The Pith

Below, be sure you get the Official Church Video,
the one has JESUS CHRIST in very large
letters. After that, proceed at your own risk.
You tube puts the entire cloud of vaguely
associated videos. If you go on, you will
reach the HORRIBLY INFAMATORY claim
by Oklahoha Indians that their tribal
Cheiftain or Chairman has more than
one wife--If you go far enough you
can see 10 wives in Bikinis inspired
by the racist nursery rhyme, Ten
Little Indians.

Notice one frame in the church video below.
That of a town so poor that it could be in
any impoverished nation. It is a blot on the
LDS Sun. And there are rules about what you
can and cannot do about such blots. The first
Peace Corp group went to Nigeria, they stayed
in the women's dorm in a Nigerian University.
My friend Anne's mother was in that group,as
was a Substitute Teacher in my 11th grade
Social Studies Class.


Anne's Mother wrote a post card to her fiance' describing
the terrible poverty of the Ibo peoples who scraped outa
desperate living in the streets of the city. It fell intothe hands
of her Wealthy Muslim roomates. They were horrified--
these were not really Nigerians, they did not even come in
contact with them.

The Post Card worked its way up to the President of Nigeria
who requested an audience with the young Co-ed. News
of the invitation sped to JFK who flew Anne's mother out of
the Country under cover of Night. He politely made apology,
saying that the Volunteer he asked to see could not appear.
On the anniversary either Look or Life ran anfull length article
on the incident.

Were the Ibo's REALLY Nigerian? Our Teacher brought in an
Ibo, a Student at UC Berkeley to tell us about his tribe and his
happy childhood in his Village. That was the first time I realized
that a ward was a transplanted Mormon Village some did better
than others in their new ground, early Cedar City more so.
I fleshed out this notion by reading Nells Andersen's
The Mormon Village.

Now I would like to restrict my comments to Southern Utah, but as
I think of it my nose starts to burn and my eyes sting and water.
I miss my ever wise Grandmother, the Sweet Nightengale
of my life.

Her mother grew up in Kingston, Utah. Her Stepfather had
fought in the Echo Canyon War, was a fiddler, and was smart
enough to raise enthusiasm for building a mill, promisingto
fiddle half the night if he could raise enough hands for the project.

My Great Grandmother moved 22 times in five years--I think
Clayborn Elder wore out his wives one by one. She had enough
kids to build a house and they built one, fiddling half the night
and raising some hell.

It was asort of rough town and one of her sons fell
into rough ways, biting off the ear of one of his fellow
villager'sears in a bar brawl [This was long before the
Word ofWisdom was ratified, it, like the Manifesto was
not a Revelation. It was entitled a Word of Wisdom--
Wise Advice. Since the Church used Wine for the Beverage
passed with the Sacrament and Utah's Dixie made Fine
sweet wine. [there were those who believed that the

WOW only referred to the drinking of Whiskey.]

Anyway, this particular Great, Great Uncle was
banished and ran off with Butch Cassidy and
another boy. His family traced him to the pay
register of a mine where their names at
Christening were listed there together.

Now his youngest sister, borne to a Sea Captain
who had left England on The Brooklyn with a brother
and sailed through the Golden Gates
just as Old Glory was raised at the Presidio.

Now his barren wife was something of a shrew
and would never consent to his taking of another.
Shewas 70 or so when the Bishop, who was pushy,
asked if he might borrow her husband to marry
my Great-great Grandmother and get a handle
on her fiddlers. He was no match for his calling at
his age, though he did leave her with a ever
growing belly. I have heard that my Great
Grandmother was 13 pounds at birth, and
she was so big boned that her outgoing husband
was no match for her.

She was so sick of her sisterwife's sniping that
she decided to take her bundle and push
it through the startled Senior Citizen's screen
door and say ''You wanted a baby, you have a
baby.''

Now Jemima had not thought that spreading
it all over town that it was Brother Elder's
baby and her barren husband was obviously
left holding the bag for the Dowager's
Tinker. Sea Captains had Syphillis and were
barren like as not. While she'd come to him
as an innocent Maid.

Well, Micha Martina Margretta Katrina
Gibbs Peterson Elder Smith took her baby
home with her and never intended to
give her to Jemima for a minute. She
played on the ground while her family
enlarged their cabin.

About Indian Polygamy

Let me tell you about a friend of
my named Scoop, Pomo Elder with
a wife named D.. I was mulling over
whether my bruised and swollen
legs were just bruised and swollen,
an oddity in a long train of oddities,
including swelling.

Scoop came to the table and said
he was missing his first wife and
on the previous Tuesday it so
happened that he came to the table
and announced that he missed his
first wife very much and he planned
to go to the next world to visit
her for awhile, D. had had him to
herself very many years and he was
sure that Doris would be along
soon because she was old and
would come to be with them soon.

About the time skip had his heart
attack my Doctor came to see me.
It was Friday and he said I had
to go to the hospital immediatly.
Scoop and I arrived at the hospital
at the same time.

As the techs wheeled me in to
take a picture of my leg
one of them said ''Big Cheif Two
Hearts. It is unfortunate Scoop
did not have two brains. His
brain had flat-lined.