Alberta Rope

Alberta Rope was born September 13, 1925. Her clans are Nawha dis chisn "A cut in the mountain" (mother) and born for Tu'dihilin "black water people" (father). Her parents are the late Robert Titla and Helen Longstreet Preston. Her Grandfather was Chief Boni Titla, Chief of the Black Water Clan from East Fork. She had six brothers and one sister. She is a lifelong resident of Bylas. As a child, she remembers living in Calva and later the family moved to Bylas. "We got water from the river and we gathered wood there. I went with my mom. She chopped wood and my mom would put it together. We got a lot in one place and then we walked home. We asked someone with a car to pick it up for us. My mom would give them money to pick up the wood for us." She received an 8th grade education at Bylas Lutheran School. She remembers walking to the school, which was located in Calva. She married Walker Rope. He was a cattle owner. The couple did not have children of their own however; Alberta raised her late sister, Minnie Prestons, children. Aside from being a homemaker, she volunteered as a cook at the Older Adult Center in Bylas. Her hobbies included harvesting acorn, making acorn stew and other Apache dishes. She also was skilled at making camp dresses, beaded barrettes, cradleboards but she was best known for her apache dolls. She made her crafts with pedal sewing machines. During the 1960s, she became one of the first entrepreneurs in Bylas selling her crafts at an Arts & Culture Store in Bylas. During the same time, Alberta was featured in the Arizona Highways magazine with her dolls. She is considered the matriarch of the Titla family. As such the family relied on her to assist with many Coming of Age ceremonies. Her family also says Alberta has the gift of healing. A wake will begin at 4 p.m. on Saturday, June 22, 2013 at the Rope Residence. Funeral will begin at 2 p.m. on Sunday, June 23, 2013 at the Stanley Hall in Bylas. Burial will be in the Middle Mesa Cemetery in Bylas.