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The late Sophie Mays honored at SKC

By Lailani Upham

Brother Alec Quequesah; nephew, Charlie Quequesah; Shandin Pete; Dan Trahan; nephew Tom Quequesah; and nephew Frank Stanger sing an honor song for Sophie Quequesah Mays during the classroom dedication at Woodcock Building on the Salish Kootenai College campus. (Lailani Upham photo)

PABLO — “What the heck you doing naming a room after me?”

Those were the words shared by nephew, Charlie Quequesah that he believed his auntie Sophie Quequesah Mays would have expressed if she was physically there with the group of friends and family who came in honor of the “Sophie’s Room” dedication in February at Salish Kootenai College.

In spirit, Mays was present.

Sophie “Supi” Quequesah Mays, 56, passed on November 30, 2009.

From the hallway to the far-end room in the Woodcock building, Alec Quequesah, Sophie’s brother, smudged in the four directions.

As Mays’ photo was unveiled, Alec expressed how disheartening the transition is for the family and folks she worked with in the classroom that is now named after her: “Sophie’s Room.”

“I know she’s right here with us,” said Sophie’s nephew Charlie Quequesah, as he shared with the gathering of those who came to pay respect to Sophie Mays, a wife, a mother, auntie, friend and lifetime Salish teacher.

Sophie’s children listen while their uncle, Alec Quequesah addressed the audience in Salish. (From left to right) Nick, Lawrence, Doug, Dan and Pam Mays. (Lailani Upham photo)

Sophie was born to Anastasia (Finley) and Ignace Eneas Quequesah on October 9, 1953 in what is known now as the Job Corps area outside of Ronan in her family’s home. She was the youngest of 14 children, nine brothers: Louie, Pete, Tom, Nick, Joe, Mike, John, Mose, and Alec; and five sisters: Theresa, Susie, Martina and Mary Sue.

During the dedication family and friends had moments of sharing stories of Sophie’s life and her dedication to restoration and preservation of the Salish language. Lonnie Mays, Sophie’s daughter-in-law explained to the group that Sophie was a humble lady and didn’t want much said of her. However, Mays said she wanted to shed some insight on the person she loved, and read a short bio of Sophie’s life.

As a child she enjoyed the winters. Ice-skating and finding anything plastic to go sledding were favorite activities growing up on the Flathead Reservation.

Summertime was spent riding horses for young Sophie. She grew up during a time when plumbing, electricity and running water were not a real necessity. Her family had none of the modern day luxuries and took nothing for granted. Sophie was a humble person that didn’t speak much of herself or life, but one family member shared some of the precious memories. Sophie’s family was expected to ask permission for everything and the entire tribe of siblings was expected to keep up the home and cattle grazing.

Linda Ferris and April Charlo from the Native American Language Teacher Training Institute lead one of Sophie’s favorite songs in Salish. Gene Mays (behind Charlo), Sophie’s husband, reflects with eyes closed during the memorable melody. (Lailani Upham photo)

Sophie’s parents were fluent Salish speakers, as it was the first language in the entire Quequesah household. Back in that day, the local truant officers threatened the Quequesah family to send their children to school or have them taken away. With “yes” being the only English word the eight-year-old Sophie knew at the time she entered the first grade.

The story went on that it did not take Sophie long to take on the English language and she began to bring home words to teach her mother, Anastasia. Sophie would giggle listening to her mother’s attempt to pronounce the foreign language and her mother would then playfully end the lesson with, “I’m not saying no more. You just want to laugh at me.”

Sophie believed in learning and teaching.

At the age of 18, Sophie took Gene Mays’ hand in marriage on August 18, 1972. The love they shared brought them five children: Lawrence, Nick, Doug, Pam and Dan and the family branches grew to include ten grandchildren.

Sophie was the first Salish teacher at SKC where she taught the language in a small room in the Michel building, shared Charlie, who is teacher’s aide at Nkwusm Language School in Arlee. Charlie said while his aunt Sophie was working at SKC, she asked him to be a substitute for her. “I was not brought up to say no,” so he agreed to the fill-in position. After substituting for a day or two, he brought the books and teaching materials back to his aunt. “I don’t want it back, it’s yours,” she told him. And she went to Nkwusm to continue to teach.

While “no” was out the question for the young nephew, he accepted the teaching position. Charlie told the crowd he was “suckered into teaching the language,” which brought laughs and smiles throughout the hallway.

“Sophie’s Room” framed above the entrance of the classroom

Sophie was launched into teaching the Salish language when she was asked to substitute for Charlie’s father, Alec, her brother, when Alec was teaching Salish and Building Trades at SKC, according to Charlie. Sophie accepted the job and continued to teach the language at SKC for 14 years.

In the summer of 2006, Sophie joined the Native American Language Teacher Training Institute at SKC. “She is an excellent teacher and inspired many of us, always reminding us that she was not the expert of the language. We were so lucky to have had the experience of being taught by her. And we continue to learn from all the knowledge and material she bestowed on us,” commented Linda Ferris, NALTTI official.

Josh Brown, Native American Language Teacher Training Institute (NALTTI) Director, who founded the Institute with the help of Sophie, spoke of the accomplished steps they have and are achieving to save the language. So far the Training Institute includes 1,000 audio recordings of Sophie and approximately a couple hundred video recordings that range from Sophie teaching class to telling stories, Brown said.

“With her help we have created curriculum materials, lesson plans, study aides, and a Teacher language resource handbook,” he said. The resource handbook includes draft materials to create a video version of the language resource book, he added.

The NALTTI will be launching a website within a month where the materials will be made available, according to Brown.

Brown’s journey with Sophie began 20 years ago when he was a student at SKC and took Sophie’s class. “Since then I became one of the children, and that is how she referred to others in the program, as her children,” he said.

Alec Quequesah took the podium to bring laughter to the crowd with his comment “I don’t just speak a few words,” after being told, “to say a few words” on behalf of his sister.

The laughter turned instantly to reverence once again when Quequesah mentioned it had only been 77 days since she departed and his heart was still not healed, yet expressed “I’m happy to see all the hearts my little sister touched.”

As Quequesah scanned the hallway of attendees he expressed to everyone that they should try the language. “Don’t be shy to be Indian,” he said. “Without my language, would I say I’m Indian? Probably not,” he added.

“The best time she loved is when she would speak Salish with her students and they understood. She loved teaching at Nkwusm and here (SKC),” he said.

Quequesah carried on that his sister’s dream is that everyone would speak the language; that the classroom would be a place of learning the language and not a place to cry, as Sophie would want it.

At the closing of reading Sophie’s bio, which was transcribed by Ferris of NALTTI, “We will all miss her smile, her quiet personality, and the love she shed with each and every one of us. She shared her knowledge of the Salish language, and just life in general and now we must go on as she would have wanted us to, loving each day that the sun rises and our families.”