Painting, trailer work, BB camp, Native dancers and a sweat lodge

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Morning was hectic as teams headed in 3 different directions:  painting in Lodge Grass at the Head Start there, BB camp at the College Fitness center, and trailer work at the college.  Having sorted everyone out, I headed off for a stroll through the Crow Fair campgrounds.  Very solitary and peaceful so many weeks before the fair.  Hard to visualize what it will look like in a few weeks with thousands of Tipis set up.

After work brought another flurry of activity: news that a sweat lodge experience was available, and it would be late afternoon.  Two of the young women very much wanted to attend, and so I agreed to take them and participate.  Here in Crow, the tradition is for the men and women have separate experiences, the women follow the men's session.  Several hours passed as we waited for the signal that it was now the women's turn.  Much ritual and tradition goes into the building of the sweat and the entire experience.  We were welcomed graciously by Robin and her mother Carol.  The rituals were explained, and they were gentle about making sure we would be comfortable.  For those of you who haven't seen photos, the lodge is a covered round structure, not tall enough to stand in.  A pit holds the hot rocks, over which water is repeatedly poured, depending on the lodge master and how hot you want.  The ritual occurs in "rounds", during which prayers are said, and then a break for water and a brief opening of the door for air and cool down.  During our almost 2 hour session, there were prayers, but there was also lively conversation about Crow, what the Mohegan tribe is like, what their ceremonies are like, about Global Volunteers, about our families......just what any 4 women would talk about!  In the first round, I was somewhat startled when I was asked to say a prayer.  After a brief hesitation, I said the Shehecheyanu, the prayer when doing something new. Although it took me some time to let go of all the things I had going on(what was my team doing?  I was going to be late for the visit of the Native dancers,  Who was going to get ready for our trip to Pryor tomorrow), I found myself letting go of everything outside the sweat lodge.  Trite as it might sound, by the time we bid our new friends goodbye, it was with a real sense of sisterhood.

Meantime, back at Head Start, the Native dance party went on successfully without me(another lesson there).  By the time we returned, the youth were happily seated around the table, telling ghost stories and eating watermelon.

The evening drew to a close, with Roger bringing us all together for a heartfelt thank you and gift giving:  Keith and I received beaded pieces, and the Native team members received precious Eagle feathers.  Not a dry eye in the room by the time we said goodnight.

Off to sleep in anticipation of another exciting day tomorrow:  staining  Chief Plenty Coups house, and then enjoying the beauty of the Bighorn Canyon.

Love to all of you,
Barbara