Getting Settled on the Reservation

Today was our first full day in Montana.  We got a lot done and most of the planning out of the way.  We met for about six hours after breakfast and talked about who was in charge of certain jobs, the goals we want to achieve and the guidelines for our trip.  We named Kelley as kitchen coordinator, Sunny as our safety coordinator, Lindsay as activity planner and Ann Hackman to type the journal.  Our Goals were to “experience and learn about a different culture”, “to serve as a family” and , like Vinnie said, “to have fun.”

After packing lunch we hit the road.  We went for a tour of the reservation and stopped at a nice lodge to have lunch. There was an amazing view but unfortunately it was so cold we had to take it in from the inside.  After a nice lunch we went home right at the same time Bob Tailfeathers, the director of student activities here at the college, arrived.  We got a nice talk from him which was about the history of the school.  After his talk he showed us his art and lots of us bought some.  Overall it was a nice and easy first day and now we are all ready for tomorrow’s adventures.
-Will

Team 97 Begins Work on the Reservation

Asst. Team Leader Joe Jessepe describes landscape features.

Heading North from Great Falls Airport, we see the Rockies in the distance.  Looking forward to big things and we are seeing new things.  Miles of wheat and barley.  Expecting new friendships, new experiences.  Big sky overhead – open space.  Staying open minded to new ideas and different attitudes.

Met Assistant Team Leader “Professor” Joe Jeseppe – a wealth of knowledge about plate tectonics, farming practices, tribal attitudes and Global Volunteers history.  Leader Ann Marett, a whirlwind of competency – long-time volunteer around the world.

Beautiful, cheerful enthusiastic people join us at BCC.  Annalisa DeLaGarza, 3^rd year pharmacy student from W.VA.,  Kelley Sullivan RN runs respite center.  Rawah Hassan from Sudan via Canada and Dallas and daughters Nadine and Leena.  Beautiful family Billy and Lindsay Webster – great kids Will, Lily, Liza and Vinnie – all outgoing.  Molly Cantrell college student and Mom Ann Hackman, psychiatrist,  Sunny Conn, RN and Bonnie Ogle natural history teacher and children’s writer.  Also met Darrell Wippert  of the Blackfeet tribe, talented artist, very interesting.  Lots of new faces with interesting stories.  Looking forward to an interesting week.
From far and wide we will abide friends.  - Bonnie

As the Week Winds Down

On Thursday, we awakened to huge gusts of wind, threatening grey skies, and periodic rain, but we didn’t let that get in the way of what we knew would be our long but exciting day. We fortified ourselves with a great breakfast before heading out  in various directions.

Charlotte, our rocket expert, again worked with the budding young scientists as they completed their summer camp, topped off with a celebratory dinner. Bunny, Gale, and Kathy met with staff from a drug and alcohol treatment center and shared the challenges they face as health professionals in dealing with individuals struggling with drug and alcohol abuse. Martha, our multitasking Global Volunteer vet, helped out in the morning at the injury and fire prevention fair, and then departed for the CDC to continue her illustrations for the children’s book. Finally, Anne and Darrell transported the last eager group to the Blackfeet Community Hospital. There we prepared large pans of macaroni, pickle, and egg salad, set up exhibit and buffet tables, and hung balloons and signs. Despite the on and off rain, we served hotdogs, hamburgers, salad, chips, and fruit to well over 350 hospital staff members and community residents. We made new friends with members of the country western band, the zumba instructor, and the hospital maintenance workers volunteering their time to bar-b-que. Diane and Ali carried out their second food prep of the day at the Eagle Shield Center.

The Community Hospital crew rounded out the afternoon with a fun stop at the Plains Indian Museum, where we expanded our knowledge of the Sun Dance celebration, talked with a local artist, and viewed a short film with highlights of the Blackfeet’s history.

As the sun peaked through, we returned home to BCC, greeted with the aroma of our wonderful evening meal. We had no idea one week ago, what awaited us.  As we approach our final days we can’t help but think that our experiences with the Blackfeet people and each other have been as vast as the big blue, grey, or star-filled Montana skies.

- Margaret and Kathy

Sun Dance and Sweat Lodges

Our morning meeting was brief today. We read the journal and the message of the day before being shipped off to our work sites. Three of us went to the Traditional Games Institute. I spent the time tying rocks onto sticks to create allatls. At least I tried to do that. I’m afraid the rocks are more held on by tacky glue. Posters were made, hoops were repaired, and then it was time to leave.

The rest of the group helped set up the sun dance lodge. Some people were tasked with chopping wood. There exists video evidence of Maria’s ax wielding efforts. It is safe to say she gave it her all. Before the logs had been moved, turned into sticks with a few (well, maybe more than a few) swings of the ax, the crew received a history lesson from one of the locals also working on the lodge. 

Joe put the experience in perspective by reminding us that not many people, even American Indians, get the opportunity to take part in the things we have. It wasn’t even his turn for the message of the day.

Horseback riding was rained out and rescheduled. So too was one woman’s potential fundraising cookout, and she became our cook for the night. The rain came down hard for most of the evening, the perfect backdrop to a few hours of card games. Fortunately the Casino in indoors. I spent my second night having the cultural experience of socializing and slowly losing my money.

-Kyle

June 18 on the Blackfeet Reservation

We started another sun-filled day with our team meeting led by Ann. Our journal entry was read by Diane M. with our message of the day from Kathy M.  Gale continued with her Blackfoot Indian History presentation after quizzing us on her previous presentation. And surprisingly, we all passed.

Bunny was glowing this morning, but we’re not sure if it was from doing 4 rounds in the sweat lodge the previous evening or the standing ovation the whole team gave her. She followed in the footsteps of our younger team members, Martha and Kyle, who endured another week of the sweat experience. Bunny said she couldn’t have done it without their support and encouragement. Diane, Kyle, Margaret, and Maria were taken by Craig to scrape bark from trees in the process of making tipi poles. And they finished five! As a bonus, they returned with blackened fingernails and the appreciation of the skill needed to create a smooth tipi pole. And a highlight, they saw a beaver!

Ali, Diane, and Gale hiked 3 ½ miles through a part of Glacier National Park with the Middle School students. A great hike, spectacular surrounding and a surprise meeting with a brown bear, not once but twice. Luckily for them, they were totally safe behind Diane, our resident bear expert, getting an “A” in her Alaskan bear awareness course.

Charlotte continued Day 2 of service at the Science-Math summer camp with more success today – the hot air balloons went even higher.

Bunny and Kathy C. returned to the International Traditional Games Institute with Martha and Kathy M.  Bunny finished sewing bags and stuffing them with tobacco as prizes for guest lecturers at next week’s organization games. Kathy C., Kathy M., and Martha worked on game sticks for the upcoming event and cleaning and painting signs. Their work was greatly appreciated by Deanna and Craig.

We returned to the college for a delicious dinner prepared by Charlotte, Kyle, Martha, and Ali, which we enjoyed together while sharing our experiences of the day. Later in the evening, Martha instructed many in the art of belly dancing. We all learned the technique is in the obliques!!

Another great day, made possible by our team leader, Ann, whose tireless support made all this possible.

First Day of Work....So Much to Do!

Woke up to more beautiful sunshine and started the day with various breakfast options, coffee and tea.We had a quick team meeting where we added “dogs” to the safety/security list – they seem to have the run of the town.

Just prior to the Community Meeting, Ginny Weeks from the library told us the story of the Bear River Massacre, which is depicted on the buffalo hide hanging on the walls of our meeting room.

That got me thinking to how many stories I had heard in the two days since we arrived – it is a culture of story telling, and everyone has time to stop and share their stories – to the point where 75 people turned up to hear the story of the Bear River Massacre at the library when the hide was being presented after being stored away for some time.  We learned from Darrell that some found the story “healing”, but it also “opened the eyes” of some of the younger generation to a raw part of their history.  But the stories persist for others to learn and to teach. 

We then had the community meeting where 6 were present to introduce themselves, their   positions and their volunteer needs: Ginny from the BCC library, Smokey from BCC facilities, Bob regarding the teen camp, Elva from the Children’s Center, Sean Pitts from Manpower, and Craig Falcon from the International Traditional Games Society. 

As you can imagine with our diverse but flexible team, everyone found projects to interest themselves and so, many roles were filled. 

Inquiring minds learned the following:

Charlotte assisted Dr. Thomas, a Navaho, and a chemical engineer from NASA who were together running a one week camp for middleschoolers. There were 12 kids from 6-8 grade, with 5 girls that Charlotte helped supervise. Other counselors were college age, some from the University of Montana. The kids made hot air balloons out of tissue paper, and they plan to set them free tomorrow.  They also made rockets out of paper card stock and had a competition all afternoon. If you need proof – one rocket is on the roof of the Higher Learning building down by the gym.  Ask Charlotte about lunch at the “Gas Pump”. 

Kathy M, Diane and Ali went to the Eagle Shield Senior Center, where they trayed lunches for community elders. Lunch was available free to those that were seniors in the community, and for a nominal fee for others.  They got their food, sat and ate and talked. Ali played “receptionist” while lunch was being served. In the afternoon, they all headed to the BF Care Center, where they met with the activity coordinator, to determine what they could do to help out. Ali played blackjack with some elders, while Diane spoke with 80 year old Barbara and painted her nails the “brightest color in the box”. 

Kathy was put to work  as Mother Nature’s helper – working on plants that had been left out in the cold, attempting to bring them back to life so the elders have them healthy and lively through the summer and beyond – long after Team 96 is done.

Kyle had a FUN DAY constructing bunk beds, step ladders and hunting others to fulfill his free time coordinator role. Thanks Kyle! And Martha let her creative juices continue to flow, finishing up her illustrations for the children’s book she started on Team 95. Kyle and Martha are going OUTSIDE tomorrow…..if they have the energy post sweat.

And finally, after a short 15 minute drive out to East Glacier, the 6 of us: Maria, Diane, Margaret, Kathy, Bunny and Gale, drove down a small and very bumpy road to two amazing houses in the woods.  The bigger house was  cedar cabin neighboring a garden which houses not only beautiful pieces of art but most of all Deanna Leader, the creator of the International Games project. On the other side of the garden was a smaller house, which held all of the games and the major office. The day started with mostly cleaning: sweeping the floor, organizing boxes, and shaking out old rugs. As the day went on there was serious improvement in both the paperwork and the organization of the games. Mainly consisting of rocks, sticks, and the occasional hacky sack, it was interesting to see the variety of games these simple items created. While Gale filled balloons with the exact same amount of sand, Bunny mastered the old sewing machine.

At around 3 we had a break during which Deanna gave us a tour of her house along with her life story. We sat on the screen porch and heard about her husband, children, and this project that has grown so much over time. After the break, Gale and Bunny headed off with Craig to accompany our fellow volunteers to the sweat, while we returned to the office. We constructed kick balls out of hacky sacks, braided yarn, and attached to the previously filled sand balloons. After we were done, we met up with Deanna to head back to the BCC, on the way stopping to pick up her grandson and his friend who had an interest in going to the sweat.

When we arrived at the BCC, we met Diane, Ali, and Charlotte along with Ann. We traveled to The Hut to eat our dinner, the choices ranging from frybread burgers to Indian tacos to Nachos. Our conversation covered what everyone had done throughout the day and so much more. We once again returned to the BCC to shower, make some root beer floats and play cards. Overall, despite the hectic-ness of the beginning of the day, I feel we accomplished a lot in ways that interested us individually.

- Maria and Diane

Day Two - Getting to Know Each Other

Global Volunteers Host Bob Tailfeathers in Traditional Regalia.

The day started with a great team breakfast. I know it was good because both the coffee and tea were refilled regularly, the sign of a good team. From there we all wandered into our meeting classroom for Orientation 101. It lasted the requisite amount of time.

It turns out the team has some very similar goals, and they are all much better than mine. Even those of us who claimed they were being selfish (Gale) had very giving, community minded goals. The three categories our goals fell into: learning about Blackfeet culture, serving with respect, and sharing our experience with other. Fortunately the group is so giving and community minded that under those three headings we even found room for occasional fun-having. It was especially fortunate that we did, because the rest of the day seemed to me to qualify as fun (despite also being culturally enlightening).

We took a reservation tour in two vans. In Ann’s van, we had breathtaking sights and good conversation. In Joe’s van, we had breathtaking sights and a better tour guide than any park ranger could hope to be (Thanks Joe!). And the rolling green hills of Montana will provide the perfect backdrop for our service projects. We returned in time for a delicious pile of lasagna at Eagle Shield, and then headed back to the BCC to meet Bob Tailfeathers. We heard his story, saw his art, smelled his art, and bought his art.

The night culminated with some card games and conversation. All in all I’d say we did a fine job learning some culture, getting to know one another and maybe, accidentally having fun long the way.
- Kyle