Hear this story and others on the Native Braids website.

Evelyn Edd grew up on the Navajo Reservation at Blackhouse Mesa. In this conversation with her granddaughter Santana, Evelyn looks back on a childhood with little money or material possessions.

“I slept on sheepskin and I never had a bed,” she says in this interview. She remembers walking more than a mile to the bus stop in rain and snow, and being teased at school for her hand-me-down clothes.

Evelyn Edd and Santana Edd are enrolled with the Navajo Nation.

Pictured above, Evelyn Edd at 13 years old, wearing clothes she made herself.

Native Braids is a co-production of KSUT Tribal Radio and independent producer Adam Burke.

When to listen on KSUT:

Native Braids episodes can be heard on both Tribal Radio and Four Corners Public Radio at approximately the following times (actual time may vary slightly due
to story length):

Mondays and Wednesdays:

at approx 7:50 AM during Morning Edition

Tuesdays and Thursdays:

at approx 5:50 PM during All Things Considered

Read more about Native Braids for Native American Heritage Month.