Sunday July 10, 2011

For those of us traveling from the east, we started the morning by joining the people of Church of the Holy Spirit for morning worship during which we received a blessing for the work we were going to do this week and the things we were going to experience. Afterwards, we loaded up the trailer and began our journey. At the same time, folks in Grand Island were doing likewise, and a group from North Caroline started their day in Rapid City, South Dakota. Our goal on this day was to meet up with other teams all converging on St. John’s Episcopal Church in Valentine, Nebraska.

All arrived safely and after unloading the trailer, we said a prayer and had dinner. During dinner everyone got acquainted and friendships from past trips were quickly renewed. Right after dinner we piled into the vans and headed up to the Reservation. Tonight we had a special treat in that we were going to go watch the grand entrance for the closing ceremonies of the Antelope Traditional Wacipi (Powwow). When we arrived the procession had already started but we got to see folks of all ages enter wearing their clan’s ceremonial dress. At the culmination of the procession, there was a very moving flag ceremony. Everyone stood as someone sang Native American Veterans presented not only the US Flag, but the POW-MIA flag, the flag of the Lakota Nation, and the flag of the Siquana, Lakota.

What followed, looked more like fun than ceremony; and that we learned, was exactly what it was. The first few dances were inter-tribal just to have fun. Some of the ceremonial dress were very detailed and all were very, very colorful. On about the third dance, members of our team were invited to join in and our team was welcomed into the festivities by the announcer. We learned that the participants were from at least six clans, four from Rosebud, 1 from Pine Ridge, and 1 from another reservation. Each had their own set of drummers and singers. To hear the melody and feel the beat really drew us into what was happening. Before we knew it, it was time for us to head back to St. John’s, begin our preparations for tomorrow, and to get a good night’s sleep (sort of).