DEAR JOURNAL…

Lessons learned on a Interim trip to the First Nations

Photos courtesy Sara Gutzwiller '04

The First Nations Interim group of eight young women (above, minus Stephanie Miller ’06, who’s behind the camera) and Professor of Social Work Jan Potter spent the Interim session learning about the culture, spirituality, history, everyday life and uncommon challenges of Native Americans living on the northern Great Plains. The class traveled to the Omaha, Winnebago, Rosebud and Pine Ridge reservations, and met with several leaders and teachers on the way.

The following are excerpts from class members’ journals kept during the class:

Sara Gutzwiller ’04

Wow! [Albert White Hat, professor of Lakota Studies at Sinte Gleska Tribal College on the Rosebud Reservation] actually took us to the sweat lodge, let us look inside it, and then invited us to come back and join in a sweat ceremony. And when he said he was going to show us the Sun Dance place I thought we were going to see it from a distance, but he actually took us into the middle of the dance grounds. It was so surreal. It was so quiet, and even though it was snowing, it wasn’t cold at all. I was so honored to be there, and even before Theresa [Peterson ’04] started talking and crying, I was almost overcome by tears when we were just standing there. Albert was such a cool guy. The museum was really cool, too. And the fact that he showed us the vault and the other stuff downstairs was just unreal. How often do people allow guests to see pieces that aren’t on display?…

Wounded Knee [Cemetery, site of a famous massacre of Lakotas in 1890] was really powerful. It’s really hard to write about because there really aren’t words that describe it. I got this feeling — I don’t know how to explain it — when we were up there. Kind of like I shouldn’t be up there. But I felt so honored to be up there…

Oh my God, dinner was so good! I can’t believe all the food [Sara Berridge —human resources director at HoChunk, Inc, community volunteer, and host for the class — and her mother, Vi] made for us. Indian tacos with homemade salsa on real homemade FRYBREAD!! It was so good. That was the best frybread I’ve ever had. I ate so much; I’m stuffed. It was nice that a lot of her family came over for dinner…

This was the best class I’ve ever had and probably the best trip I’ve ever been on. I feel so rich for learning so many new things.

Maria Roesler ’05

Everyone that met with us and talked with us was very happy to have us at the rez and was very hospitable. There was just a lot of generosity and welcoming…

Everyone is very intelligent and has much insight to add to our learning. I believe that the class is much enhanced by the group learning that is taking place, and the group doing things together as a whole. I also believe that that is very fitting and appropriate. Native Americans value a group cohesiveness and togetherness with each person related and connected to the other. No one stands alone. And so, too, I believe that it is fitting that our group stands together so well, and learns together, and from each other. Without meaning or trying to, we have taken a value and tradition and have made it partly our own in such a very short time. And I doubt that we really realize it…

On both reservations that we have been on, we have been thanked profusely for coming and taking our time to learn about them. Our parents and family have been thanked for sharing us, and our ancestors have even been thanked for taking part in creating us so that we can go there. In our society, saying “thank you” is a very small thing, which is done quickly and almost impersonally. Often times we take things for granted, and do not thank people for as many things as we really should be thanking them for. All this thankfulness really makes you feel good and teaches you not to take things for granted as much. Our culture could gain a lot to even gain a small amount of the thankfulness that is found within the Native community.…

This Interim travel has been much more of a spiritual and emotional journey than an intellectual one, but I have still learned tons. I have come back as a very different person inside, but don’t know how to let people know that on the outside. I have found something of myself there. The people that our group encountered have taught me many values in life, like thankfulness, and a new value on time that I hope to take with me all my life. There are stereotypes that I held that have been broken, and a desire to break other stereotypes has grown within me. I now grasp a better idea of the issues facing Native American communities today, both good and bad. I also know more about the historical problems, events and issues that have impacted these communities. I am very glad that I went on this trip, as I have gained new friends and a new perspective and outlook on life.

Heather Wonders ’03

I did not … think that this would be such a changing trip, but I learned more about myself in three weeks than I did my entire college career…

There are many more stories of hope that can be found on the reservations, as well. I found them talking to people and hearing their stories. I also was privileged to see someone else’s hopes turn into a reality. While at the Pine Ridge Reservation, the first stop we made was at the Boys and Girls Club. This was a newly built building, but the club had been a part of the town for a few years already. There was a young native woman that was best known for her basketball abilities, but also had high hopes for her community. She wanted the youth to have a place to go, so they would not get into drugs or alcohol, and while she was alive she kept emphasizing and working on this hope. Unfortunately she was killed in a car accident her senior year of high school. However, her mother took on the initiative of her daughter, and about three months after she died started the Boys and Girls Club in an old factory. She did not start with much, but with work, she eventually was able to build the new building that we were privileged to see. This young girl’s hopes were answered and proved that it can happen anywhere; the Pine Ridge Reservation is one of the poorest Native nations in the country and is the first one to have a Boys and Girls Club…

This theme of acceptance is something I feel that we saw a lot on our travels. I do not mean that they are accepting of the situation they are in; but rather, they accepted us coming into their homes and their communities. This was something that few of us had felt before. My biggest example of this was when we were in Winnebago and Sara [Berridge] welcomed us into her home. Her mother cooked us all our meals, and her entire family welcomed us…

Another part of this welcoming or acceptance that we felt was at our home stays. Theresa and I stayed at Sara’s mother’s house, and she gave up her bed and her granddaughter gave up hers as well. There were only two of us and we were prepared to sleep on the floor, but they gave us their beds and they slept in the living room. When it was our last morning there, they even gave us a gift. They gave us a little figurine that represented the month in which we were born. When we returned to Sara’s home, she also gave us a gift, a small satchel that had a cross pin on the front that her son had designed, and it was filled with cedar, which we learned was used for praying…

While we were at Rosebud, we met Albert White Hat. He came and spoke to us about his life, his culture. After his talk to us, which was giving enough (time is a precious gift), he ate lunch with us. After lunch he then took us to see the sweat lodge in his backyard and he then took us to the Sun Dance grounds. These are two very holy places, and he welcomed us there. He even invited us back to join in a sweat sometime. He also explained that they had an open-door policy about the Sun Dance, they would let anyone from any ethnicity experience and even take part in their Sun Dance if they took it seriously. I was amazed at the acceptance…

The third was the Tribal Council meeting that four of us attended. It was late in the day and we were all tired, but there was a tribal council meeting that we had wanted to see. So those of us that really wanted went ahead and went. When we got there it had already been going for about an hour, but we were allowed in. When we sat down, the man in front of us who was part of the meeting turned around and asked us where we were from. He then at the end of the meeting asked the members to welcome us and to let us walk around and shake everyone’s hands. They all shook our hands and welcomed us. I could not believe that they were so welcoming to four white women who were late to their meeting.