Alice Denomic

Dickinson Indian School Public Contacts | Prosopography of Indian Dickinson College Students | Institute to Institute: DC and CIS

Alice Denomie was born in approximately 1886 as a member of the Ojibwe tribe in Wisconsin . The Ojibwe ceded their land to the United States government in 1854 in return for reservations. There were four Ojibwe reservations in Wisconsin: Bad River, Red Cliff, Lac du Flambeau, and Lac Courte Oreilles. Around the time Alice was born, poverty on the reservations had forced most Ojibwe to work for white-owned lumber companies. It is unclear when Alice left the reservation and traveled to Carlisle, but she is listed as being a member of the class of 1908 at the Carlisle Indian School. During her time at the school before graduation, Alice was a “pupil teacher,” often running classes at the school. An excerpt from the January 25, 1907 Arrow states under “Local Miscellany” that “Alice Denomie, a pupil teacher, substituted in No. 5 school room one day last week. It is a good class and she enjoyed teaching.” After graduating from the Indian School, Alice spent one year at the Dickinson College Preparatory School. The 1900-1905 Dickinson College Catalog lists Alice as entering as a “first form” student in 1908. While a student at the Prep School, Alice continued to live at the Carlisle Indian School. Alice did not return to the Preparatory School the following year, and where she spent the next three years is unclear. The next record of Alice was found in the October 6, 1911 issue of The Carlisle Arrow. The “General School News” section reports that “Alice Denomie, Class ’08, is now working in Supervisor Dagnette’s office in Denver, Colorado.” “Superivisor Dagnette” was Charles Dagnette, himself a Carlisle Indian School graduate. Dagnette was the Supervisor for Indian Employment. It was his job to help students find work all over the country. Alice worked in Denver until October 1911, when she transferred to Crow Agency, Montana to work as a stenographer . Alice stayed in Montana for several months. The April 4, 1913 issues of the Carlisle Arrow states under the “Out at Work” section “A letter has recently been received from Alice Denomie in which she states how well she enjoys her work at The Crow Agency in Montana. Alice graduated from Carlisle in 1908. She is a good stenographer and clerk and has rendered good work in several places.” At some point, Alice traveled to Washington D.C. She was there in April of 1913 and returned to Carlisle for commencement. However, Alice eventually rejoined the Crow Agency . On January 30, 1914 Alice married Frank S. Shively in Brule County, Montana. At the time, Alice was 25 and living in Buffalo County, Montana. Her husband, Frank, was also Native American and grew up on the Nez Perce Reservation in Idaho. After 1913, Alice does not again appear in any Indian School or Dickinson publications. The last known documentation of Alice’s life appears in an Indian Census taken in 1927, which lists Alice Shively as living on the Bad River Reservation in Wisconsin. She was forty-three.

Sources:
U.S Indian Census 1885-1940
Milwaukee Public Museum Website, http://www.mpm.edu
The Carlisle Arrow January 25, 1907
Dickinson College Catalog, 1900-1905
Indian Craftsman September 1909
The Carlisle Arrow April 28, 1911
The Carlisle Arrow October 6, 1911
The Carlisle Arrow March 15, 1912
The Carlisle Arrow April 4, 1913
1900 United States Federal Census
South Dakota Marriage Index 1905-1914