Day made this morning...

One of my favorite 3rd graders this morning:


Macariah: "Do you have any glue?"

Me: "No... I could get you some... why?"

Macariah: (In a very matter-of-fact tone) "So you can stick me to you!"

Carrie, me, & Macariah :)
Gah, love my little friends!

Pow Wows & Basketball

This weekend: basketball, pow wow, basketball, more basketball, another night of pow wow, then basketball and yet again more basketball. ...phew! Really living (and loving) the rez life.

There was a tournament over in the gym here at Pretty Eagle that went on from Friday afternoon til Sunday night. Which also meant that our 7th and 8th graders were here all weekend and decided that our house was their place to hang out between their games. So there were kids nonstop in and out of our house. Aiy aiy aiy... Just kidding, for the most part it was really fun haha. There was also a whole 'nother tournament in Crow on Sunday so I went there for a bit to cheer on my younger friends.

The lovely Miss Jerika Birdinground
The other big shenanigan was the Spring Pow Wow the tribe put on Friday & Saturday night. Sarah & I went both nights and it was awesome. A few of the kids from school danced in it and a bunch more were running around and hanging out there. I admire the stamina people here have to sit on bleachers and watch things like this for hours... or for the young children to still be up dancing at midnight after a full and early day of school. But it was wonderful yet again to enjoy the beauty of tradition here.. the drums, the singing, the dancing, the regalia... simply beautiful!

The little ones push dancing

Dancing around the drum circles.

Special Visitors

This week we were lucky to have a group of students from University of Wisconsin at La Crosse spend a week with us over their spring break. There were 10 students and they split up among the classrooms to provide an extra set of hands and a new friend for the kids. It was fun having them around, not only for the change of pace but for us JVs to see this experience with new eyes again. Their visit was re-energizing and helped me appreciate all the joy that is part of working at this school and being with these kids. (It was also fun to have some fellow young people around to hang out with for the week!)



One of the most special parts of their visit was on Thursday afternoon when we tagged along on the La Crosse group's trip to the Bighorn Mountains and Pretty Eagle Point- a sacred spot that non-Crows can only visit if taken by a tribal member- the spot where Chief Pretty Eagle's remains are buried. The kindergarten teacher and her husband Calvin took us up, we hiked a little bit down toward the canyons, and Calvin spoke to the group about his experience as a Native American man in a still very racist world. His words were moving and he was yet another person I feel blessed to be here to meet and listen to.



Calvin pointing out the tribe's herd of wild buffalo that they keep up in the Bighorn Mountains. There's about 3,000 heads, which they treasure since there are no longer any true wild buffalo.


... where the buffalo roam.


Nothing like riding in the back of a pick-up through dirt roads of the Bighorn Mountains


Down towards the canyons

Springtime in Montana

Spring has sprung in Saint Xavier... 71° on Saturday! (and lots of spring fever at school along with it!)




Music in the fresh air


The Billings JVs' spring seedlings






Saturday Perfection


My lovely neighbor/friend Joleigh who likes to hang out with us :)


Playing outside and after school exploring with neighbor kid friends


Picturesque

Soul Pancake!

Soul Pancake was a book given to all the JV communities this year, a collection of "life's big questions" paired with art, interviews, facts, and more questions. Here in St. X we took a liking to Soul Pancake, and at the beginning of the year I came up with "Soul Pancake Sundays"-- mornings (sometimes Saturday though!) where we take out our Cosco-sized bag of pancake mix and pick a page from Soul Pancake to discuss. It's become a fun tradition in our community.

Anyways, stumbled across the video and just love it... had to share! Watch & smile :)

Surprise Visit from Kim!!

Kim came to visit!!!



And we were the happiest! :)




"I'm in MONTANA!"

Spent a lovely morning at a cafe downtown.

(Sarah joined us!)

So GLORIOUS spending the day with such dear friends!
So much joy. Can't even tell. xo

The Lorax

We just went to see the Lorax at the tiny little old-fashioned movie theatre in Hardin. Not only did I love it because it was my absolute favorite book in elementary school, but it was great animation, featured Taylor Swift, and painted a bright and powerful picture of the effect of our choices and the structure of power in our society.

"Unless someone like you cares an awful lot, nothing's going to get better, it's not." -Dr. Seuss, The Lorax

Glad that this movie will be seen by families all across the country and its message will be heard. Brilliant person, that Dr. Seuss. Go see it!!

Master Gardening

Last night we started a new 8-week Master Gardeners class being offered at Little Big Horn College (the tribal college in Crow.) One of our student's mom runs the greenhouse at the College and partnered with Montana State University to bring the Master Gardener class here, so several teachers from Pretty Eagle joined with us.

I really hadn't stopped to think what it was going to be like- I mostly just heard "Gardening class? cool!" But now after the first class I am very excited about it... it's going to be REALLY neat.


Tiger lillies from our garden last summer
Master Gardener is nation wide program run through University extension offices that trains volunteers to educate and advise the public on gardening and horticulture. So we will learn all the basics of gardening and then complete community service hours of helping individuals, children, or communities with their gardens (whether hands-on or through education/advising). Such a cool idea.

I just wanted to take it so I could understand all the facets of gardening better, and also because we had been hoping to start a garden at school... so... it's the perfect combination!

For the first class we dug right in and learned about soil, essential nutrients, and fertility. They went right into all the science about it, too. Remembered some of it from my Environmental Science days... anyways, I appreciate the thorough understanding we are getting about all of the science within plant growth.


It's just such a cool opportunity to happen upon this year as a JV. With social and eco-justice, stewardship, sustainability, and simplicity being cornerstones of JVC Northwest, I expected and was excited about gardening being a part of this year. But being on the reservation where fresh produce is not a frequent guest at dinner tables and no one really knew what compost was 'til we explained why we wanted everyones banana peels and apple cores... well, we haven't yet had much chance to dig into the world of horticulture. But now, here's the perfect opportunity!


Peace, love, & leafy greens,

Janine, F.M.G. (Future Master Gardener)