Lakota AID Registered Charity No: 1097444 Volume 1 Issue 2

Click here to recommend this article to a friend Mitakuye Oyasin , Hello to everyone and thank you for subscribing to the Lakota-Aid newsletter. I hope you enjoyed the 1st issue and continue to enjoy the following issues also. Firstly, I had a wonderful time on the Pine Ridge Reservation. I got back on 27th June, and am still seriously jet-lagged but guess I will survive!! Hope so, I go to Bridgend, South Wales from 4th -6th July to do 2 talks there about the Lakota people and the way they live! As usual, things did not go entirely to plan on my trip, but then they never seem to!! I think Great Spirit always has other plans in mind, never mind what I think I am going to do!! I am a vegetarian, have been for 28 years, but I got stuck in gutting and cleaning the insides of 4 cows, as part of the feast at the Sundance in the Black Hills. I volunteered to help out, did not get forced into this, and although I got an awful lot of teasing for cringing at the sight of all this goo (4 of us started at 8.30pm and finished about 5am the next morning!!), I also won the respect from the people for actually helping out and not throwing up or fainting throughout the whole process!! Did we stink afterwards or what!! It took me 2 days of constant scrubbing to get the smell off my fingers, totally gross, but I had to feel a little proud of myself for actually having the, dare I say it, GUTS to do it! The Sundance itself was just wonderful, I could not take pictures of the event as this is a sacred ceremony and it would not be respectful to take pictures, but it was a lovely, colourful ceremony, with lots of drumming and singing in Lakota. All the songs are sacred Sundance songs, the drumming represents the heartbeat of our Mother Earth and is very sacred also. The dancers all wore specially made clothes, in bright colours representing the colours of the 4 directions (reds, blacks, yellows and whites), with contrasting patterns or ribbons which looked beautiful and bright. They also made themselves wreaths for their heads, ankles and wrists, from Lakota White Sage bound together by strips of red cloth to form the shape. Beatrice Weasel Bear, who I stay with, and myself went up into the hills to pick a sackfull.The land has had good rainfall so far this year, so it is growing in abundance and smells just heavenly. The Sundance tree is a freshly cut down Cotton wood tree, this is done on the first day of the 4 day ceremony and is called 'Tree Day'. Before the tree is raised a special ceremony is performed and songs sung, and then tobacco ties and prayer bundles are wrapped around and tied to the tree. These are made by anyone that wants to pray, including myself and my American friend Janice. Afterwards the tree is raised and secured to great cheers and tremeloes from the people.   The dancers live in Tipis, one for the men and one for the women, and fast for the 4 days and only have very little liquid, so it is a real test of endurance and dedication, the days being focused entirely on prayer and humility to Great Spirit. It must have been pretty powerful prayers this year I feel, as on the 3rd day, around 5.30pm a sudden storm hit the Sundance area, whipped up out of nowhere, and a Tornado touched down and went right through the grounds , plus the cook camp in the valley below. It bent the Sundance tree over, took out a huge Tipi and a large tent, both the mens and womens sweatlodges, plus it shredded and then braided an American flag belonging to a Native Vietnam War Veteran! It also nearly sucked up a little white boy, but fortunately a lady grabbed hold of him in time, spooky stuff alright!! Everyone was pretty shocked by the whole thing, but there were no injuries or fatalities and the dancing continued. It is amazing how the dancers took everything in their stride, absolutely nothing stops them performing their sacred ceremonies, not even a Tornado and you have to admire them for this. It just shows what true survivors these people are, and let's face it, if they were meant to die out, it would have happened a long time ago. Everyone was pretty well exhausted after the ceremony came to an end, but to round things off, after all the dancing and the piercing by the men was completed, a naming ceremony for 3 children and one man was performed, and then a big 'Give Away' followed. The Give Away is a present giving time, the families wanting to do this having collected things all year for this event, from blankets and starquilts, to crockery sets and pictures, you name it. Jan and I received a comforter (thin quilt) and sheet set for helping the people, and we were also given the task of giving drinks of Chokecherry juice and sacred food (a mixture of dried Buffalo meat and Chokecherries minced together) to the people that were named, then the dancers, then to all the people around, a great honour indeed! I also came home with a beautiful Starquilt with a Buffalo in the middle that Beatrice had made for me. My suitcase was bulging at the seams and I kept my fingers crossed that I would not have to open it for an Airport search, I don't think I would have gotten it closed again! I had great plans to try and sort out names of people that might be interested in the pen-pal project, but it did not work out that way I am afraid, so I will try and get this done as soon as I can. The Lakota people do not seem to be great letter writers, so if this does not work out as I had hoped, it hopefully may be incorporated in the Adopt a Grandmother project instead, again I will get that done as soon as possible. The Lakota people did not have a written language until the early part of the 20th century, priding themselves on passing all their stories and beliefs, medicines and skills by word of mouth. The invasion of the Whiteman and the Catholic religion forced them into having to produce a written language, so it is still very much in their blood to do this even today and not write things down, so please bear with me on this one and I will see what I can do. For next years Sundance, I am hoping that the Lakota-Aid charity will be able to sponsor the people, as they have to have money to pay out for the hire of Porta-loos, hire the Tipis, gas (petrol ) money for hauling wood and the Tipis and poles, cookpots etc up to the grounds, a distance of about 60 miles. Plus they have to buy food for the 4 days to feed the people, etc , etc. The sponsors for the past 4 years did not do it for them this year, so it was a real struggle, so next year it would be wonderful if Lakota-Aid could take on all, or part sponsorship, as the Sundance is as important as living and breathing to the Lakota people, and needs to be kept alive. It gives the people a real sense of hope, as the way they have to live now gives them none at all. I can tell you truly from the heart, that the Lakota people are so happy to know that people all the way over here in England care about them and want to help them. This in itself gives them a lot of hope, and my dream in time is to give these people as much help as possible, in bigger and better ways. With the help and support of all you lovely people out there, this could become a reality and not just a dream. The word needs to be spread, and quickly, then the future generations can carry this on when I am just dust myself and with Great Spirit and the ancestors! PROPANE APPEAL One appeal I would like to start plugging right now, is for money for Propane for the families I have supported through last winter, and no doubt I will have more people asking for help this coming winter as the word gets around. I know it is only July right now, but in about 10weeks or so, mid September onwards, the South Dakota winter will start to set in with a vengeance, and I need to get the propane tanks for these peoples filled up before the temperature starts to plummet. Temperatures can drop to minus 20-40 degrees below freezing, and many Elders die of the cold because they have no heating. There are an awful lot of people on kidney dialysis that need constant heat also, and many sickly children. There is so much help needed out there, it breaks my heart that I cannot do more, but I do what I can with the help offered. If anyone would like to make a donation for the Propane fund, or would like to do a fundraising event, please feel free to contact me (e-mail etc on the website). I will also come and do talks about my visits to the Pine Ridge Reservation as either part of a fund raiser, or just an evenings talk. I do not charge for this, but donations to the cause and help towards my travelling costs are very much appreciated. Well good people, thank you once again for caring about the Lakota people and I will keep you posted on events ands appeals as they arise. May the Creator walk with you always Wopila, Mitakuye Oyasin Brenda www.lakota-aid.co.uk Registered Charity no:- 1097444   [Home] [Why the Lakota need your Help] [Newsletter] [Ambulance Project]