SHP 1 (Sisseton) - Women's Advocacy (1)

Hi from the Sisseton team!

We finally had some time to sit down (get wi-fi) and eat some Dairy Queen.

Our trip began on Saturday with a long drive to the little town of Wall, South Dakota. We all sat down together and ate at the only open (and only) restaurant in town.

The next morning we woke up early to watch the Sun come up over the Badlands!  It was so beautiful and a great way to start off the trip.

After exploring the infamous Wall Drug store, we left town and made our way to Sisseton! As we continued the drive we headed straight into some snow!

As we pulled into Sisseton it was covered in inches of snow.

We settled into the church, ate some pizza, and hid from the snow.

We began our first day of service Monday morning. The Dream team spit into two separate groups. One group cleaned the shelter and one cleaned the office. We spent ours organizing clothes (throwing them away), moving furniture, destroying a desk and cleaning the shelter. At lunch time we took a break and enjoyed some Indian tacos the church we are staying at made.

After lunch, the two groups switched. As we cleaned we talked to our coordinators and heard their stories. They shared their own stories of survival. They taught us how they heal using traditional methods like the sweat lodge. We learned how the sweat helps them heal by connecting with their ancestors and cleansing themselves. One coordinator had recently lost a family member  suicide and explained their ways of handling it. Suicide has a been a main topic on the trip and occurs often on the reservation.

We were blown away by the hardships they face everyday on the reservation and overwhelmed by their resilience.

The main thing we learned from this day is that their need is not material possessions, but for awareness and allies outside of their tribe.

Today we had an education day, and the co-director of the South Dakota Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence came to speak to us. We learned about the traditional tribal ways and how they are trying to go back to those ways. She taught us about the historical trauma of the tribe and how colonization has destroyed their culture.

We were inspired and angered by what we were taught today. We will definitely use the principle of bringing everything that we learned back home.