Me-Wuk tribe figure Wilson dies at 88

Ruth Thompson Wilson, the last surviving daughter of one of the Tuolumne Me-Wuk Rancheria’s founding families and a champion of Native American culture, died Saturday of cancer at age 88.

Wilson was born Sept. 21, 1921, on the Tuolumne rancheria, the youngest of nine daughters born to Alec and Louisa Thompson.
 

 Alec Thompson, a Me-Wuk, brought his family from the Whites Gulch area in Groveland to live on the rancheria when it was formed in 1910, said Wilson’s niece, Rhonda Standage, of Tuolumne.

Thompson was considered chief of the rancheria at one point, Standage said.

“She was the last of the original line,” said Wilson’s granddaughter, LeeAnn Allen, of Tuolumne.

Thompson raised horses and young Ruth harvested hay with her sisters, according to her family.

“She remembers the old ones who lived on the rancheria making acorn (meal) in large baskets,” her family wrote in a statement.

Wilson was the oldest of the tribe’s elders, her family said.

She attended the one-room Arastraville School and graduated from eighth grade in 1938. She was sent to Sherman Institute, a high school for Indians, in Riverside, and was not allowed to return home during her four years of study, Wilson’s family said.
    Wilson graduated from high school in 1942 and returned to Tuolumne. In 1946, she married Norton Wilson, of Mojave descent, who worked at area lumber mills. They had two children.
    “She comes from a long line of shamans and medicine people and has instilled the love of her family and culture in her children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and the tribal community,” her family wrote in a statement.    

Her son, Lawrence Wilson, who died in October 2008, was a “carrier of the medicine,” or spiritual adviser, her family said.

Ruth Wilson was recognized by people, even outside of the area and outside of the Native American community, for “that inherent quality or status she was given,” Standage said.

“She was a very traditional person ... She was very respected,” Standage said.

Wilson enjoyed traditional Me-Wuk dance and danced at many “Big Times” (pow-wows) over the years. She also was involved in Native American cultural gatherings such as the annual Tuolumne Acorn Festival and the Bear Dance at Yosemite.

Wilson also was involved in tribal government. She was the eldest member of the tribal community council, even attending this month’s meeting, Standage said.

Wilson supported Black Oak Casino’s creation and knew it would bring benefits to the tribe, like health care, Standage said.

“She was always concerned about what would happen to the children. She always wanted it to be better for the kids,” Standage said.

In her youth, Wilson spent a lot of time with her niece, the late Ethel Geisdorff, who was close in age. Geisdorff helped Wilson build her first house, family members said. 

The two loved to take off on road trips, Standage said.

In her later years, Wilson visited the casino every day to see family and friends.

“It was her social life. That’s where we went to find her,” Allen said.

Actually, it was Wilson and her eight sisters who inspired the name of the casino’s fine-dining restaurant, Seven Sisters. It ended up being changed from nine to seven for marketing and gaming reasons, Standage said.

Wilson communicated with her numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren daily and made sure they knew their cultural heritage and traditions, her family said.

Wilson’s family described her as humorous, sharp witted, ornery, straight-forward and very family oriented.

“She liked to laugh,” Allen said. “She believed in keeping traditions and doing things the way they’re supposed to be.”

Wilson was preceded in death by her husband, Norton Wilson, in the mid-1970s; her son, Lawrence Wilson, in 2008; sisters Pearl Day, Myrtle Franklin, Eva Hendricks, Ramona Domingo, Triny James, Josephine Hogan and Delphine Fallon; her brother, Louis Thompson; and half-sisters, Bertha and Delia Butler.

She is survived by her daughter and son-in-law, Lorraine and Jim Forde; grandchildren LeeAnn Allen, Loren Forde and Laura Forde; great-grandchildren Nicholas Youman, Brandon Mantzouranis, Megan Mantzouranis and Loren Forde Jr., all of Tuolumne; and about 500 nieces, nephews and extended family members.

Visitation will be held at 1 p.m. today at Terzich and Wilson Funeral Home’s Tuolumne Chapel. A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. Wednesday at Terzich and Wilson Funeral Home in Tuolumne with burial to follow at the Tuolumne Indian Cemetery. A reception will follow at the Tuolumne Veterans Memorial Hall.