Monthly Archives: April 2018

After the completely over-the-top, awesome day yesterday, we woke up to heavy snow falling at Rosie’s.  I was not expecting this, but I should know better—expect the unexpected.  The week has flown by, and Thursday is our last day on the rez.  We had another busy day planned—I had to pick up the CPR manikins from the OLC Nursing Program and take our sponsor family from One Spirit their items in Pine Ridge—all before 10am.  The students are exhausted at this point and decided to stay behind to work on their meal for the youth center—the much-hyped buffalo roast.  My exhaustion has set in, and I am also feeling the end-of-trip funk that I have described in previous blogs.  I thought that the drive to Pine Ridge in solitude would help my mood, but with the vigorous snow, it made me even more anxious instead of giving me some calm.  The highlight was meeting Terri, the mother of our sponsored family.  She is a single mom who is raising three kids with ages ranging from 23 to 15.  She also makes soup and other meals for the homeless on the reservation each week—all with an extremely limited budget.  We got to chat briefly, and I look forward to getting to know her better over future trips. 

The students and Kathleen were making their final purchases in the store when I returned.  I had hoped to be able to squeeze in a trip to the historical center before the high school, but we seemed to be moving in slow motion today—getting in a few screenings in the store not withstanding.  We finally wrapped everything up and left to go to OLC with the students making the request to just go to the OLC bookstore.  As we arrived at the bookstore, I realized that we still had some items for the youth center that needed to be returned tonight since it was our last night.  Unfortunately, these had been left back at Rosie’s.  I let everyone off at the bookstore and headed back to Rosie’s to get them. 

Even though it had snowed a good 3 inches this morning, by afternoon the majority of the snow had melted and left the landscape around Rosie’s and elsewhere a mud pit.  As I was hurrying into the cabin to get the items to return to the youth center, I made a fateful step that landed me in the mud on my butt.  With my poor attitude, frustration with having to drive back to the cabins, and overwhelming fatigue, I briefly considered crying.  Instead, I sat there for a few seconds thinking that I had probably deserved this, and that this was the wake-up call to turn my attitude around.  Again, hurrying and over-planning gets me nowhere—except in the mud on my butt!  I had to change 90% of my clothes, which left me with even less time.

By the time I got back to the OLC bookstore, the request was thrown out to eat lunch at the motel.  Because of the time and our commitment to go to the high school, we could not do both.  I let the group off at the motel for lunch (after all, even though our diet has consisted of cold cuts and granola bars—or maybe that is only my diet—my goal is not to starve anyone!), and I went to the high school to do the last day of teaching on CPR and first aid.  This was absolutely not optimal, but we can’t be in two places at once, unless the group splits up.  I also dropped off prom clothes at Oyate Teca in Kyle.  While my CPR teaching was not as good as the previous day’s sexual health discussion, it was ok and was enough to help me get outside my own head and finally improve my attitude just a touch. 

We headed to Allen for our final day of teaching and fun with the kids.  Suzie had made a contact earlier in the week with a lady who had come into the youth center to pick up mail.  Her husband is a hoop dancer (which I didn’t think was traditional to the Lakota, but it actually is—they are the “Michael Jordan” of Lakota pow wow dancers, I was told), and Suzie made arrangements for the hoop dancer to come to dance for the kids at the youth center.  After negotiating an unplanned honorarium, the dancer set up for his demonstration.  There was a good mixture of kids and adults, and it was great to see Travis, the youth center director, so excited about this added event.  One of the youth center board members and elders, John Bad Wound, has been at the center most nights that we have been there this week, and we have gotten to know him well enough for the fun joking that I appreciate in this culture.  I nearly fell in the mud again taking some things to the dumpster behind the center, and afterwards, he told me that I would be the featured mud dancer after the hoop dancer.

The hoop dancer was amazing!  This was my first time seeing this type of dancing in person.  His presentation involved the audience, with anyone who wanted to try out the hoops invited to participate.  All of the students and Kathleen and most of the kids participated and had a blast.  He also incorporated several of the week’s teaching topics into his presentation—specifically self-esteem and bullying, which was a great addition, especially coming from the traditional Lakota viewpoint.  My favorite part of the experience beyond the hoop dancing itself, was a centering activity that focused on “Grandpa Rock”.  Since apparently today is all about me and what I am thinking (see previous comments about attitude), I needed this badly.  I was able to clear my head and quiet my racing thoughts for just a minute at least—I possibly need to carry around a boulder with me for future centering exercises!  The night culminated with the much-anticipated buffalo roast that was delicious, as well as the final teaching on CPR and first aid.  The kids loved having the students there so much that they did not want them to leave.  After photos and goodbyes, we are off again for our last night at Rosie’s. 

After the chaotic environment at the youth center on Tuesday, the students resolved to put their game faces on and take back the night (i.e. manage the chaos!).  After having close to 30 kids last night with widely varying ages, they decided to split the group up into smaller, more manageable teaching sessions, repeating teaching for multiple groups.  They also decided to allow students who truly did not want to participate to be excluded.  With this new resolve, we were ready to start our Wednesday.

We started with an early visit to the Red Cloud Indian School Heritage Center.  The center changes exhibits frequently, and for this visit, there was a Wounded Knee Exhibit.  I am familiar with this historical event from previous visits and readings, but the exhibit hit me hard.  It was incredibly powerful and moving with historical photos that I had never seen, as well as narrative from Red Cloud students.  The tears always come at some point, and this was the time.  The chapel provided a peaceful moment of reflection as well.

After this visit to Red Cloud, we arrived at Big Bat’s promptly at 9am to meet our buffalo supplier, Bamm Brewer.  Big Bat’s was not as busy as the summer so the students decided to make some purchases and take some selfies in the parking lot (I usually avoid Big Bat’s during pow wow because it is just too busy with all types of buying and selling inside and outside the store).  After sitting in the SUV for about 30 minutes, I called Bamm, who said he would be there in 5 minutes, and we agreed that I would follow him out to the “meat house” (no clue where this was before I agreed to this).  Keeping watch for a red Chevy truck was on everyone’s agenda, and once spotted, Shelby rolled her window down and waved vigorously to let him know that we were the SUV that would be following.  He gave one quick wave and then we were off to the meat house in a two vehicle caravan.  We drove out past the pow wow grounds to an area of Pine Ridge that I had never been before.  The meat house had a huge buffalo skin/fur (?) on display out front which made for an interesting topic of discussion upon arrival.  Bamm was friendly, kind, and quite funny, as well as gracious so our buffalo bargaining went very well. I bought a buffalo roast, prime tips (?again I’m not sure that I am getting the description quite right), and one beef roast.  After an explanation of how to cook it, and a story about the buffalo herd that lives close to his home that involved a curse word or two, he was fast friends with the group.  After explaining how the meat house had come to be and the buffalo herd that is close to his home, we received an invitation to meet the baby buffalo that he has tamed (that was abandoned by her mother).  Cola, the Magic Buffalo, is housed in a pen close to the house and can be walked with a lead rope.  She was beautiful and had the most gentle, knowing eyes.  The students took turns feeding and petting her and posing for photos with her.  She will be returned to the herd when she is bigger.  After thanking Bamm profusely for this amazing experience, we were off again.  However, we had to stop before getting out to the main road because of more exciting animals to see—this time, llamas (or alpacas?).  There was one just laying in the dirt road/driveway so I decided to attempt to make friends.  I picked some grass and clicked to it like I would a horse and was able to get it to come to me.  This was a bit scary and again exciting, but he or she wanted no part of my grass—sniffed it, turned his head quickly, and then ran off to join his friends. 

After stowing the buffalo in the refrigerator at the cabin, we were off again for a quick trip to the Badlands.  The wind was blowing like crazy, but as always the lighting and clouds provided another unique view of this beautiful terrain.  Red Shirt Table was quiet today, unlike the summer when we had to share the view with bikers.  The bikers were nice, but having the view to ourselves is better.

This day was a whirlwind and our next stop was the high school.  I had asked AJ what he felt like the students needed as far as education, and he mentioned sexual health.  This was not on the students agenda for the youth center so I told them that I would cover it.  After a self-image pep talk, we got down to business with review of STI’s and unplanned pregnancy prevention.  The students were quite engaged with this topic, and even more so when Hayley gave them a demonstration of the correct way to apply a condom using a banana.  I really enjoyed doing this teaching!  We left all of the condoms that Sharon had brought and then prepared to move on to the youth center.  As we were packing up, Ted, the Lakota teacher, in the alternative classroom invited the students to his house to learn about the sweat ceremony.  This was terribly exciting and quite unexpected!  We got directions to his house and made a plan to visit after the youth center.

After the discouraging teaching session yesterday, the youth center on this day was calm and quiet in comparison.  The students still arrived with their game day faces and “take back the night” attitudes though!  There were much fewer children, but the audience was completely engaged in learning about stranger danger and smoking prevention (and much more manageable).  A quite pleasant evening which was a welcome change! 

After the youth center it was off to Sharp’s Corner to try to find Ted’s house.  After looking for a green house with a white fence set back from the road in the waning daylight, I finally had to call for directions.  His very sweet mother-in-law directed me to look for the flickering porch light and to turn down the driveway by the three trees and the ditch.  I have an absolute terrible sense of direction, but these directions worked like a charm.  Ted and the rest of the family were still in the sweat ceremony so we waited with Mamie, his mother-in-law and some of the small grandchildren.  After an hour or so of conversation, everyone that had been in the sweat arrived, and Ted very kindly had his son, Dino, who is a Lakota teacher, explain the sweat ceremony.  This particular sweat was related to the change in season from winter to spring and the return of the Thunder Beings who will bring rain to the earth with the season change.  There was also an explanation of a particular type of medicinal soup that is consumed at this time of year, but I will not get into that here.  The sweat custom and Lakota legends were fascinating, and the time spent with this family was truly enjoyable.  We got to see the sweat lodge as well.  This is a night that I will never forget.  I have pushed the students to do more health promotion than they had planned for—I hate to pass up an opportunity when it presents itself–and this includes going to the high school for additional teaching each day.  However, I feel like our added efforts were rewarded—good begets good.  If we had not gone to the high school, this invitation from Ted would not have happened. 

Even if we go to the exact same places for each trip, I am always amazed by how different each trip is.  We never have the same experience twice, and I guess that is just one of the many things that I love about coming to Pine Ridge.

I have been working on “scoring”some buffalo meat since arriving on the rez.  Suzie plans to make a traditional meal with buffalo roast for the Allen Youth Center and finding some meat for sale has been a bit of an adventure.  I do in some ways feel like I am working an illicit deal—tomorrow morning I will be meeting a man at 9am at the Big Bat’s in Pine Ridge to close my buffalo deal.

 Today started off with horseback riding for Kathleen, Hayley, and Sharon so no other activities in the am besides a bit of laundry, poster work for the remaining students, and visiting with Frieda.  We went back to Little Wound High School at the invitation of the alternative classroom teacher, AJ.  It was great to be back!  This visit was informal with my students being initially nervous, and the alternative classroom students being shy.  It didn’t take too long for both groups to warm up a bit.  The topics today were nutrition and sugary drinks and oral health.  We only have 45 minutes there, but definitely well-worth the short visit.  We’ll be back Wednesday and Thursday again—by the end of the week everyone should be quite comfortable. 

The traveling health promotion brigade then moved on to Allen.  Yesterday there were about 14 kids who participated in the health teaching.  Today there were around 26.  The size of the crowd definitely influenced this session’s outcomes.  Trying to get all of the kids to sit down was like herding cats (thus the title)—as soon as the students got one table seated, another table would get up and move around.  The group was quite lively, easily distracted, and included a mixture of ages—including some middle school-age guys that were a bit smitten with my students.  After calling them on their whistling (which I was told was just a way to say hello-ha!), I figured out that joking with them actually got them to stop being fresh. Postscript:  I thought that this had worked, but not so—this is another story for another day though.

 Today’s topics were self-image and bullying—such important topics for this group.  While the crowd was lively and boisterous, the students held themselves together and again adapted their plan to meet the needs of the audience.  Frankly, it was a bit of mayhem, but this has only strengthened the resolve of the students to go back tomorrow and have their crowd control persona’s ready for action!  They are resilient and ready to do their best no matter what.  (This night deserved another pie debrief at the Lakota Prairie!)

It’s Spring Break so that means another new adventure.  This is my second spring trip to Pine Ridge with students, and this time, there are 4 senior nursing students, 3 of whom made the trip in August and one fellow faculty person emeritus/friend.  Because of our donation volume (which is good!), we ended up with a two-vehicle caravan, and the students divided between the two vehicles.  The trip up went smoothly with no untoward issues or complaints—we are always blessed in that way.

We made it to Pine Ridge early in the afternoon on Sunday, after an overnight in Sioux Falls.  We’re trying something new this trip, staying in Rosie’s “Cozy cabins”.  We’ll miss the Lakota Prairie, but the cabins are great and quite comfortable.  We visited for a brief time and then headed on to Rapid City for the requisite grocery shopping.  And if we’re going to Rapid, then there, of course, is sightseeing on the agenda as well.  One of the four students had not seen Mt Rushmore so we took a quick trip there.  I don’t usually even get out of the car anymore, I’ve been to Mt Rushmore so many times now so I just quietly in the car enjoying the calm before the storm that is the activity-filled week on the reservation.  While the mountain goats were not in the parking lot this year, we could see them on the mountain next to Mt Rushmore so that was worth the trip in itself!  After a delicious Japanese steakhouse meal and what seemed to be a midnight Walmart shop, we drove back to the rez in heavy snow.  I may or may not have wanted to kiss the ground upon our return to Rosie’s—quite happy to be out of the car for the night!

My day on Monday started with a quick trip to visit Allyssa and meet the new baby, Liliana Shae.  Oh, this baby!  Just absolutely beautiful and precious and perfect.  So thrilled that I got to see her and that everything is well.  Pictures later!  This was a great beginning to the first day on Pine Ridge.

Students’ health promotion for this trip is focused on the Allen Youth Center with a week-long teaching initiative.  The students are such great team players-they have a great program planned with activities, healthy meals, and giveaways.  Monday’s teaching was focused around oral care, healthy drinks, and nutrition.  As soon as the students walked in the youth center, the hugs started.  There were many of the same kids, and they clearly remembered the students.  With a lively crew of about 14 kids of varying ages, the students completed their activities, adapting like pros.  With varied ages of participants, students had to problem solve limited attention spans; competing interest in phones and tablets; and occasional shyness.  But, as previously noted, they worked together like champs.  After teaching and a delicious chicken soup and fruit prepared by Hayley, the students played with kids (which is, I think, what all of them wanted to do more than anything since they are all kids at heart).  Great to be back here in Allen with such a warm welcome.  Our week is off to a fantastic start!  We celebrated a successful beginning with a stop at the Lakota Prairie Restaurant for pie and debriefing and then a night of rest that can only be experienced after a full day on the rez.