Lessons and Friendships at Rosebud Reservation

Two weeks ago, I was assisting with the Diocese of Nebraska's Youth Mission Trip to the Sicangu Lakota people's Rosebud Reservation. A few years old, it echoes my Omaha church, St. Andrew's much longer, nearly 20 year partnership with a historic Oglalla Lakota church in Pine Ridge. We were blessed to have Rev. Tom Jones, with long experience in both trips and many dedicated youth and adult leaders along with us, including a special group from St. Michael's church in North Carolina. St. Michael's is a growing dynamic community looking for new opportunities for service, and their members have been searching for some time to establish a meaningful service relationship with the Native American community through churches with trusted relationships already in place on the ground. You can view many more pictures, and get a day by day update at Fr. Tom's blog here; I'll share a few of my own images and highlights for the week.










I met up with the group Sunday night, after they'd been able to attend a special Powwow and be guided in some dances by tribal members; I had a chance to meet everyone and get a sense of the work for the week ahead. We would be working this year out of the Church of Jesus in the town of Rosebud; this is the oldest Episcopal church on the reservation, and very close to the original tribal agency. We also had a chance one day to visit the Episcopal Mission in Mission, SD where our youth had had a chance to do some work last year, and the Tribal Museum.

Church of Jesus, Our Hosts in Rosebud SD

Beautiful chapel at the nearby mission; the ceiling is all cedar, a sacred plant for the Lakota,
and there is a traditional drum to the left of the altar for special worship events.

Powwow Arbor at the Mission, which our Youth had a chance to help paint last year.

We started each day at the Church of Jesus, running a Vacation Bible School for the area children who came and also engaging in a work project at the direction of local members of the congregation. Don Eagle, a leader at Church of Jesus and his granddaughter were with us nearly the whole week and crucial in directing and taking part in the project for their building (which ended up being re-installing a ramp that would allow safer access in the winter). I spent most of my time working with the kids, but also had a chance to help clean the Vicarage next door so their replacement pastor will have a comfortable place to live.

Don Eagle puts the finishing touches on the church's new ramp.












I admit, I was personally a little uncertain about running a "Bible Camp" at first given the complicated cultural dynamics, but was pleased with the sensitivity and respect our whole team nurtured, including many "learning moments" with our youth each night. Our ethos, as Fr. Tom stated beautifully later was not to "Bring Jesus to the Reservation and convert people," but to "humbly expect to meet Him already there in the people we meet." Our youth and adults alike encountered, and learned from issues of cultural differences, the challenge of building trust and being guests in their community. There were some beautiful moments though, as we saw kids forming meaningful relationships even in the short time we had, and the joy we saw in kids faces as we played games and sang silly songs.

One particularly memorable story involved one of our more "energetic" guests; this boy (whose name will of course remain anonymous) gave a few of our youth a hard time, even getting rough on our second day with a few of the girls. But we had a serious discussion of how to show extra love to youth who act out, even while setting boundaries so everyone was safe. Our kids really took it to heart, and I personally witnessed several people who were upset with him the day before let him know they were "glad he came back," or sit beside him during an activity to give him extra attention. The final day, this young man was one of the saddest to see us go- and asked several of our kids to ride back with him in the van. It was a humbling experience for everyone.

We were also richly blessed to have Rev. Two Hawks, a retired Episcopal Priest and past Tribal Chairman with us one afternoon to share a little about life on the reservation and Lakota culture. There was some concern from our adults about how the younger children would sit through such a talk, but we were all blown away by the respect shown an elder (something our culture could learn a thing or two from) by kids of all ages, and moved by his words. Rev. Two Hawks shared his experiences serving his people in ministry and also leadership in areas of health, culture and his tribes ongoing struggles to preserve their language. He was actually involved in the government in the time they set up Sinte Gleska University a dynamic educational institution. One of the most poignant things he said, however was recalling his people's experience of being pushed into reservation life- "It was like being caged," he noted, after living for centuries with freedom and self-sufficiency. He also shared, however the great desire and gratitude of his people for committed professionals willing to dedicate time to their community today. We were all richly honored by his time with us.

Our team poses with our hosts at the weeks' end

I was not able to join our youth for the final tubing trip, as I had a spill and a minor arm injury earlier in the week, but was able to say farewell and say a riverside early-morning prayer for them at the Fort Niobara Wildlife Refuge, a beautiful preserve for Buffalo and Elk I fell in love with my way out here. I gave thanks to my Creator, the local church in Valentine that housed us, and the Sicangu Lakota people for their hospitality as we worked and learned in their sacred homeland.