Sisseton, SD - Women's Issues (Post 1)

After an 11-hour-long journey in our wonderful cars named Thelma and Louise, the MAB Sisseton Sistas officially arrived in Sisseton, South Dakota, population 2,497. Upon arrival we met Father Tony, the priest at St. Catherine's, our home for the next 6 days. It should be noted that the warmest it has been in Sisseton thus far is 30 degrees, but that didn't stop us from indulging ourselves with Blizzards and burgers from the local Dairy Queen. After our very nourishing dinner and the world's most spastic grocery run, we went back to the church to wind down.

Today we got to meet five amazing women from Wac'ang'a Inc. who we will be working with this week.  Wac'ang'a, which means "Sweetgrass," is the women's shelter and advocacy organization that we will be serving with this week. Our first cultural exchange together was to make ceremonial dresses for us to wear for the Inipi sweat lodge. In completing our Project Runway-worthy task, we encountered our first great challenge: the sewing machine. Luckily, we have some talented sistas here, and like a true group of women we supported and helped each other battle the sewing machine beast as the clock ticked. We made some truly fabulous dresses that deserve the approval of Tim Gunn himself.



After almost getting Thelma stuck in the mud and making a narrow escape, we made our way into the sweat lodge for the Inipi Sweat Lodge Ceremony. This ceremony is a traditional, sacred practice that has been done for thousands of years, making our experience that much more special. The ceremony is a time of meaningful prayer and cleansing of the spirit and mind.  Arnold, the tribal medicine man, explained to us that we all were welcome to come together for this ceremony, as it is a time we can all join as one in prayer.

Although we can't describe the ceremony in detail, we can say that what we got the opportunity to do today was incredibly meaningful and a wonderful way to start off the cultural exchange that this trip is all about. The ceremony was such a personal, individual experience for everyone that it is difficult to explain what we each uniquely took away from it, but we do know that as a group we came back from the ceremony feeling a new sense of spirit and honor. We felt more connected with ourselves, and ultimately with each other as a result of sharing the experience. One of the most fascinating parts of the ceremony was the explanation of how sacred the woman is viewed in the native culture. The belief is that because women bring life into this world and because this ceremony is a cleansing, women who are "on the moon" (wink , wink), cannot participate in the ceremony because their body is naturally cleansing and already sacred. Up until recent history, it was only men who participated in this cleansing ceremony because women's bodies can cleanse naturally.

It is customary to share a traditional meal of fry bread and soup after the ceremony, so we did just that. We gathered at St. Catherine's to share a delicious meal that was made for us.  So now as our second night together, we are more excited than ever to continue in this epic journey. Stay tuned, it's only the beginning.

Sisseton Sistas
(Contributing writers Alex and JoMarie)