Saturday saw a return to Pine Ridge for us with an earlier start to ensure that we could make it before the road closed for the pow wow parade. We returned to our spot along the sidewalk across from the pow wow grounds. While yesterday was a trickle, today was a steady stream. Pine Ridge turns out for the parade and that benefited us greatly as far as screening participants.
The students now work as a team fairly seamlessly–they are comfortable approaching people and inviting them to our tent. They also pair up without issue and trade off so that everyone gets a chance to screen. The weather today was HOT and dry with no breeze to speak of so our only issue was our incredibly sensitive cholesterol monitors. They are not meant for this type of environment, but we make it work by keeping them in the shade and putting them on ice in between screenings. We have seen all ages during our screening time–elderly to young adult with lots of children for the students to interact with. Our kids bag has bubbles, frisbees, coloring books, and crayons, and the bubbles are always a hit. With lots of screenings, kids galore, and throw in a cute puppy at the tent next to us, and you have a great screening environment, even with the heat.
While the big excitement during a previous trip was a high speed chase that we witnessed in Pine Ridge, this year there was a car fire on the pow wow grounds. Nothing to see beyond a lot of smoke, and thank goodness everyone got out safely.
With our location this year, we were right at the end of the parade route so once the parade started, the students and alum were just like the kids with their empty bags waiting for candy to be thrown at them. They ended up with two hospital bath basins full of candy. I stayed in the shade of the tent, and by doing so missed out on getting sprayed by the fire truck like a sprinkler. Oh well, there’s always next year.
We also met a group from IHS that were staffing the mobile clinic at the pow wow. This was terribly exciting for me, and they were so kind and friendly. We met an ED nurse, a flight nurse, and the supervisor of outpatient services. We exchanged contact information, and the supervisor of outpatient services told me to contact her for tours and other experiences with IHS. We were also invited to tour the mobile clinic!
After screening for as long as our equipment would hold out, we stopped by the mobile clinic, and the students did a brief tour. The physician staffing the clinic stated that in past year’s she has seen up to 150 patients over pow wow weekend and that sometimes people will come to see her for a visit and this is the only time that they will see a Dr. This certainly supports what we have heard from many people–they just don’t go to the doctor or are distrustful of IHS.
We went into the pow wow briefly to get a beverage from my new iced coffee supplier–Pejuta Sapa–or Black Medicine Coffee. It is a mobile coffee shop truck based in Kyle but at the pow wow this year with the food vendors. After everyone got something cold, we saw that the dancers were lining up for the afternoon grand entry. I decided that I was going to seek out our friend S., an elder traditional dancer, from the 2016 trip. We met him at the pow wow in 2016 and talked to him extensively and then later sent him a note and photos. I easily picked him out of the crowd–he was in his red regalia talking to two other traditional older traditional dancers. While he did not remember my name, he remembered the group from 2016 and was surprised that we had come back. He also stated that he still reads the note that we sent him periodically. He is doing well and currently helping to care for his wife who recently had some toes amputated. We took photos with him, and I told him that we would send some to him from this year. It was great to see him, and I am so happy that he remembered the group.
After another fiesta/siesta, we went to Singing Horse, and I finally got to see A. and baby L. Also, V. and C. were in the store–I had not seen C. in 5 years since she moved to Rapid, but she remembered us as well. The students shopped more and then climbed the ridge again for photos. We drove out to the Red Shirt Table overlook trying to catch the sunset, but I had visited too long at Rosie’s, and we barely missed it. Doesn’t matter though–the incoming storm clouds and colorful sky against the backdrop of the Badlands provided some of the most beautiful landscape, I have ever seen. A great way to end this day–chasing sunsets as the students say.
Nursing Students at Pine Ridge 