South Dakota

I just got back from four days in South Dakota. I went with my Native friend. We stayed with her friends. It was definitely in the middle of nowhere. I posted a couple of pictures from the house where I stayed. They had a large population of ground hogs. Not only ground hogs but a bald eagle was there hunting them.

One day we went to Mt. Rushmore and the Crazy Horse monument. I learned the Native history of the Crazy Horse. The museum was wonderful there and the gift shop had a lot of Native made things. It was a full day of sight seeing.

The people I stayed with were Lakota Sioux. They filmed Dances with Wolves near where I stayed. These people spoke fluent Lakota and they are fighting to keep their traditions alive. The younger generation are not listening to what their elders are trying to pass down and with every loss of a grandmother or grandfather, the native traditions and languages are being lost.

I did get to enjoy a sweat lodge. While I could not take pictures of this ceremony out of respect to my new native friends, I can tell you a little about it. In the morning, we got up and stripped the lodge of all the blankets and tarps they cover the wood frame with and shake out the blankets that are inside. Then we set them out so they could air out in the wind. Then we went inside and spent the rest of the day cooking traditional food. We made bread for rolls, a wonderful soup made with deer meat and squash, buffalo tongue, buffalo kidneys and a wild berry desert. The other native women began to arrive about four hours before the sweat and they brought more food. We had a great time laughing and talking and teasing each other. The hearts of these people are so open and welcoming I forgot I was the stranger. I know God had been here before me to open hearts and prepare the way for me. About two hours before the sweat, we covered the lodge layering on blankets and tarps making sure there were no holes and placed the blankets inside. We also placed rocks under wood and built a large fire. More visiting and then we were ready to sweat. There was a small prayer and ceremony on the outside of the lodge then the women crawled in and placed the red hot rocks in. The water was pour over the rocks along with herbs and the steam filled the lodge and heated us all up. I don't know how long we were in but I enjoyed the sweat. We all prayed and sang and I came out feeling refreshed and closer to God. It was interesting how there were different people gathered together and we had different things to pray about but all our differences faded away and we were united for a short while.

I had a peaceful weekend, the weather was great it rained a little and was sunny most of the time. Not too cold except for the constant wind sweeping the prairie. Now it is Wednesday and it is getting cold. The weather man is promising snow tonight about 6-8 inches with wind. I hear that is a blizzard out hear. But so far no snow just dropping temperatures. I guess winter is arriving and time for me to bundle up. I am looking forward to my trip back home for Christmas and hope to be able to fly my sons home from Texas.

Blessings on all who read this.