Fort Thompson – Native American

Yesterday we got off to a late start after our long day of traveling and Walmart Sunday. We began work on the volunteer center in the Habitat chapter's headquarters. The center will be able to hold up to 54 volunteers when it is completed! So far we have assembled the frame for one wall. The work felt really slow and we didn't think we were getting a lot done, but by the end of the day, voila we had assembled a wall frame. It was nice to see some tangible difference made by our efforts for the day.

We were set back a little while by a clogged sewer system, and we had to evacuate the basement. We kept going afterward, though, and worked ourselves up quite an appetite. We had a pasta night with the volunteers we are working with. They stuck around for the rest of the evening and we played games and shared stories.

For the past couple of nights we have all gathered around our new friend, Chauncey, an Indian elder living in Fort Thompson. He's 57 years old and full of lessons, stories, and histories to share with us. He's as serious as he is funny - one minute he will be telling us of the plight of his ancestors and the next he can strike up a quick joke, followed by a chuckle. Last night he shared much with us - talking about the differences between religions and his spirituality. He refers to himself as a spiritualist and talks of his special gift of knowing how to work with herbs and medicines. Chauncey also told us a bit about Indian names. They change as a person grows, when he was young he was called "High Bear" and as an adult his name changed to "Red Lightning" after he was struck by lightning three times. Each time he acquired a new skill, a new special trait to share with the world. We also discussed the Sundance festival - how some people come to the festival "to see" and others come "to be seen." We're looking forward to gathering around him again tonight at a bonfire - he wants to take us down to the river and start a fire, grilling some food and sharing memories and thoughts.

It's been a really cool experience seeing the group dynamic change from palling around on our free day to hard work and focus when we're at the site.  Everyone stays as busy as possible, between electrical wiring, door frame building and cutting different boards for each task.  It's a lot of work, but knowing the end product makes it worth it.

Shout outs to Grace and Tina - they worked their tails off yesterday on the wall and were so full of productive energy, even in the drowsy afternoon hours. It was inspiring and they totally rocked it!