Interview 1 with Joey & Cecilia Silvas
July 2024
Location: Joey & Cecilia’s Cabin, Sam Wolfin Spring, Shasta County, California
Conducted by Bridgette McCollum, Pit River Nation, Illmawi Band
Question 1
Can you tell me about your experience at Wounded Knee?
CECILIA
“It was all the movement years, where you were sent here, you were sent there. You would do this over here, you would do that over there.. It was a good life. I loved it. It was a good life because you did something different all the time…”
“…You weren’t supposed to have anyone take your picture…because they used
us women to hitchhike across country for passing the information on…to
all different tribes. It was neat…
…I’ll tell you what, they took…pictures just about every place…of me. Even if it was at a distance…they still got a picture of me…and years later it comes out in the news and you can find yourself in the crowd.
Question 2
Who took the pictures? Was it the FBI?
CECILIA
“Mostly, mostly. “When we were in camp down in Den-ey, FBI camped right outside of our camp, and that wasn’t funny. You had to watch yourself all the time. Everyone had to watch themselves. Where you were going. What you were doing.
“It was fun to be part of a group that was so dedicated but it wasn’t fun to get in the middle of it. We all took our turns. We did what we were supposed to do. That was the main thing.”
The American Indian Movement
The American Indian Movement (AIM) was founded in 1968 as a grassroots activist organization to address discrimination, poverty and police brutality against Native Americans in urban locations. Later, it expanded to advocating for Indigenous rights across the United States. It became a highly visible movement through major protests including the occupation of Alcatraz Island and the Wounded Knee occupation in 1973. Joey and Cecilia Silvas were among the original activists in the movement.
Tell me the story of your work on behalf of the Pit River Nation and Illmawi band, specifically preserving tribal lands.
CECILIA
“Oh you’re talking 25 years of cultural research. My job was to go out and survey land and see it before anybody started digging it up and if there was something there, I would call their attention to it. They were always so nosey anyway. And I would just observe it. I looked for all the things that are pointing to Indigenous people who were occupied there. And then from there, I may let you dig it, if it’s purposeful for moving the dirt. Otherwise, two inches, and I want to look at it…I did that for 25 years.”
JOEY
“You started in 1988, because that was when… PG& E started relicensing…and retired three or four years ago.
CECILIA
“To be a cultural resource person you’ve got to be able to go out there and across
the land. You’ll spot stuff all over. And I repeatedly told them there isn’t an open
spot in Illmawi. It’s all been occupied and preoccupied and we’ve been here all the
time. So there’s no place you can go in Illmawi. And I could go out in the area and look for clues and I found them. And that meant stay off of here.”
Question 3 /4
What is your full name? What are the names of your parents and siblings?
CECLILIA
“Cecilia Nancelee Wilson Silvas. The reason us women get married is because we want to put that Wilson name back there and forget about that name. The rounds they were on is the name that they took. There was just a whole bunch of people that didn’t have last names. We weren’t into last names. All the things that we did were on a first name basis. And then when people got into ranches and stuff, they took the ranchers
last name.”
“My parents were Laura Carmany and Herman Wilson, Their children were Beverly Wilson Lebou; me; Sonny Irvin Wilson; Moses Wilson; Madge Louise Wilson; Kenny Wilson; Derrel Babe Wilson; Lester (Bud) Daniel Wilson; Iris Ray Wilson; Jerry Garland Wilson. Jerry was the baby who got killed with my mom.”
Question 5
Do you know how your grandparents or parents met?
CECILIA
“They met at riverside going to school.”
JOEY
“Boarding school.”
Question 6
Were they taken out of their homes and put in boarding school?
CECILIA
“Yes. They were removed from home and put in boarding school and taught not to learn language. They couldn’t practice their own customs or religion. They weren’t allowed off campus unless they ran away. A lot of people did. My dad was an athlete and he liked to compete and he hung around for the athletics. He left all that for my mom.”
Question 7
They came back to the mountain to live? Did they own property here?
CECILIA
Yes, I think they came back probably here because we have pictures of them fishing at the river. I think Beverly was the only one they had at the time. And I’m right behind her.
This was, and still is, really, Sam Wolfins allotment. It’s not tribal. That’s why the
tribe won’t help you if you move in here. You’re on your own completely. They used to require that you live here 40 years before they even recognized you as being in occupation here. So we did that. In the meantime, we put in our our electricity, our own water system, we built or own house. And we’ve been here. When others have tried to live here, they don’t last a couple years because it’s too hard…”
Question 8
Do you have any special stories about your parents or grandparents?
CECILIA
“My dad was a baseball player and he used to pitch for all the competing teams in this area. As far as I can ever remember we played baseball.
“With my mom, I remember my mom distinctively telling my dad one time, ‘You wanted a lot of kids, now you go take care of them.’
I alwyas remember her as the bottom line. Daddy told me one time, ‘I’m gonn take my belt off.’ I said, ‘I don’t care if you take your belt off you. You can’t hit me with it until Mom says.’
“But she was pretty tough with us. Made us behave. Made us be quiet when we were supposed to.”
Question 9
What did your dad do?
CECILIA
“He was a professional butcher. He even competed…He worked all the time and brought the paycheck home. My mom must have been really good at balancing a budget because with that many kids you can hardly live anymore. Daddy was a good provider.”
Question 10
Do you remember any special means your mom would cook?
CECILIA
“She would get in there and make a big meal if we had company coming. She would make a special meal, but it was daddy that required potatoes all the time. Almost everything she had to cook was potatoes. And I’m a potato fan to this day.”
Protected Forever
More than 1,700 acres are now protected forever in the Hat Creek Area. Located within the Pit River Tribe’s Illmawi Band’s ancestral territory, the property was returned to the Tribe’s ownership as the original stewards of the land. Joey and Cecilia Silvas live on the land, affectionately known as “the mountain.”
Below is a picture of Joseph Wilson (Atsugewi) and Louise Wilson (Achomawi). My gradmother’s name was Madge Louise Wilson, which makes me wonder if she was named for this woman? I wonder if Louise Wilson was my great grandmother’s sister, which would make her my great aunt. The source of this photo and many similar to it is the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropoly, University of California, Berkeley. The photo was created by E.W. Gifford, July 1922.
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This website was created to elevate and preserve Pit River stories for past, present nad future generations. No story is too small. If you’d like to be interviewed, please contact me, Bridgy@PitRiverStories.org.
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About Bridgy
Hello, I'm Bridgy, founder and editor of Pit River Stories. I'm a Native Oklahoman; citizen of the United States of America, and the amazing Pit River Nation. I am enrolled in the Illmawi Band. A rising high school senior, I am a member of the Bishop McGuinness Catholic High School Class of 2025.