Saturday, June 23, 2012
Saturday's Arrival
The gang will be back to church about noon today. It sounds like they had a great week! Please pass the word.
Friday, June 22, 2012
June 21, 2012
We said goodbye this morning to our friends on the Cheyenne River Reservation and headed south to visit buffalo in the Black Hills. They are magnificent, as are these young people. After wandering the park for a couple of hours visiting the Tatanka we had a chuck wagon dinner, then headed to Community United Church of Christ in Custer, where we are preparing to turn in for the night.
Tonight we honored the three seniors on our trip, Joe Kirsh, Jake Peters, and Rob Rodak, sharing memories of their time in the youth community and celebrating their many gifts they've shared. After that, we worshipped together, and prepared for our visit to Crazy Horse and Mount Rushmore tomorrow, before we start the ride home early in the evening.
We said goodbye this morning to our friends on the Cheyenne River Reservation and headed south to visit buffalo in the Black Hills. They are magnificent, as are these young people. After wandering the park for a couple of hours visiting the Tatanka we had a chuck wagon dinner, then headed to Community United Church of Christ in Custer, where we are preparing to turn in for the night.
Tonight we honored the three seniors on our trip, Joe Kirsh, Jake Peters, and Rob Rodak, sharing memories of their time in the youth community and celebrating their many gifts they've shared. After that, we worshipped together, and prepared for our visit to Crazy Horse and Mount Rushmore tomorrow, before we start the ride home early in the evening.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Wednesday, June 20th
Longest day of the year, right? Also the most random day of work here on Cheyenne River. One of our supervisory people has a little 18 month or so old daughter who was running a pretty substantial fever, so folks here were scrambling while mom stayed home like she needed to to care for her little one. There was a lot of deep cleaning work that went on all over this timy campus, more work in the warehouse, more mowing, a "June birthday" party for the little ones at "the Main" (what they call the building they meet in) and a ping pong tournament complete with seeds and brackets and high level commentary. After lunch and before getting back to work this afternoon, the entire crew walked a little over a mile to a Dairy Queen on the town's north border. We have to tell you that over the years we have just "appeared" at many food and snack places, the mere volume of our group completely flustering the employees beyond measure. The people working at this Dairy Queen were friendly, efficient, patient and the nicest people to our kids!
After work and after dinner, we headed outside for our nighttime sky event, trying to contemplate our place in the universe all the while exploring how others before us have done the same thing. The night sky here is something!
We'll say goodbye to our Cheyenne River friends tomorrow morning, and head to the Black Hills to visit some buffalo and see what there is to see. Our gang has done some great work in spite of some unplanned things our hosts had to deal with. Internet access maybe spotty on Thursday and Friday, but we'll do our best to keep you up to speed.
Longest day of the year, right? Also the most random day of work here on Cheyenne River. One of our supervisory people has a little 18 month or so old daughter who was running a pretty substantial fever, so folks here were scrambling while mom stayed home like she needed to to care for her little one. There was a lot of deep cleaning work that went on all over this timy campus, more work in the warehouse, more mowing, a "June birthday" party for the little ones at "the Main" (what they call the building they meet in) and a ping pong tournament complete with seeds and brackets and high level commentary. After lunch and before getting back to work this afternoon, the entire crew walked a little over a mile to a Dairy Queen on the town's north border. We have to tell you that over the years we have just "appeared" at many food and snack places, the mere volume of our group completely flustering the employees beyond measure. The people working at this Dairy Queen were friendly, efficient, patient and the nicest people to our kids!
After work and after dinner, we headed outside for our nighttime sky event, trying to contemplate our place in the universe all the while exploring how others before us have done the same thing. The night sky here is something!
We'll say goodbye to our Cheyenne River friends tomorrow morning, and head to the Black Hills to visit some buffalo and see what there is to see. Our gang has done some great work in spite of some unplanned things our hosts had to deal with. Internet access maybe spotty on Thursday and Friday, but we'll do our best to keep you up to speed.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Tuesday, June 19
A storm rolled in last night. Some of us were disappointed because we have yet to have a clear enough evening to see the remarkable expanse of the nighttime sky here. But the storm poured through, and while it was still cloudy this morning, the temperature was in the 60's and 70's most of the day, and our crew, still at work smoothing out rough edges and feeling our way with one another, got in another full day of work cleaning, working with children, clerical support, gardening, mowing, and doing in general many of the things many non profits have trouble getting done because there is always, it seems, a more urgent set of things that need to get done immediately. Our gang has been working hard and, as is usually the case, getting more accomplished than our hosts expect us to get done.
At lunch today we met Larry Fiddler, an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Nation who offered us his story and insights about the Lakota way of life. His was a great story of personal, emotional, and (though he hates the word) spiritual redemption focused on his own personal re-embrace of what he called "our ways, our ceremonies, our language." He told us of his own personal journey, from being an adolescent boy and young man who was always in trouble, who essentially ran away from home, eventually changing his life by embracing his "ways, ceremonies, and language." He and other Lakota hesitate calling those things part of a "religion," and more of a way of life that recognizes all of creation as Wakan (sacred)on a planet whom they call Unci Maka (mother earth) where all things and beings are described as mita kuye ayasin (we are relatives) bound together and given life by Wakantanka (the great or sacred spirit).
Tonight, another review of the work we have done so far, both with the Cheyenne River Youth project, and with each other as we continue to try to build what our new friends might call the Oyate (the people) and what we always call our community, gathered and bound together with a similar notion of mita kuye ayasin that affirms the uniqueness and sacredness of each one while giving even greater respect to the community. As they have long been, these young people, stumbling through it as they might at times, are really. really good at this.
Tomorrow, our final day of work before we go exploring on the last part of our week.
A storm rolled in last night. Some of us were disappointed because we have yet to have a clear enough evening to see the remarkable expanse of the nighttime sky here. But the storm poured through, and while it was still cloudy this morning, the temperature was in the 60's and 70's most of the day, and our crew, still at work smoothing out rough edges and feeling our way with one another, got in another full day of work cleaning, working with children, clerical support, gardening, mowing, and doing in general many of the things many non profits have trouble getting done because there is always, it seems, a more urgent set of things that need to get done immediately. Our gang has been working hard and, as is usually the case, getting more accomplished than our hosts expect us to get done.
At lunch today we met Larry Fiddler, an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Nation who offered us his story and insights about the Lakota way of life. His was a great story of personal, emotional, and (though he hates the word) spiritual redemption focused on his own personal re-embrace of what he called "our ways, our ceremonies, our language." He told us of his own personal journey, from being an adolescent boy and young man who was always in trouble, who essentially ran away from home, eventually changing his life by embracing his "ways, ceremonies, and language." He and other Lakota hesitate calling those things part of a "religion," and more of a way of life that recognizes all of creation as Wakan (sacred)on a planet whom they call Unci Maka (mother earth) where all things and beings are described as mita kuye ayasin (we are relatives) bound together and given life by Wakantanka (the great or sacred spirit).
Tonight, another review of the work we have done so far, both with the Cheyenne River Youth project, and with each other as we continue to try to build what our new friends might call the Oyate (the people) and what we always call our community, gathered and bound together with a similar notion of mita kuye ayasin that affirms the uniqueness and sacredness of each one while giving even greater respect to the community. As they have long been, these young people, stumbling through it as they might at times, are really. really good at this.
Tomorrow, our final day of work before we go exploring on the last part of our week.
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