By Corvo Rohwer, Puyallup Tribal News
Each month at the Elders Luncheon, a senior Puyallup Tribal member is chosen as the newest Honored Elder.
Laura Sterud earned the place of Honored Elder during the festivities on July 19.
Sterud was blanketed by Tribal Council Members Annette Bryan and Monica Miller, and was gifted a woven cedar hat made by her great-grandson. Her photo will be the latest addition to the wall of Honored Elders, which can be found at the House of Respect.
Each Honored Elder also records a video in which they talk about their lives and experiences. Below is Sterud’s story in her own words, supplemented by her sister, Nancy Shippentower, and her daughter, Teshay FireThunder.
Sterud
“I had two brothers, ‘Mac’ Don McCloud Jr. and Jeffrey McCloud. … I’ve got five sisters, Nancy, Sally, Julie, Barbara and Binah.
“I worked for the Tribe in Fisheries and Marine Law Enforcement. I only worked there for three years, that was too stressful for me.”
FireThunder
“She also worked at the Tribe in the compliance office helping get all these entities built, the Elders (House of Respect), the youth center, all of that. She worked a lot on that, and she was also on the trust board for seven years.”
Shippentower
“She was the oldest of all us (siblings), so when our parents went to jail or even when our dad was out fishing, she became the other parent. Her responsibility was taking care of everybody at home, and she did it at a young age. Like 12 or 13. So, the thing about what she’s done in her life is she’s done a lot more than anyone else has for the Tribes. Not just for our Tribe, but for all Tribes.”
Sterud
“When we were kids swimming in the (Nisqually) river down there (at Frank’s Landing), the game wardens would come running out of the bushes and beat the hell out of our parents. Three or four of them, two would grab them and the others would start swinging on them. That happened a lot when we were kids, like under 13. … We all had each other’s backs down there, that was terrible. We were just women and kids, there were no men there.”
Shippentower
“Our parents were very active in treaty rights. She (Laura) went to Alcatraz, Wounded Knee, New York, she was involved in a lot of activities. She was involved in the land claim settlement, she’s the one who went around with the referendum.”
Sterud
“Oh heck, this is when it first started – everybody is fighting over the money. Everybody. We were pushing to have this place (House of Respect) built, a place to take care of the Elders. … We did a referendum, I started it to get the signatures. I even had to hide it – I had to wrap it up in garbage bags and stick it in the back seat like it was garbage so that nobody would find it. They threatened to find it and destroy it.
“There should be more Elders out there talking to kids. There should be meetings all over the place for kids to go to talk to people. I got a great-grandson who works here in the youth program, and when he comes around to talk to me there’s about six or seven guys with him listening. I say, ‘Come on over and sit down,’ because they got nobody out there. We need more people out there to talk to them.”
Shippentower
“I want to thank her for what she did for us in her life, I want to thank her for what she did for the Tribe, and I want to thank her for the people. She had big responsibilities on her when she was young, and she still carries those responsibilities, she still has it in her heart. She’s named after our grandma, you know… and they call my grandma ‘the mean machine,’ and Laura kind of took after her. Laura did things that were positive, and if she was outspoken, like loud, it’s because she wants you to hear her.”
