Monthly Archives: August 2016

In some ways being on Pine Ridge feels like suspended animation, time passes slowly because there is so much to do yet the week is already over somehow?  The group is tired and sunburned with the occasional bit of car sickness yet morale remains high.

Had to do a bit of fine-tuning of the plan for the day.  My friend and Head Start contact, Jennifer, has been sick and out of the office and wasn’t able to talk about plans until mid-day Monday.  She had thought that Early Head Start began the school year on Tuesday but found out that the school year starts Wednesday instead.  So…no health promotion at the Kyle Head Start on Tuesday.  That’s OK, back up plan was in play!

Our morning started at the OLC Historical Center.  In addition to learning about the history of the Lakota, we also met the artist in residence, Nathan Blindman, who made the art for the 2016 OLC Calendar–a pow wow dancer in full regalia.  He also had a painting of a medicine woman, Moon Wind, that he took the time to explain as well as to teach about medicine women.  Very interesting lesson on a topic that I have always been curious about.

The Badlands Visitor Center and Red Cloud Indian School were also on the agenda.  All great places to learn more about the Lakota culture.

Our back up plan for health promotion involved Oyate Teca, the Kyle Youth Center.  I have never been able to get students into the center for health promotion (not for lack of trying though!) so I wasn’t sure what would happen when we just showed up.  Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained….we donated some of our many toothbrushes and toothpaste and did 5 screenings.  The director wasn’t there, but we were able to meet other employees, sit and chat, and, of course, screen.  There was an older teenager (male) there who the students offered condoms to, and he said, “I never use them”, but asked if he could have “a lot” in the next sentence.  Gave him “a lot”!  Lesson learned from this–just show up and do what you can!

This morning we did get into the Pine Ridge Early Head Start and did screenings for parents and staff for about two hours.  We were busier than anticipated for the short time that we were there.  The director of Pine Ridge EHS is a very gracious and welcoming Lakota man named Dallas.  I had met him on a previous trip to Head Start, and he was again very appreciative of the limited care that we can offer.

After a winding but beautiful 2 hour drive to Custer State Park, we finally saw some buffalo. I am now taxiing to take off from Rapid City to head home.

The trip was one of the best that I’ve had with students–lots of time out in the community, more health promotion than usual, and lots of learning.  I have no grand ideas that what we do makes a big difference at Pine Ridge, but we are at least planting the seeds to encourage and reinforce healthy behaviors and building relationships at the same time.

Wopila, Pine Ridge!  Thanks for welcoming us into your community–I will think of you everyday until next time!

I made no particular health promotion plans for today since the students were to horseback ride at Denise’s house under the expert guidance of her sister, Victoria, in two groups.  Our planned arrival time was 0930, but since the dirt road to Denise’s house is sometimes quite muddy and difficult to navigate, I allotted some extra time.  Well, the road was in great shape (comparatively) so we arrived extra early.  Denise very kindly invited us into her home while we waited for the horses to be rounded up and saddled.  She talked to us for quite a while about her history of moving from Colorado and her family now.  She cares for many of her grandchildren, including Mala, who is 10 years old and was born deaf.  I was thrilled to find out that two of the students could sign, and they hit it off with her right away.  We had met this girl on a previous trip, and she has grown up quite a bit and continues to have a special way with the animals at the home–horses, cat, dogs, chickens.  We also met two very small boys who loved playing baseball with the students.  We also, of course, did screenings, including for Denise’s daughter.  All the students did beautifully horseback riding, and Mala and her poodle went with the second group.

Beading was also on the agenda for today.  While the second group rode horses, the first group started their beading lesson at Rosie’s.  Jessica was a patient teacher, and the students learned quickly that the beautiful, intricate beaded art is worth every penny for the effort that is required.  When the second group returned from riding, we went to Wounded Knee to meet with Jerilyn and Emerson Elk.  The Elk family has always been very kind and welcoming to me, and Emerson’s discussion of Wounded Knee from the Lakota perspective is one that is always appreciated.  I got to meet and hold the Elk’s newest grandbaby, Isabella, who is 7 months old, and the apple of their eye.  We went up the hill to visit the Wounded Knee Memorial and burial site, and unfortunately, had an interaction with an intoxicated man who I knew would be asking the group for money.  All of the group were very kind to him and again demonstrated their compassion and understanding.  The burial site is a place that I always find very significant to visit, no matter how many times that I have been there before, but I found that my focus was instead on the intoxicated man and ensuring that the students were ok.

We returned to Rosie’s for the second group to have their beading lesson.  The students were at the ready to continue screenings and did so for several ladies in the store, as well as for customers coming to the store.  I am finding this approach to health promotion is working well–wherever we go, make the screenings available, even if there is not a large number of people around.  A relaxed setting in a place where business is going as usual seems to put people at ease and helps to break the ice.  I will continue to do this for future trips.  Our time is getting short here, and there is still so much to do–I will always be back though!

After not getting to do much in the way of health promotion on Saturday, I let the students know that we would be going for broke on Sunday–leaving early and returning late.  The plan was to return to the pow wow grounds to set up in the parking lot, do screenings for a couple of hours, and then head to the Indian Relays.  The students (and myself) really wanted to experience the Indian Relays for the first time, and my thought was that we could do health promotion there as well.  I will explain what the Indian Relays are later in my post.

We got to the pow wow grounds early, and while there were not many people there yet, I knew the crowd would build with time.  The students went into the pow wow and asked the announcer to let people know that we were available for screenings and some supplies in the parking lot. We had a steady trickle of individuals, families, and children throughout the morning.  Our friend Seymour Young Dog came to have his “check up” (yes, I had his name wrong–it is Seymour, not Cecil).  What a great man!  He gave us his address and asked that we send him one of the group pictures (which I am sharing here).  He also had us write down our names and stated that when he goes to sweat lodge next week that he will pray for us.  The students always shine when the rubber meets the road and it is time to do health promotion.  We had so many excellent interactions–whether it was playing a “game” with the kids to quiz them about sugar in drinks with the prize being a sports ball or other outside toy, or the 50-ish pow wow dancer who had a quite elevated blood sugar who had not taken her insulin yet and called to have her husband bring her her insulin after getting checked, or the young family given a booster seat and other supplies for the kids, the students brought their “A” game and demonstrated the caring, compassionate, and empathetic nurses that they will be and already are.  I love this day the most!

Now let me attempt to explain the Indian Relays.  We went to Three Moccasin Park which is in Pine Ridge and near the pow wow grounds.  We watched several horse races prior to the main event.  The races were not your typical horse racing that you would see at Churchill Downs.  Instead the majority of races were bareback, including a bareback pony race for kids.  We saw the over-40 race, which Tyler LaForge won.  He is the guy whose horses we typically get to ride in Porcupine; it was great to see someone who I have met several times win!  The Indian Relays involve teams–there is one rider for three horses and two horse handlers on each team.  The rider starts on the ground and must jump on the back of his horse (again, bareback!) and ride at a full gallop around the track.  When he approaches the starting area, he jumps off his horse onto the ground and then jumps onto the next horse and rides around the track again.  This process is repeated one more time, and it is absolutely crazy to see. The riders coming in full-tilt with the handlers trying to help with the exchange of horses for 4 teams was controlled chaos.  I have never seen anything like it–it was quite exciting, but I honestly thought that I might have a heart attack thinking that either a horse or rider was going to get seriously injured. Wow!  Here are some photos that don’t really do the exciting process justice.

We continued to do health promotion here at the Relays as well.  We did some screenings and ended up talking to a young mom with a baby who had what appeared to be a small abscess on her face from an insect bite and a grandma with a small child with an open wound from a bicycle accident. Skin issues continue to be something that comes up commonly here.  We talked to both about how to care for the affected areas, infection prevention, and when to follow up with the primary care provider.  We met a family while watching the races who were just an absolute pleasure.  While health promotion is still the ongoing focus, chatting about the relays with this very welcoming group was quite enjoyable.

When we finally put this day to bed after a delicious meal at the Lakota Prairie Restaurant and S’mores around the fire, the students agreed that the day was a win.

We’re always trying new things–trying to get out in the community as much as we can, wherever we can.  I have my tried and true health promotion sites, and Saturday was going to be about health promotion in the parking lot of the pow wow.  But first, the group went to the Pow Wow Parade in Pine Ridge for the first time.  I love this group-when offered the opportunity to sleep in just a bit and go to the pow wow grounds after the parade, the decision was an immediate request to leave early so that the parade could be experienced.  We waited for quite a while for the parade to start, and the day was overcast and cooler than anticipated.  The main street in Pine Ridge (where Big Bat’s is located) was full of families with children and older adults ready to see the parade.  After helping 3 kids who were near us at the curb gather as much candy thrown from the floats as possible, we moved back to the SUV when it started to rain.  I was ready to wait the rain out since we had planned to do health promotion and loaded the vehicle with all of our gear and giveaways.  The rain did not cooperate though, and after becoming more steady, I made the command decision to pack it in, at least for the pow wow plan.  Did I mention that this group is great?  Well, they proved it again when no one uttered a single complaint about not being able to do what we really wanted for the day.

We adjusted the plan and went to see Rosie to do her “check up”.  Along with Rosie’s screenings, we also did 2 others–for the girls who were working in the store.  The students did a great job with these screenings and health education.  We also took the opportunity to browse in the store, chat with Allyssa, and visit with Rosie more.  After a quick motel siesta and a change of clothes, we ventured out into the Badlands.  I know that my friend, Lisa Preston, who has traveled with me to Pine Ridge in past years will be shocked, but the road in the Badlands has been paved!  So exciting!  We drove to Red Shirt Table and admired all of the beautiful sights–the terrain, small fields of sunflowers,  the Red Shirt Table overlook, and the beginning of a gorgeous sunset.  After many pictures, much laughter, shopping at the Sharps Corner grocery, and some singing along with KILI on the radio, we turned in for the night.

So, while at first glance this day seems like a bust because we did not get to do the health promotion at the pow wow grounds because of the rain, it actually was not.  It was a successful day because I learned more about Pine Ridge and have a new potential site/event for health promotion.  Next year we will set up beside the parade route and offer screenings to those who are waiting for the parade.  I’m pretty sure that we can actually make this a mobile service–rather than having people come to us, we will just carry our equipment with us and travel the parade route. In addition to this new opportunity, the students completed three screenings with education.  It’s not about the numbers, it is about the quality of the interaction, and this was a great start.  The trip to the Badlands was fantastic.  The bonding experience and laughter is not one that I will forget.  So, yes, a change in plans, but no, this day was a success!

Early mornings and late nights with so much in between.  This is the way the trip always goes.  No time for blogging yesterday so I will catch you up.  We stopped in to see Rosie, Allyssa, and Frieda at the Singing Horse on our way out of the reservation to go to Walmart in Nebraska.  So good to see these friends–it’s hard to catch Rosie at a standstill, she is always moving!  After visiting for a bit and doing some initial planning for other activities, we moved on to visit the OLC Nursing Program in Pine Ridge.  Michelle Bruns, one of the faculty members (who the students say looks like Tonya Broughton at IUS) took time out of her very busy pre-call back week schedule to show us around the school and talk about the program.  One thing that I learned this visit is that students must travel to either Sioux Falls; Cody, Wyoming; or somewhere in Nebraska (each from 6-8 hours away) to take the NCLEX.  They are increasing their enrollment to 25 students this semester, which will be challenging due to space and the limitations of having only 5 faculty.  Michelle is an absolute pleasure to talk with, and she gave some insights on some new developments on the reservation unrelated to the nursing program.  We moved onto the Walmart in Chadron and got all of our supplies.  Using our usual divide and conquer method, we were able to get 5 overloaded shopping carts full of baby supplies, booster seats, diapers, hygiene items, and physical activity items for kids.  Remember the limited cargo space in the SUV?  Well, the students tackled the loading of all of this (plus our food for the week) like pros!  They also continue to be very patient with our flexible plans and what seems like continuous driving.

After the allotted one hour of siesta time back at the motel. We went back to the pow wow for the grand entrance.  It is something that everyone should experience at least once!  We saw our new friend, Cecil–who left the circle to come over and shake our hands.  We gave him an IUS T-shirt, and he was so appreciative–said that he will wear it out!

The pow wow is such an amazing experience, and the students’ reactions are always something that I enjoy greatly.  They are getting more and more comfortable, and I love to see the openness and ability to recognize the positives in the Lakota way of life.

Here is our friend, Cecil (photo by Danielle Ramser).

There is no word for goodbye in the Lakota language, instead “Tókša akhé”is used to say see you later or see you again.  This word is perfect to capture my thoughts on coming back to Pine Ridge.  I never say goodbye to Pine Ridge and the people here, just see you later.  Even though I have not visited in over a year, I felt the welcome when arriving yesterday.  It is great to be back!

We left Louisville bright and early yesterday morning and got delayed in Minneapolis.  We finally made it to Rapid City at 11 am mountain time.  After a near heart attack at the rental counter (the Budget guy told me that they had a Ford Focus for my party of 8), we loaded up and hit the road.  I completely overestimated the cargo room in the SUV we got, so no trip for supplies in Rapid City.  Instead we went to pick up our 70 pounds of donated toothbrushes from Erika’s apartment (student from Methodist who moved to Rapid after graduation).  The students impressed me greatly in their first unplanned problem-solving activity; they were able to fit 800 toothbrushes and toothpaste into our already overfull cargo area!

I decided to mix it up and just get the sight-seeing at Mt Rushmore over with since we were close.  After taking the requisite hour to see this, we headed to Pine Ridge.  Even though my fatigue from an early morning, stress about a travel delay, and a two-hour time difference from home was catching up with me, I felt the immediate lift in my energy when we got to the reservation.  After a smooth check-in at the Lakota Prairie and my favorite greeting–“You’ve stayed here before, haven’t you?”, we decided to go to the pow wow in Pine Ridge to meet Erika and to go ahead and start to experience all that we can.

The Oglala Nation Pow Wow is a weekend long event that will have approximately 800 dancers total. Thursday night is opening night so the crowd is small and the atmosphere relaxed.  We walked around, watched the dancing, and ate the always delicious Indian Taco.  After sitting down to watch the dancing, we had the pleasure of making the acquaintance of a Lakota elder named Cecil Young Dog.  He talked to us for probably an hour, and made the statement that when you show kindness and  reach out to learn about the Lakota, you will receive this kindness back in 10-fold from the Lakota.  I have found this to be quite true in my experiences on the reservation, and our interaction with Cecil proved this as well.  He very kindly explained the meaning of different dances, what the drumbeat for the dance signifies, and told us about his life.  He will be dancing tomorrow (or today now) so we will be looking for him in blue regalia at the 7pm Golden Age Dance!  He kept inviting us to dance during the dances that all are welcome to join in on, and finally during the courtship dance, pulled Erika out into the circle.  He guided her around and taught her the steps for this couple’s dance.  Essentially, the steps are two steps forward and one step back to the beat of the drum–an excellent metaphor for marriage and relationships!  Erika is an awesome pow wow dancer and impressed me for probably the zillionth time with her ability to make a connection, overcome her fears, and challenge herself.  She is a great example to all, and especially for these students!

Tókša akhé to all back home!