A Prayer to the North

The final piece belongs to the North. It's white. represents the element of air, and, in the model I followed, brings a prayer for strong, healthy bodies.

Acbadadea,
Creator of All things,
you have made all that we can and cannot see.
You have filled the atmosphere with precious air
in the model of your Spirit:
invisible but life-giving.
A testament to your power.
We feel the wind, the clouds, thunder, lightning,
and know the magnitude of your Creation,
the presence of your Spirit in all of Grandmother Earth,
charging the air with majesty.
We recognize that in each breath
we are sharing in the physical nature of the universe,
sustaining ourselves by and through your Spirit.
We pray that our own physical bodies remain healthy and strong,
to be a space for our hearts and minds to flourish,
and to be a vehicle for your Spirit.
We journey in each direction through the seasons,
coming back around through winter.
It is now especially, when we're drained from the journey,
that we pray for revival of both body and spirit,
preparing for the next cycle.
In this circle, we can move through the chaos of life,
recognize its inherent circular evolvement,
reconnect ourselves to rhythms of the natural world.
Acbadadea, set our bodies in time with the drumbeat of the earth.
Let us be close to all Grandmother Earth bears,
that we may be close to your spirit.
Aho.

A Prayer to the West

The blue, or the west, is the direction where the sun sets. It marks a place of deep introspection and reflection. It represents the element of water. Here we pray for inner peace.

Acbadadea,
Creator of All things,
you have made all that we can and cannot see.
You provided for all life with river and sea
and nourish us with replenishing rains.
Water flows around the earth,
down mountains up streams through veins
connecting all life.
As it washes away debris and refreshes Earth's spirit,
so let us cleanse deeply for inner healing.
Guide our eyes to look past the surface
and find, instead, a reflection of our soul within.
Lead us to a place of deep introspection,
so that we may recognize any brokenness and
allow its anointing.
Just as surely as the tide comes in,
so too will peace flow towards its place.
And each time Isaahkaxaalia sets in the West,
slipping below mountains, making way for Kaalixaalia,
help free our minds from the bright distractions of day.
Under Old Woman's soft light, let us sit and look within.
Acbadadea, let us be close to all Grandmother Earth bears,
that we may be close to your spirit.
Aho.

A Prayer to the South

Secret Santa Day Two brings the red quadrant of the South and a prayer for strong inner spirits.

Acbadadea,
Creator of All things,
you have made all that we can and cannot see.
Your glory is revealed in Grandmother Earth,
the ground that we grow upon.
We find truth in and through Nature,
and an unrelenting trust,
for it is all we have to sustain us.
So is our faith in You.
We are witness to your Creation,
to the life that thrives only through community and hard work.
We strive to live in imitation of
and harmony with
all encompassed by this great circle.
We pray in search of strong inner spirits,
that we may uphold the harmony of Creation,
bringing the peace and compassion of the most holy,
Our Lord, Acbadadea,
to all life here on earth.
We recognize that our own spirits radiate around us,
And pray to keep this influence energizing, life-giving.
We pray for strength during times of struggle,
to stand tall like a sapling despite a storm,
or hopeful as a seed spreading roots in the driest soil,
whose fruit is the strongest and most beautiful to blossom.
Let us be close to all Grandmother Earth bears,
that we may be close to your spirit.
Aho.

Secret Santa & The Medicine Wheel

The title of this post makes it sound like I'm going to tell a really neat Crow Christmas legend, but, anti-climacticly, it's just about Secret Santa at school. Anyways, we are doing Secret Santa with the staff, and I got our wonderful Crow Studies teacher, Frances. Each day you are supposed to leave a small token, like a candy bar, card, bottle of their favorite soda, whatever, and at our staff Christmas party on Monday we will give an actual gift and reveal our Santa identities.

Well, I thought it would be really cool to do something in the form of puzzle pieces that at the end of the week come together to make something neat. I came up with the idea of creating a Medicine Wheel (an important symbol in many Native American cultures, sometimes referred to as the circle of the universe) and leaving a piece each day, so it will build to become a full Medicine Wheel that she can hang on the wall. Incidentally, after planning and preparing the whole thing, I found out that it's not actually part of the Crow tradition at all; despite first encountering it at Crow Fair, it's found only in neighboring tribes' cultures. I briefly panicked, but decided to still go ahead with it, presenting it as the tool for prayer and reflection that it is, not specific to Crow tradition but nonetheless a beautiful symbol to be shared across cultures. I found comfort in thinking of it as how we have rejoiced in making and hanging prayer flags, even though we are not Tibetan.

Anyway, I was/am really excited about the idea and have enjoyed learning about the traditions and meanings behind it as I go along (through which I've also learned that above all, every Medicine Wheel is simply a path to be personalized, as they are a guide for introspection, and bear only whatever meaning or symbolism that the individual needs it to be. Perfect/transcultural.)

The finished Medicine Wheel I crafted for Frances. I'm giving her one of the color pieces each day (they're sticky-backed felt, so she can attach them) and the actual frame for it on Friday.

I'm writing a prayer to include each day that goes along with some traditional teachings of what each color/direction represents. I began with the East (yellow) today, as that's the direction in which you enter sacred spaces like stone Medicine Wheels or sweat lodges: the direction the sun rises from.

Here is today's prayer from the East:

Acbadadea,
Creator of All things,
you have made all that we can and cannot see.
You planted the sun in the sky,
drawing it up from the East
to mark a new day.
The Old Man, Isaahkaxaalia,
shines upon all that you have created.
In this way that each sunrise lights the earth,
we pray in search of
illumination of our minds.
Help us to seek knowledge and truths,
that we may contribute to a just and compassionate world.
Isaahkaxaalia, you light the way through
your model of wisdom.
Let us start each day
as a new beginning,
reopening our minds
to the tasks that surround us,
as eagerly as the earth reopens its womb to
birth new life at Springtime.
Let us be close to all Grandmother Earth bears,
that we may be close to your spirit.
Aho.

Cribs: St. Xavier edition

After posting our yellow chair, I thought I'd share a picture of Sarah's & my whole room, since the rest of it is pretty fun too:

Plus our kitchen...

I have to take an updated photo of our living room, now that it's more furnished and currently complete with a Charlie Brown Christmas Tree (literally, it's a branch. But at least it's something.)

The living room is connected to the kitchen area. Past that are Matt and Don's rooms, and another bathroom. That's basically our trailer!

Things I appreciate about Montana:

• Thrift store treasures. Used-item shops abound here, as do the treasures inside them. We discovered one in Hardin that we had never ventured into, Fort Custer's General Store, where Sarah & I found this perfect chair for our room. It was like walking through a grandparent's house in there, full of neat stuff (and a closet full of true-vintage dresses that I could not resist!)

Our delightful yellow chair!

• Hand-made craft haven. It seems that around here there are so many bazaars or fairs or what have you that offer local crafters and artisans a chance to sell their unique hand-made items. If the same opportunities are as available back home, they're far overshadowed by commercialized giants. How fun and genuine it was to go down to St. Dennis's Church Hall to do some Christmas shopping last night. (At home it often seems we might go to a craft fair to peruse for fun, but then the bulk of our wallet falls into the hands of the Target corporation. As much as I do love Target... there's nothing unique, locally-supportive, or sustainable about buying from them or any other big name.)

• Horses walking down busy little residential-area streets... casual. Never gets old.

• The 27 different varieties (or more, seriously) of license plates. This fascination started day 1, but I literally seem to see a new one every week.

A sample of Montana's license plate art

• And finally, post offices that also follow reservation-time... so I can run to the mailbox at lunch, 15 minutes past posted pick up, and still make it out in the daily mail. Cheers!

Bighorn Canyons

(Yet another post that I meant to make two months ago. Oops. Better late than never.)



Back at the end of August (about our first week in the St. Xavier/Pretty Eagle community) one of the teachers, Jack Joyce, invited us down to the Bighorn Canyons, which are just about 20 miles south of us. We found out he owns the marina there (well, the National Park Service owns it but contracts him to run it, I think), so we were hoping to get invited out for a boat ride. Well, he invited us the second day we met him, after we asked about the marina, and said to come down that Saturday, the last weekend before their final Labor Day weekend. It was AWESOME! One of the best things we've gotten to do. And I've never seen any sort of canyons before, so it was pretty neat!


Ok A Beh marina at Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area
When I heard we'd be going on a boat ride, I thought of a short little motor boat ride down a river- so boy was I surprised when he sent us out on one of his party boats for a three-hour tour through towering, majestic canyons. It was amazing. The most perfect afternoon. We even got to stop at one of the mile markers, hop in and go cliff jumping! (By cliff jumping I mean everyone else jumped off the 20-foot-ledge while I jumped from the little 8-foot stepping stone next to it, but that felt adventurous enough for me!) Nothing to put human insignificance in perspective like floating there in the lake with enormous canyons rising up on all sides. Breathtaking!


Part of the Canyons called "Black Canyons," since from afar it is dark with forests. It was a little inlet of sorts where we veered off from the main lake and were met with this wonder. My favorite spot of the canyons!

Sarah riding on the end of the boat.

Riding around on the party boat reminded me of being in Bonny Eagle... I loved it! Though I have to admit, the immense, striking canyons slightly put our little old Bonny Eagle lake to shame (though I wouldn't trade it for anything!)



...and the thank you card I made for Jack afterwards.

Holiday Spirit

Thanksgiving in Ashland last week was a lovely celebration with our JV family. 28 people gathered at the Ashland house- luckily it's a huge lodge and could fit everyone! It was a great cozy spot for Thanksgiving. An early football game and three turkeys later, we all had a great time and were thankful for a wonderful group to celebrate with.

A blurry picture of me at Thanksgiving with the turkey placemat I made in school :)

Now this weekend Sarah and I started getting into the Christmas spirit. Hardin (the town nearby) had a "Holiday Stroll" on Friday night, where the shops stayed open late (well, 8 o'clock... late for Hardin), they served hot chocolate, and had horse and buggy rides up and down Main Street. It was such a cute little Christmas celebration. We went with the 3rd grade teacher, Ms. Debbie, and it was so fun. At the end people shot off fireworks in the street. So small-town festive.

Then on Saturday we adventured into Sheridan, Wyoming, which is only about an hour south of us. First time in Wyoming- exciting! It's a nice ride past the Big Horn Mountains. Sheridan is right at the foot of the mountains on the other side from us. It has such a quaint downtown with tons of nice shops. Since we're so close we definitely want to go back and spend some more time there. That evening they had a Christmas Open House at their Trail End Museum, which is really just an old mansion from an old rich family that is now a tourist attraction that offers a glimpse at life in Wyoming in the early 1900s. Anyways, it was all decorated for Christmas, they gave out hot cider and figgy pudding (finally found out what that darn pudding is- which is to say that it's not pudding at all...), had Old Father Christmas there, and Christmas carols in the drawing room. It was a lovely little place to get a dose of Christmas cheer.

Cute elderly women's choir. They were really good!

City sidewalks, busy sidewalks, dressed in holiday style; in the air there's a feeling of Christmas!

Natives' Complicated Relationship to Thanksgiving

Reflecting on the gift of being adopted into a Crow clan, at the same time of the holiday that recalls North America's first Puritans rejecting the invitation to live as part of the Wampanoag people.

Encountered this interview from NYC ARTS on the lovely Erica's blog.

The Neverending Circle Documentary from Victoria Prieto on Vimeo.

An interesting short video about bringing Native culture to today's classrooms and communities; about preserving their cultures and demythifying Native peoples through education and expose.

Excerpts from Q&A: Native Americans' Complicated Relationship to Thanksgiving
Cliff Matias, cultural director of the Brooklyn-based Redhawk Native American Arts Council, spoke with NYC ARTS about Thanksgiving, which often conjures a deceptively rosy snapshot of the history between Puritans and Native Americans. Beyond overcoming misconceptions about the past, one of Matias’s challenges is to bring to life the realities of Native Americans’ existence today.

Q: How do you feel about Thanksgiving?
A: Thanksgiving is a mixed message for native peoples. Of course people all over the world had such harvest ceremonies.  People who depend on the earth are very thankful to grow a crop. You never know what nature will bring. Native Americans had festivals for green corn, apples, strawberries.

Q: Many people think Thanksgiving has its origins in a feast that Puritan Pilgrims and members of the Wampanoag nation shared in Massachusetts in 1621.
A: Thanksgiving is not a Native American ceremony. The Thanksgiving holiday Americans observe today on the third Thursday of November was created by Abraham Lincoln in 1863 as a general day to give thanks. Fifty years later, it became a silly story about the Wampanoag sitting with Pilgrims at this one feast.
In fact, in 1621, the Wampanoag brought about five deer, among other things and watched the Puritans drink and shoot muskets. The Wampanoag wanted to adopt the Pilgrims and have them live as Wampanoag. Within 50 years, almost three-fourths of the Wampanoag were decimated through disease and the European style of warfare brought to their homeland.

Q: Do you or other groups have a presence in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade?
A: Thanksgiving offends some indigenous people so we choose not to get involved. The Wampanoag in the Massachusetts area have a day of mourning. They fast on Thanksgiving and have a sunrise ceremony to remember ancestors who didn’t make it.
Thanksgiving is an American holiday, not a native one, but we’re proud to be Americans. Indigenous people have the highest per capita percentage of people in the armed forces.  We defend the land that our ancestors are buried under. This is still our homeland.

Q: How will you personally observe Thanksgiving this year?
A: My family uses it as a day to come together. We also have a moment when we think about our ancestors and brothers and sisters who are no longer with us. Abraham Lincoln thought we should give thanks. In the Civil War, even Northern troops shared with Southern troops on that day for some peace and harmony. That’s what I think of Thanksgiving as.
~~~
This is exactly how I thought of talking about Thanksgiving at school this year: complicated. I was curious what the Apsalooke (Crow) people would make of it, being an indigenous community- how they would recognize it. And what I found was no different than how I have always experienced Thanksgiving: as a time to come together with family and friends, share in their company, and give thanks for being together. That is the message of Thanksgiving that the Indian communities around here celebrate.

Erica explained it so eloquently: "Every Indian family I know on the rez is currently together with family celebrating Thanksgiving. This is not a community of activists, protestors or angry, jaded people. it’s a tight-knit community of Native American familes who have welcomed me, shared with me, loved me, laughed with me, despite the history, conflict and colonization that has forced them to live where they do. Thanksgiving is not a day of mourning here—and I feel confident saying the Indian families I work and live with would agree that Thanksgiving is an American holiday, not a native one, but we’re proud to be Americans." (http://bloomingtogether.tumblr.com/)

Clan Day (Exciting news!)

Today was Clan Day, where people can be adopted into clans and clan members offer give-aways to receive prayer and wishes for wellness and success.

I was adopted into the Ties the Bundle clan! Garla, our principal, adopted me into her family, so now her two sons are my brothers.

In the Crow clan system, you are of your mother's clan and are the child of your father's clan. So I was adopted as a Ties the Bundle and a child of the Big Lodge clan.

When you are adopted, the person traditionally presents the person they are adopting with a gift, usually a blanket, shawl, or piece of jewelry. Garla presented me with this gorgeous bracelet. It's beautiful and every time I wear it I will be reminded of my welcome into the Crow family.


Thanksgiving in Ashland, tomorrow!!

First grade discovers Photo Booth...

Plus, our bowling-with-water-bottles subtraction lesson,

...featuring Kermit the Frog? Typical.

And finally, for Thanksgiving...

"I am thankful for food." The illustration is of his family hunting in the mountains for said food. Yep, must be in Montana.

Bye, green waterbottle...

... you served me well.

Rex got a hold of my trusty water bottle at recess.... such a tragic end!

RIP... You've been a great water bottle.

Oh well, at least this is a good reason to get one of the "anti-bottles" that I recently heard about from vapur. They're convenient and even more eco-conscious than hard bottles. (Pssst, Mum- did I mention it's small and foldable, perfect for stuffing in a stocking or something? ;) )

That time we went to Crow Fair...

Check out pictures from Crow Fair 2011 that I just finally published on this past entry here.

"Children are sacred. They are closer to the creator. Society has not yet ruined their spirit. The elders tell us that children are sacred."
-Spoken during Saturday's Grand Entry, Crow Fair, August 2011

Native American Day

When I was looking for pictures of the school to go with my post about Saint Xavier, I found pictures from Native American Day back in September that I never posted.

To celebrate at Pretty Eagle, all the classes joined in a parade up the main road, we shared a lunch of stew and frybread with families that came, and we had a school Pow Wow during the afternoon. It was the best day!


Kids came to school in their traditional dress... so many beautiful handmade pieces


Classes piled on pickup trucks for the parade.


Kindergarten's float riding down the road.


"Bring your horse to school" day?


The kindergarten's Princess and Chief... so cute!


Grand entry to the school Pow Wow


The Collins boys sang a Crow song to start off the Pow Wow, with Colton (the oldest, 4th grade) on the drum. They are awesome!


Two of my first graders push dancing :)


Cleveland, 3rd grader, leading a dance for a give-away to a clan uncle, a tradition of the Crow clan system.

The importance of language

Our Mother Tongues | Crow

"The language is not just words... it's a culture, a tradition, a unification of community, a whole history, and it creates what a community is- it's all embodied in the language; language is central to it. So it's really the revival of a culture and a way of life... it's a central component." -Noam Chomsky, MIT linguist, on the revival of the Wampanoag language (They believe the last native speaker lived over a century ago; now, after a burst of revival effort, a young girl is raised as the first native speaker in seven generations. A language brought back to life. Amazing.)

"What we would like to do, I heard in many ceremonies amongst our people, is to take this way of life into the future, into good times, into celebrations where we can be speaking the stories of our people, speaking in terms of our cultural practices, like clan practices... the stories that define who we are... to the point of where we empower ourselves and liberate ourselves with our identity and maintain this true civilization of who we are as Apsáalooke." -Dr. Lanny Real Bird, Apsáalooke (Crow), professor at Little Big Horn College

http://ourmothertongues.org/

Saint Xavier

Only 12 days until Thanksgiving and it was not even cold enough to need a jacket this morning. It has gotten chilly here (we had our first light snowfall last weekend!) but I've been so appreciative of Mother Nature not slamming winter on us real early like we were told would happen. I would've been so sad not to have a fall season!

I thought I'd finally post some pictures of where I am living in Saint Xavier, MT.


The sunrise painting the sky over the yard.


Our trailer (the building behind it is the church.) That's our front door- Can you spot what is wrong with this picture? :)


One of the teachers lent us this bicycle. I love it! So retro. I love having it to get out and explore.


My favorite spot to ride to is down by the river.


The Bighorn River crosses through Saint Xavier from the Bighorn Canyons down to Wyoming.


Scenes of the roadside.


The road into Saint Xavier from the west.


Walking down Mission Loop (the back road that we live on)


Baxter! Our neighbor Sam's new puppy :)


and Rex, one of the neighbors' dogs who likes to follow us around.


... there's always lots of pups around!

Well, that's Saint Xavier. And that's basically it, besides the school and the post office (which is soon to be shut down, we hear.) Not much to see but a lot to explore.