Ozarks Voices: Russell Jones, September 29, 2021
Interview with Russell Jones by Tom Peters, Dean of Library Services at Missouri State University. Mr. Jones grew up and makes his home in the Ozarks of eastern Oklahoma. He is a district director in the Oklahoma Department of Human Services. He has traveled extensively throughout the state and has deep, multi-generational roots in the Ozarks. This interview took place on September 29, 2021, in the Stilwell Public Library in Stilwell, Oklahoma.
Topics discussed during the interview include: growing up on a farm in Wagoner, Oklahoma; enjoying outdoor activities growing up in the western Ozarks; impact and influence of his grandparents; mule jumping and coon hunting; explanation of mule taxonomy; raising and showing hogs at livestock exhibitions; butchering hogs (domestic and wild); ancestors settling in the Ozarks; genealogy research; relationship to and association with Cherokee Indian Nation; exposure to Scots-Irish and Cherokee folklore and traditions; Oklahoma Ozarks topography; Ozarks cultural identity in Oklahoma; theories about western migration in North America; economic challenges in the Oklahoma Ozarks; reverse migration; tie hacking; family roots in communities of July Springs and Welling, Oklahoma; hunting feral hogs; invasion of armadillos in the Ozarks; impact of Branson, Missouri on Ozarks culture and image; changes in northwest Arkansas Ozarks; family members who migrated west to California; desire to continue living in the Ozarks; interest in Ozarks research and culture; future of the Ozarks; importance of privacy to Ozarkers and being introverted; musical family tradition and playing stringed instruments; performing with famous musicians; importance of music in the Ozarks and Southern Appalachia; long-term impact of COVID pandemic on Ozarks life and culture.