because he was scolded for his broken Spanish. A fourteen year old girl taught him how to properly read and write Spanish and eventually how to speak Spanish. He found that Spanish and English were very similar. (24:31-25:55)... Moreno was distributing pamphlets and going to meetings and listening to speakers for the impending election in Mexicali. He found a radical speaker dead in an alley, stabbed in the back. When the police came he was almost arrested. He found another radical speaker dead three days later lying in a gutter, stabbed through the heart. He decided then to go home. (25:55-30:20)... Moreno went home but then returned to Mexico and got a job in the Aztec Brewing Company. He helped build the brewery. After Moreno was working there for six months, he went to the gulf to do some fishing and on the way down to the gulf saw something he had heard about. He counted forty-two antelope. That was about the last of the herd in those places. End of tape
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