Saturday, July 27, 2013

Arriving 20 strong at Blackfeet Reservation

We arrived! After long hours of flying and traveling from near and far, the group all met at the Great Falls airport in the early afternoon Saturday. We are 20 strong for this week at the Blackfeet Reservation. After some quick introductions and packing of the vans, we were off for our drive to the reservation. Joe, our community volunteer, provided lots of historical information dating back to Lewis and Clark and the exploration of the “Big Sky Country.” As we got closer to Browning, the Rocky Mountains emerged from the horizon and gave us our first glimpse of the beautiful scenery that would be our backdrop for the week. 

We had a brief tour of the community college grounds and we all found our lodging. Everyone unpacked and took a few minutes to decompress before loading back in the vans and heading to the senior center for dinner. Maria prepared a great dinner and we all enjoyed an opportunity to get to know each other a little bit better including why each of us has chosen to come to the Blackfeet Reservation. 


As a perfect conclusion to our inaugural day, Bob Tailfeathers met with the group. Bob informally talked about the sweat that will take place Monday night and what people could expect if they chose to participate. Bob gave his personal perspective on why this sweat was especially meaningful to him and his family. The highly spiritual experience takes place at 175 degrees and all of us were honored to have the invitation to participate.  Bob also talked about art and many of us were particularly interested to hear about how he is one of only four quill artists on the reservation. We look forward to seeing his art and jewelry on Monday when he joins us for dinner. 

What a perfect and exhausting day! I can’t wait to see what the week holds in store for us.   

Entry submitted by: Jennifer - Rochester, New York

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