June 12th- "Weeding Rocks"

By Carita

It's bright and beautiful here in Browning, MT. After breakfast and our morning meetings we headed to our daily assignments.  Suzanne spent the morning "weeding rocks" and in the afternoon she was at the Care Center with Alice filling water balloons and interacting with the residents.

After a rather confusing start, Alice ended up at the Care Center, visiting with one special resident and learning local history, polishing nails with another and helping with bingo. In the afternoon, she and Suzanne played a water balloon game and did crafts with more residents.

Liz, Andrew and Will returned to the Blackfeet Academy assisting with the gardening and cleaning up the medicine wheel. They also helped with planting the first Earthboxes in Montana. They come complete with a box, dirt and watering system. One box has tomatoes, another with beans, and the third with assorted vegetables. Will found a special arrowhead that he was allowed to keep and learned if you take something from the earth you must give something back, he gave back a special, beautiful stone.

Alexander reported that he did typical library things during his day there. Shelving, cataloging and putting puzzles together.

Kelsey played “run around”, taking photographs and reporting for the latest breaking news at the Glacier Reporter (local news paper).

John found he wasn’t needed at maintenance and ended up at Eagle Shields washing windows and cleaning a vestibule area. He enjoyed visiting with Leroy, the custodian, and learned much about his life. In the afternoon John went to CDC where more weeding rocks took place.

Lucia ended up at East Glacier Head Start which is now closed- doing hard physical labor, taking down fences and old playground equipment.

I had the opportunity of getting an in depth look at the homes and lives of Browning senior citizens by helping deliver over 80 meals-on-wheels.  In the afternoon, I went to CDC to assist John with rock pulling.

After dinner of fish, baked beans, macaroni salad, and root beer floats prepared by Maria at Eagle Shields- we concluded our day with a group meeting. Phyllis recapped her various issues of the day. She reported that Suzanne will get to do a presentation on Judaism tomorrow, John will get to meet with two sociology deans from the college and Lucia will get to survey students for a college project she’s doing. 

So ended the second day.

First Day of Work on the Reservation

By John

The team met at the Blackfeet Community College with representatives of organizations from the local community. Representatives from the college, Care Center, Boys and Girls Club, and the Browning Community Development Center expressed their needs from us. After discussing assignments, the team split up to begin their first day of work.  I was assigned to serve at Head Start with Alexander and we traveled to Seville, where I mowed lawns and Alexander worked on the floors inside the building.

In the evening, five members of the group traveled to Tom Crawford’s sweat lodge in Heart Butte for an evening of prayer. Together with about 20 Indians we participated in the offering of prayer for various individuals proposed by the participates, including us. By bringing along tobacco and presenting it to the leader we submitted our prayer requests. The entire evening lasted from 6:30 until 11 o’clock, with periods of sweating and offering of prayers and songs with short breaks outside the lodge to cool off and to share fellowship with other guests. The basic concept is that by sweating “we our suffering for whom we are praying.”

When you submit a request, the individual sits in front of one of the leaders who offers the prayer and purpose of certain rituals on your back and head. After our last session we went into our host’s home for a healthy meal by our new found friends.

June 10th - Blackfeet Reservation

From Alice

We gathered after Sunday breakfast for our orientation. Our team leader, Phyllis provided an overview of the program and went over Global Volunteers’ philosophy of service and objectives.

Our team consists of 11 individuals representing AZ, CA, PA, MA, MN, WA and the UK. We all introduced ourselves and developed the group’s goals and attributes.

In the afternoon we took a casual drive through the Blackfeet Reservation, viewing herds of cattle, horses, and buffalo. Our drive took us through beautiful rolling prairie, and the snow covered mountains were seen to the west of us.

For dinner we enjoyed a delicious home cooked chicken dinner, complete with squash, carrots, potatoes and celery. After dinner we enjoyed a discussion with Bob Tailfeathers, a local Blackfeet Indian who helped us better understand the Blackfeet culture. He also shared his beautiful quill jewelry and sketches.

After viewing a thought-provoking and entertaining video on the Blackfeet culture, we went to bed anticipating what the next day will bring.

Blackfeet Reservation, June 8th

We had a hard time waking up. I think the week’s work and excitement caught up to us. We had a nice breakfast, which consisted of cinnamon rolls, coffee, and juice. We watched Lakota Brule while eating; this type of music and dance is similar to the performances at the Native American Indian Days in July. This Friday was particularly special for us volunteers because we had the opportunity to help at the Flood Memorial.48 years ago the tragic flood of ’64 took many lives. In honor of those that were lost, each year Browning and the surrounding areas affected by the flood gather to share their memories of that day and those that were lost. The whole global crew helped serve food to everyone that came to the memorial, and we cleaned up afterwards.

After the ceremony, we went to the pawnshop and trading post to buy souvenirs for our family members and friends. Some of us branched off towards the museum in town, while others who had already seen the museum went to the “Espresso Teepee” for a couple of cool beverages. After talking with the owner and petting her friendly pup, we were on our way- delicious drinks in hand.

On the way back to Headstart, Linda felt like conquering a hill to see the good view at the top. As we started up the hill the wind kicked up and this is when the cold drinks seemed like a bad idea. After a few “burrrrr”s and a few more “ohhhh jeezz”s we made it to the top of this tiny hill, saw the view (which was nice), and hurried back to our temporary home to get out of the cold wind. I don’t think any of the volunteers will forget about the wind on the Blackfeet Reservation.

Michele then drove us to the Lodge Gallery and Teepee Village owned by Darrell Norman and his wife, Angelika. This place is located in a beautiful area outside of Browning and is listed in Leisure magazine as one of the top ten places to stay in the world. Both Darrell and Angelika are artists and have their worked displayed among other local artists’ work at their gallery. This is also where we counted our fifth cat on the reservation! (In a town dominated by dogs, cats are hard to come by.)

We came back to Headstart to eat Indian tacos made by Candy Lamott, a wonderful woman and our amazing cook. An Indian taco has basically the same taco ingredients as any other type of taco except for the ripped up fried bread that it is served on. This meal was very filling and as a taco lover, I highly recommend trying it.

Overall, I can say that the days here go by quickly, maybe even too fast. This might be because the days have been full of new tasks to complete, new things to learn, beautiful scenery, delicious food and most of all good company.

The week is over, I’m sad to see everyone leave. All of you contributed to a wonderful beginning to my 7-week stay on the Blackfeet Reservation. Thanks for your hard work and good humor! J

Blackfeet Reservation, June 7, 2012

By Lucia McDermott

Got up bright and early today at 6.30 so I could go swimming, then I got dressed and ate breakfast with the rest of the team.  After breakfast we all got assigned to our projects, today I was working at the Head Start Centre helping with maintenance.  Before I got started I was given a tour of the full Head Start Centre by Wayne.  The Head Start caters for children aged 2 months to 5 years of age. Wayne informed me that when a child starts at the centre they get assigned to a specific teacher and class room, he went on to say that as the child moves through the centre with age the teacher moves up with them. I believe this is a fantastic thing especially in Browning were the Childs home life may be troubled and unsteady, they are given a stable figure in the in the centre therefore this will hopefully make them be enthusiastic about going to school at a young age which will carry on as they grow and encourage them to stay in education.  

I was then assigned to help Bill who is in charge of maintenance of the Head Starts out of the Browning community. After an eventful start ,we headed at to a centre which was in Babb , a town about 40 miles out of browning. The drive was quite long but Bill had some good stories on, we were talking about the wild animals in Glacier National park and he told me about a bear attack about three years ago. There were two attacks at two different campsites in one night and one woman was dragged out of her tent in the middle of the night. This was not a reassuring thought considering the upcoming camping trip I have planned in Glacier, but what will be will be! At the Centre I was given the job of sanding walls, it was quite messy but I enjoyed it. After all the jobs were completed we headed back to a different centre just outside browning driving aside the wonderful mountains and rolling plains.

The work day finished at four, so we had some free time to explore Browning. At six we headed down to the Hut and were given yet another very friendly welcoming by Carol and her family. The food was fantastic, a feast of baked trout, mixed bean salad and fries. For desert we had a root beer float, this was alien to me as I have never tried root beer or ice cream and pop mixed together (this is not common in the U.K). Well it was an experience and it’s up there with one of the most bizarre things I’ve eaten.  After we were done eating we walked round browning to tried to burn some of the food off then headed back to the centre.  Bob Tail Feathers had kindly lent us a DVD of the Lakota people Brule dancing, this was brilliant to watch the different types of dancing and music that it encompassed. Once we had finished the DVD a very tired team headed to bed at about ten o’clock to get our rest in preparation of the flood memorial tomorrow.

June 6 - Blackfeet Reservation

Browning, Montana
by Marie Heffernan

Today I woke up to a rainy morning.  I had woken up a bit late, but Michele was really nice about waking me up and asking if I needed more sleep.  I didn't, I got up, changed and had breakfast with the rest of the group.  Since I had previously been doing outdoor work, I had no idea what would be in store for me today.  At first, I was assigned to share my computer skills with Mike LaFramboise to help with his Blackfeet Language App.  But when I went down to BCC, I couldn't find him. So I went to help Smokey Henrikson and and Valerie at the maintenance office.  I helped reorganize and clean up the catalogues and the shelves they were on in the office.

I ate lunch with Smokey and got to know about him throughout our break.  It was really nice to speak to him.  He talked about growing up, and switching schools in high school.  He'd flip-flop between Browning and Cutbank, which is about 30 miles away, just off the reservation.  Whenever he got tired of one school, he would switch to the other. 

He talked about the sports in Browning and how basketball and cross country are really popular.  Smokey had been a star long distance runner in school at Cutbank, but when he came to Browning, the coach gave them a running assignment and said he was locking the gym at 6:00 pm, regardless of whether they were back or not.  The first couple of days Smokey had to wait until the next school day to get his clothes from the gym.  To help Smokey improve, one of his friends told him to chase horses with him over acres of land.  Smokey thought he was crazy at first but he did try it and ended up improving, though he could never actually grab a horse tail like his friend could.  Smokey said that's how the Indians got their food before bows and arrows and buffalo jumps were thought of.  The Indians would literally outrun their meal. 

Buffalo Jump

This evening, we barbecued with Brother Ray, one of the Cristian Brothers from the De La Salle school in Browning.  There is a large Catholic influence on the reservation due to the missionaries that came here in the late 1800s.  They came to spread Catholicism  and of course to take away the traditions of the Indians.  It was just another way the government tried to wipe out the Indians.  The missionary got Indian children in their school by saying they couldn't get their food ration unless they went there.  They also took children by force from their parents.  They weren't allowed to speak Indian at the school and physically punished for doing so.  Though the missionaries closed in 1930s, there is still quite a large population of Catholics on the reservation. 

After dinner we got to take a look at the church on the Christian Brothers' ranch.  It was small, and beautiful, with stained glass windows, wooden pews, and paintings of the stations of the cross.  We also saw the rubble from the original church and a lovely view of Two Medicine River.  Overall it was a really nice day and I was glad to talk with new people and to keep learning so many new things about life on the reservation. 

Marie Heffernan

Blog From The Rez

By Linda Walker
Today is primary election day here on the Blackfeet Reservation, which initiates a change in the make up of the tribal council in November.  One hundred candidates are competing for four positions on the council.  The voting poll workers who staffed the voting here in the Head Start Building where we are staying began to arrive well before 7 AM.  I know it was early because I was dragging myself to the shower after having had a wonderful experience at the Sweat Lodge last night.

As we were eating breakfast, we watched the Queen of England's Diamond Jubilee on televisioin.  Tremendous pagentry.

 My first gig of the day was to transplant veggies into other containers at the greenhouse.  However, I couldn't perform that task because the door was locked and no one was "home" in the "dome" except for the gophers in the field who were playing tag in and out of their gopher holes.  Never fear, I finally got to work in the Medicene Spring library on the BCC campus, where we washed chairs. My co-volunteer, Miriam, came along later to work with us.  Once we completed that job, we left and went to do other work.  I finally did get to transplant the veggies, and later I toured the Museum of the Plains Indians, where I saw some truly lovely examples of clothing made with porcupine needles, feathers, animal hides and beads.

After a great dinner of pork, cabbage, baked beans, tuna salad and bread, we were treated to a talk by Joe Bremner, a local Blackfeet businessman and BCC instructor. Joe spoke eloquently about Blackfeet people, medicene bundles and many artifacts sacred to the Blackfeet, and issues facing their Nation.  Then, to my surprise, he played two different flutes for us.  One song he played was "Amazing Grace."  Oh so lovely!

Later, some of us went to the casine to ply bingo, but we got there too late, and the man at the front door of the game room tried to explain the rules and costs to us.  So complicated!  Whatever happened to good old fashioned plain B-I-N-G-O?  We decided to just play the slots while we waited for Michele to pick us up in the van.  We weren't winners.  All that was left of Miriam's two dollars was a 9-cent cash-out ticket which she eagerly cashed in.  We went home to bed.