The recent artwalk was a huge success, much in thanks to these two wonderful ladies with me above. Without their support (and help through crisis) I don’t know if I could have pulled it off.

I was so relieved once 6pm rolled around and everything was in it’s appropriate place and I had the chance to finally sit down and breathe. There was a great turnout. I imagine around 100 people came through, and a few of whom I got to talk with in depth about the reservation. Read the rest of this entry »

Living on Lakota Time – Toksa (pronounced Dok-sha) means “whenever” or “before long”. (I’ve also read that it is used to say “See you before long” as there is no word for goodbye.) To the Lakotas, relationships are more important than keeping appointments so they are rarely on time. They eat when their hungry, sleep when their tired, and so on. I could, and have, easily adapted to that existence.

My original goal was to write a post every two days about my experiences on the Rez but obviously that hasn’t happened. I’ve gotten a couple of emails over the weekend basically wondering if I had gone into early hibernation but I assure you that’s not the case. I have just had to step back some from the Lakota Wind series because it is so emotionally overwhelming. Also, I have to remind myself that it is often better to listen to the world than to talk over it. Read the rest of this entry »

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Sunday Sept 10th “Wake up…breakfast is ready.” I heard my mom softly say as she tugged the covers back. Apparently the soft chanting music that was played as our “wake up” call had eased me deeper into sleep instead of the apparent desired effect. For those of you that don’t know me outside of this blog, to say that I’m “not a morning person” is well, just being nice. I stumbled into the kitchen to get coffee and tried to convince my body that it was not allowed to be on PST and that it was not indeed 4am, as it kept swearing that it was.

After breakfast, we promptly loaded the bus for Wounded Knee. I knew that it would be an emotional morning but had no idea how intense it would be there. When we arrived, we parked at the bottom of a steep hill and started to walk up. Prior to arriving at the gate was Re-Member founder, Keith Titus and his wife, Jinny. From the back of their pick-up truck, they proceeded to tell us the story of what happened there in the winter snow of 1890.

“The U.S. 7th Cavalry was itching for a fight. These were the same Indians who mercilessly shot down Custer and 300 of the 7th Cavalry and they were seeking out vengeance for the blood taken at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. Five hundred troops of the 7th Cavalry, supported by four Hotchkiss guns (a lightweight artillery piece capable of rapid fire), surrounded an encampment of Minneconjou Lakota with orders to escort them back to the railroad for transport to Omaha, Nebraska. The commander of the 7th had been ordered to disarm the Lakota before proceeding. Read the rest of this entry »

“I am bothered about what to believe. Some years ago a white man came to see us. He talked me out of my old faith. I joined his church and became a Methodist. After a while he went away. Another man came and taught and I became a Baptist. Then another came and taught and I became a Presbyterian. Now another one has come and wants me to be an Episcopalian. All these people tell different stories and each wants me to believe that his special way is the only way to be good and save my soul. I have about made up my mind that either they all lie or that they don’t know any more about it than I did at first.”
~Chief Spotted Tail, 19th Century Lakota

Each morning after breakfast, we all gathered in the common room for what would become a morning ritual for the week, “Wisdom of the Elders”. This was a fitting beginning to the cultural and spiritual immersion we were about to begin. It was a time of sharing the wisdom of and about the indigenous people of the world and occasionally wisdom from non-indigenous sources, too. For a long time, I have felt much like Chief Spotted Tail did about organized religion… Read the rest of this entry »

We pulled up to the Re-Member site at 4:30pm, just in time to sit down with a group of about 25 strangers and have a long awaited hot meal. A tall, soft spoken gentleman set down beside us and I knew immediately that I liked this guy. With his long hair pulled back in a pony tail and his keya around his neck, he described himself as a “recovering lawyer”.

After a welcoming conversation Mom and I unloaded the truck into our communal living space for the week. We were bunked in a small room that was four sets of three bunks high. There were four others already in the room, older ladies that were with a Michigan church group. We pretty much threw our stuff down on the bunks and made our way outside for some time to take in the air and the quiet serenity of this place.

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Saturday Sept 9th When Mom and I woke up from our coma deep sleep on Saturday morning, we both had one thing on our minds- where could we get some coffee. We didn’t want to waste any time, so we decided that we’d hit the road and stop at the first place we could. Quite frankly, I think we both wished that we’d passed up that first place. I don’t know if we are that exceptionally picky or if the coffee was really that horrid. I tried to cover the taste with loads of milk and sugar but to no avail, as it still didn’t even resemble coffee. (Meanwhile, at home, my honey was reveling over a cup of strongly brewed Torrefazione… Ok, maybe I am a spoiled Seattlite…)

As we shifted gears across the state of Iowa, we opted for the second best stimulant available to us- the ipod. The many fields we passed were quiet and hazy but Tom, Neil and all the Bobs helped us get to the banks of the “Great Muddy” Missouri River for lunch. We stopped at a place called Casey’s Cafe and there was no curb protection parking available. I took our small cooler out of the White Pony and proceeded to kick it underneath the front tire. Then I begged the wind not to take the Pony into the river. I was really nervous about it rolling and went out to check on it periodically. After I finished my buffalo burger and mom had her last bite of butterscotch pie, we headed out to find that no one had stolen our cooler and that the White Pony was still hitched up and ready to roll.

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Friday Sept 8th I guess with any story, the beginning is a good place to start. It was some hard traveling to get to South Dakota. I left Seattle at 1am PST, to Min/St. Paul- changed planes- to Memphis -changed planes again- and on to the final stretch to Little Rock, where I arrived at 11am CST.

I was lucky that I was able to sleep most of the time spent in the air and the only real pain in the ass moment was leaving Seattle when my carry on was dissected and sent through the x-ray machine about a half dozen times. My laptop bag was packed full and I was prepared for hunger, boredom, or agitation… I had my ibook, ipod, multiple books, journals, and snacks but I still haven’t figured out what was suspect in the eyes of the TSA. I tried to be as patient as possible as I watched the clock and was relieved to get to my gate with an hour to spare. I sat and thought about how much I used to enjoy air travel and how the excitement over the years has turned into a stressful “when will it be over” adventure. I was so glad to be on the ground when I finally got to Little Rock. I ran through the terminal looking for my smiling mom, who I found right past the baggage claim. We were both ready to hit the road and get moving on the 18 hour drive that laid ahead of us. Read the rest of this entry »