As we arrived on the reservation, there was still so much up in the air as far as plans. One thing that I am always able to schedule ahead of time is our visit to the Oglala Lakota College Nursing Program. We were scheduled to visit at 0930 on Friday, but I got an email from our contact to cancel due to a family member’s health emergency. We quickly regrouped and used this bonus time to sort our donations. We had received 180 pounds of personal hygiene items from Supplies Over Seas (Thank you!) and then the students had gotten other donations as well. After a fun, donation-sorting period, we left for the Children’s Pow Wow in Pine Ridge.
This year was the first year for a separate Children’s Pow Wow so of course, we needed to see the kids! After a grand entry that mesmerized the students, the kids (all the way from toddlers to teenagers) began their specific dances. My favorite is the men’s/guy’s traditional dance. In this dance, the men wear a bustle of feathers, a headpiece with feathers that looks like a long mohawk, and often times a breast plate. In this type of dance which I think (emphasis on the think!) the moves simulate the hunt. The precision of the steps and body movements with the drum often gives the sense that the dancer is in a trance—they seem to be one with the beat of the drum. There was a teenage boy with red regalia that made an instant impression in this dance. He was absolutely amazing to watch. I look forward to seeing him dance in future years—he is already amazing and probably only 14 years old!
I also needed to make contact with my tribal contact that I met last year about where we were going to set up near the pow wow for screenings. He and I have had a back and forth discussion on whether we needed to pay to be a vendor. Since we are not selling anything, paying to be present seems like a stretch, but I do understand that the pow wow takes a lot of planning, manpower, etc. We finally got things worked out, and for the first time were to set up outside the pow wow parking lot. We were with vendors selling Indian Tacos and other food along the sidewalk of the parade route. I had decided that we would begin to screen on Friday if given the opportunity and since we needed to stay in Pine Ridge so that we could go back to the pow wow then why not set up for a couple of hours? Of course, I forgot a few things at the cabin—like our IUS banner, etc. but that is par for the course. There are a lot of things to remember and organize for this trip—I do my best! Anyway, we set up and surprisingly had a steady trickle of interested people. This was a good start for the students to get used to the telemedicine platform, screening flow, and what to expect. Several of the students chose to be our outreach team and walked around talking to people and inviting them over to our tent. The team worked very well together-taking turns, assisting each other, and adapting very quickly to the expectations.
We went back to the pow wow for the main grand entry at 7pm. I had told the students that the evening grand entry was like the children’s grand entry but on steroids. We found an excellent spot to watch, and the grand entry did not disappoint. I love to watch their reactions to this beautiful event and see the awe in their faces. It is such a beautiful expression of the Lakota culture, and it gives me goose bumps every time that I have the privilege to attend and observe. I encourage students to take photos as appropriate, and as with other groups, this group was afraid to ask individual dancers if they could take photos with them. We got over this hurdle when I asked a teenaged female jingle dancer in the most beautiful pink regalia if Becca could take a photo with her. She was very gracious, and this broke the ice. As we got ready to leave, the students got several photos with their favorite dancers. Spirits were high as we headed back to our home for the week.
Nursing Students at Pine Ridge 