| Aug. 3rd, 2004 @ 06:38 pm Mission trip |
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Current Mood:  tired
Wow. What a weekend.
It was a five hour trip up to the reservation, but it seemed like much less. It was me in the van with all the clothing, with Xan riding with me, and in the other van, Pastor Larry, Alex Gerk and Cassie.
We arrived in the late afternoon and met with Fred and Gail Cedarface, the folks in charge of the Healthy Start program. They gave us each a calendar and a T-shirt. They and their kids (and godkids) were very nice. We unloaded all of the clothing from both vans onto a couple of pallattes, hung around a little more and went out to the Kicking Bear Waicipi (Powwow).
I spent about $5.00 on dinner before discovering that the food vendor there was not the official caterer. Had I waited, I would have gotten a much better dinner for free. Oh well.
I was struck by the fact that they used the American Flag to open their grand entry, and treated it so respectfully. The dancing was awesome. The last powwow I attended was one which had a spirit of protest, so the spirit of celebration in this one was a new experience, and it was enthralling. We ALL got out and danced. Larry even got to meet the tribe president.
After the powwow, we were escorted to our host's home, where we had a great deal of trouble getting to sleep. There was a smoke alarm with a low battery that we just couldn't seem to turn off. Alex, Cassie and Larry were so tired that they ignored it. Xan and I had to go sleep out in the vans.
Next day:
After waiting around 3 hours for everyone else to get up, we went and had breakfast at fuel station in Pine Ridge. After that, we went to see the cemetary at wounded knee. It was a revelation. I knew that the USA had done some nasty things in the past, but I had no idea it was capable of anything so heinous as the massacre of wounded knee. Even more disturbing, however, is the cycle of hate which continues as a result.
We met a local merchant who had set up a shaded arbor by the side of the road and unlike others, didn't charge other vendors to use it. This was refreshing to see. In the poorest county in the nation, many merchants tend to grab as much as they can. Things tend to cost 150% of the normal going rate elsewhere in the country. This lady didn't even have water in her house, and yet she was anything but greedy, even handing out discounts for big purchases. I like her. We then returned to the powwow site where our group was honored for our donations.
Now here's a rather strange occurrence. We all felt it necessary to drive out to the Singing Horse trading post, even though we knew that it would probably mean missing the grand entry. When we arrived there, we found something rather shocking. A young girl had just been beaten with a golf club by her uncle and had been carried over to the trading post with a concussion. We provided some ice to put on her injuries, then stood and prayed for her. The last we heard, she was physically all right, but incoherent.
After that, we felt the urge to go driving through the badlands. There, we found a woman whose car wouldn't start. Larry gave her a jump, but her car still wouldn't start. Not until he told her about the little girl who had been beaten and she said that she would pray for her.
After that, we returned to the powwow. We all danced again, and Xan even got a shawl and did a shawl dance. (This was specifically for men. They were all shawl dancing.)
We were all exhausted at the end of that day, and thank goodness, we found a way to turn the smoke alarm off!
The following morning, we left some gifts for our host, including household goods, toys, garden seeds, money, and a new battery for the smoke alarm. We headed out for Mt. Rushmore, where we spent the afternoon. I even took the presidential walk, which, let me tell you, is quite a feat for someone in my condition.
The ride home had an excited feel, but we were all very happy to get home.
Take a look at the Otter Island site if you'd like to see some of the drawings I did during the powwow. (in a couple of days.) I also wrote my own drum song. Xan and I are even thinking about starting our own drum team.
I'm anxious to go back next year. I just need to rest up a bit. I'm exhausted. |
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