The Laughing Grandmother!

On June 10, 2005, I gifted my granddaughter Jordan Crystal Rose, with Princess Moonfeathers'' moccasins. They were made from soft black leather, beautifully decorated with beads, and comfortable to wear. They held memories of the many adventures Princess had experienced on her life journey. She had so much wanted to share her book with the "children!" She had never had children of her own! All the world''s children were her children, she would often tell us. Jordan was ten years old. I wondered if she would be interested in hearing Princess'' stories. We called her "The Laughing Grandmother", I told Jordan. She was a true survivor of the Cherokee Indians. Not only did she live, she lived a life filled with daring and danger... and, best of all, she laughed! Oh, how she would laugh at the outrageous things that happened to her. And, when she was angry, I told Jordan, she would relish the delightful feeling of energy being charged throughout her body. It was kind of like being on a wild rollar coaster, I imagined! Princess once chuckled as she told me, the sensation of anger was a way to get her old, tired blood circulating at full speed, fully charged, again! And, then she would laugh... and her eyes would twinkle. She knew! Now, it was Jordan''s turn to find out! On October 24, 1944 Princess Moonfeathers had requested a copy of her birth records. The papers that she obtained said that she, Dolores Elizabeth Lucas Kaus, was born on October, 5, 1908. She had gotten herself registered in Smithfield, North Carolina. Her birth certificate became officially filed in Colouitt County, Georgia. However, Princess Moonfeathers was born within a Cherokee Reservation! The actual date of her birth had not been recorded. Princess believed she was born in the year 1891. She was eagerly looking forward to turning 100 years old! When I first met her in the Spring of 1990 in Key Largo, she was planning another wild adventure. At almost 100 years of age, Princess had been invited to a Camp Reunion in Oklahoma. She was to be honored as a Cherokee Grandmother, and included in a Circle of Indian Grandmothers at Scout Cloud Lee''s Magical Child Ranch. "Jordan", I tell my granddaughter, "Princess had a Dream- to get her book published. She had dictated it, story by story, to Annie Noonan. She had named her book, ''You Savage, You Lonely One!'' It was her attempt to angrily tell about the injustices experienced by the Native Americans, and ho