A wonderfully exhausting day

Our first full day of being in Montana started off with breakfast and coffee as the group woke up and made it to the community room. The whole group sat around chatting and getting to know each other, coming and going as we got ready to start the day. In my opinion, it’s the best way to start our days as I really enjoy the morning conversation and getting to know everyone.

Our first project as a group was an exercise to determine what our individual goals were and what brought us to the Blackfeet Reservation. We had 20 people, each with three goals to share and we managed to all fit into four different categories: to experience the culture, to serve, to learn, and to have a super fun adventure along the way. We also discussed Linda’s experience in participating in a sweat. This is a very spiritual experience and quite an honor to be allowed in to. Bob Tailfeathers has asked that if other Global Volunteers were interested and if so we may have the opportunity to join in the experience as well.

We had a small break after our meeting and we got food and bags ready to go explore some of Glacier National Park. We made lots of stops and unfortunately they blur together as the day went by so quickly, luckily there are lots of pictures to document our travels. The main stops were Many Glacier and St. Mary Lake. Many Glacier had a rustic Swiss-style lodge right on Lake Sherburne with mountains in the background. We then made a short drive to St. Mary Lake, which is one of the most perfect and picturesque sites you could ever see. The water sparkled a blue green and a mountain rose up directly behind the lake. The park was absolutely amazing. The lakes, the mountains, and the colors just make me look in awe of how beautiful it is here.

We went straight from the park to dinner at the senior center where we had spaghetti and garlic bread with salad and watermelon for dessert. The tables were much more mixed than last night as the group was getting more comfortable with each other and coming together. Bob Tailfeathers joined us for dinner as well. After dinner we piled into the vans again to go back to the campus and meet with Bob. He talked more about the sweat and helping to clean up after the Sundance Festival, but the highlight was his artwork. He brought some of his quillwork jewelry and print from his drawings to share and sell if we were interested. His prints are amazing; I can’t say it any better than how others described it to me, that he truly captures the spirit of the animals.

It was another exhausting day, but completely worth it - full of memories not soon to be forgotten.

P.S. We saw a bear.

Entry submitted by: Mark Besley - Cortland, New York

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

A Bittersweet Day

We began our bittersweet day with our last team meeting, assessing goals and making plans for the day’s assignments.  The Florida contingent, Bonnie and Sunny gave each family a shell, noting the lines represent all points from which we came, meeting in one place, Browning, and the hope that one day all people will meet. Billy read from Matthew 25:    

Then the King will say, “For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat. I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink. I was a stranger and you invited me in. I needed clothes and you clothed me. I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me…..

…I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.”

Reminded that our week was a reflection of the Creator, the group decided we will all pray for, or lift up the community when we awaken each Monday morning. Goodbyes were said to the Webster family. Nadine and Bonnie went to the Sr. Center and visited with elders. Sunny, Kelley, Ann Hackman and Molly went to the safe house for teary goodbyes with the children. In the afternoon, Nadine, Annalisa, and Bonnie went to the nursing home and played a very confusing game with some of the residents, who seemed to enjoy it. Rawah and her girls, Nadine and Leena, said goodbye to us and Joe drove them to Great Falls to catch an early flight home.

The surviving five, Ann Marett, Annalisa, Sunny, Kelley, and Bonnie drove the 12 miles to East Glacier for dinner at the Luna Diner, eating buffalo burgers and salmon sandwiches.  Sunny sampled the much touted huckleberry pie. On return to BCC campus, Annalisa’s mother and friend Andrew arrived and took her with them.

Our last night’s rest in Browning was punctuated, as usual, with fireworks from the community, a reminder of the approaching July 4^th national celebration, a sobering reminder that even though we are very different from our Blackfeet brothers and sisters, we have much in common. - Bonnie

Fun and Games on the Rez

Thursday, our warmest day yet, began with our routine team meeting and with Ann’s “hide and go seek” game to find a journal writer.  Several of the team fled the room or climbed under the table until Lily Webster (Billy) was forcibly pressed into service, her father knowing she would avoid putting pen to paper if possible.  Nadine offered inspiration from a Blackfeet Chief (If we don’t preserve our way of life, who will teach the children of our way?) and the group was off to their appointed  tasks.

Lily, Nadine and Bonnie went to the Eagle Shield Senior Center in the morning where they learned to make Indian fry bread.  They had learned to eat Indian fry bread the prior evening.  They served lunch to the seniors and socialized through lunch when they dispersed to other activities.

In the afternoon, Lilly, Bonnie, Nadine and Molly facilitated the last Girl Scout camp of the week, beginning with a fire drill and ending with the distribution of take-home jars with topics for family discussion

Lindsay spent the morning taking photographs of the residents at the Senior Center.  In the afternoon she hosted the first annual Camp Lindsay at the Boys and Girls Club.  Highlights were:  the Golf bag relay, the Cheeto shampoo and Bubble gum bingo.  Lindsay was assisted at camp by Liza, Vinnie and Will.

Sunny, now a permanent fixture at the children's safe house, was joined by Ann H, Molly and Kelley.  They were able to complete their nutritional menu revision which will be a great benefit to the community there.

Annalisa, Leena, Rawah, Vinnie, Will and Billy returned to the CDC to complete the playground restoration.  Annalisa was given the Indian name “She who paints a bunch” and Vinnie the name “Vinnie Paint on Clothes”.  The project was happily completed.  Darrell and Will completed fence installation.  As usual, Ann M was everywhere all the time.

We spent a memorable last evening at the Ranch owned and operated by Chuck and Carrie DeBoo, their son Chase (Indian name:  He who is 8 ½ but drives car) and their super cute puppy Chica.  Kelley, Ann, Lily, Vinnie, Liza, Molly and AnnaLisa rode horseback and earned their spurs for the week.  Dinner, campfire, evening sky and trampoline were most happy memories from a fabulous evening.  -Billy

More Cultural Experiences on the Blackfeet Reservation

Today Ann H, Molly, Kelley and Sunny continued to work with the children at the Nurturing Center.  They got a new little boy last night so now there are five girls and two boys all aged six and under.  Sunny spent time with Pat who does the cooking at the Safe House making possible menus and teaching about nutrition.  We all had a great session with the staff led by Ann H about their job stress, coping skills to use with the children and providing them with emotional support.  Tomorrow we will continue with the nutritional planning again.  Ann H also did a morning in-service on debriefing  at the Addictions program.

Molly, Lily, Nadine, and Bonnie as leader continued with the Girl Scout Camp.  Each girl got her own stuffed Zink the Spotted Zebra.  Today they wrote a story about their zebra.  The girls are learning strategies. 

Another group including Annalisa, Lily, Rawah, Nadine and Leena  among others did a lot of painting at the Museum of the Plains Indians. Manpower provided matched labor.

At the CDC a team headed by Billy with Will and Rawah worked with Darrell Wippert and built and painted a spectacular caterpillar which was made of old tires.  The team dug their holes without benefit of a back hoe.

At the Boys and Girls Club Lindsay headed a group including Vinnie, Liza and Will which ran a Carnival Day and invented other games and activities.

We had an "authentic" Indian dinner tonight of Indian tacos with fry bread and blueberry soup.  Our guest speaker was Sandra Watts who was raised in Oregon and graduated  from the University of Oregon Law School.  She had incredible stories to tell about the Freedom Riders in Mississippi during the early Civil Rights Movement.  She is now married to a Blackfeet Indian and is the tribe’s legal council. - Sunny

Beautiful People in Beautiful Country

We started the day with our team meeting (Message from the sweat via Billy: “No religion’s prayer is stronger than another”).  Molly, Lily, Nadine and Bonnie had a successful first day with the girl scouts.  Sunny, Ann H. and Kelley had a long but rewarding day at the safe house where the evidence of their days’ work could be seen on Kelley’s shirt long after they left.  Will and Billy spent the morning working with Darrell at the CDC playground.  I (Annalisa) worked with Leena, Liza and Vinnie on other work areas of the playground.  Vinnie also met the future member of their family group, Mrs. Cuddles.  Lily, Nadine and Rawah helped at Eagle Shield and Rawah also did a meal delivery (Rawah said this was a good experience but warns future volunteers to beware of dogs). 

Lindsay spent time at the Senior Center as well as at the Boys and Girls Club where she is very well-liked..  These are only a few of the day’s activities as it was a very hectic and productive day with Global Volunteers going to different projects at different times. 

Lindsay has outdone herself as free-time coordinator and we had an awesome night of activities.  At 4 PM we went to the Plains Indians Museum and listened to a brief history of the museum from Mr. David Dragonfly,  director of the  museum.  After the history lesson, we watched an informational video before we wandered through the various displays . Our next activity was going to the art gallery/heritage center where we browsed not only displays, but also the jewelry.  Many of us bought some beautifully handcrafted art and jewelry.  We were also extremely lucky to have the heritage center open after hours for our group (thanks to Lindsay who asked just for us!).   Next we headed to see Real People Herbals, owned by Pauline Matt.  Pauline told us how her business was started and the process she goes through when picking plants.  Everyone wanted to buy the Northwind chap stick (or maybe just me).  We all bought souvenirs for loved ones.  During our ride to Pauline’s we had seen a rodeo that a few of the younger volunteers decided to go back to watch.  As we were enjoying the events we saw our new friend Ryder!  After a long and exciting day I’m sure we will all sleep well! - Annalisa

An Eventful Day

First thing this morning, we heard from those in the community that want our help this week.  Ginny Weeks from the library told us about some of the culture here.  We also met Elva Dorsey from the CDC who does many things for Browning.  Primarily she deals with economic development, but she also helps the kids here to stay involved in positive and healthy activities.  Sean Potts was here from Manpower to let us know about when he could need our help this week.  Finally we heard from Dee Hoyt who is director of fitness and runs health and wellness here on the campus and also directs projects for social problems like meth addiction and other  “touchy” subjects, as she said.

After this everyone decided what their  projects were for the day and got started.  Bonnie, Nadine, Lily and I (Molly) went to the elementary school and trained to be girl scout counselors for most of the week.  We are excited to meet all of the girls tomorrow.

Leena, Annalisa, Rawah and Kelley spent their day at the senior center visiting the elders.  They entertained them with games and heard interesting stories.

Lindsay, Vinnie and Liza went to the Boys and Girls Club to see if help was needed and ended up playing with about 30 kids for the day.

Billy and Will went to the pool to help but there were already enough volunteers, so they picked up trash around BCC because that is what Smokey asked them to do.

Ann H. and Sunny spent the majority of their day at the Nurturing Center, where there are children everywhere from toddlers to 6-7 year olds.  The children were at risk and now they are in the safe house so they can be cared for as best they can.

Ann H. was also at the culturally-based addictions treatment program to see how she can be helpful in the days to come.

Ann M. and Joe kindly got everyone to and from where they needed to be today.

Once everyone was back from their jobs, many of us went to a traditional Blackfeet  sweat where we were immersed  in the culture, and experienced a spiritual tradition that we would probably not have ever known.  It was an amazing experience and we were welcomed with open arms.

The first day of the projecgram is over, but luckily there are many more to come! - Molly