Earlier this year, the
Daily Kos Quilt Guild planned a quilt auction to benefit a worthy cause. They rallied together and produced a stunning quilt. Each block of this quilt was made by a different member. For the auction proceeds, the Guild chose a food bank and community building 501c3 on the Cheyenne River reservation in South Dakota.
Okiciyap (Lakota for "We Help") has been a long time favored project of many here at Daily Kos. The founder, Georgia Little Shield, was introduced to us by betson08 (Betsy) way back in 2007 by way of a women's shelter Georgia felt was needed on the Standing Rock reservation. In fact, Georgia traveled to NN08 in Austin to be on a panel organized by AndyT and I met her there. She's a woman who is tough as hell and had quite a life of service to her people. Sadly, she died unexpectedly last year. But her remarkable family has carried on her dream of feeding the people on her reservation.
The auction, by way of asking bidders to donate their bid, raised over $11,000 for the food bank this spring. I was part of the winning bid team of joanbrooker, belinda ridgewood, Meteor Blades and Shockwave. If we won the quilt we wanted to give it to Okiciyap. Rather than mailing it I volunteered to personally deliver it. The perfect date would be at their August 17th 2nd Annual Wacipi (powwow) which would be held in honor of Georgia Little Shield. betson08 and mollyd wanted to come with me, however both realized they couldn't. mollyd had family responsibilities to perform and betson08 was nervous about her expenses due to the sequester. mollyd gave a generous amount to Betsy so she could go. Betsy, of all people, deserves to be there. She has supported Georgia's endeavors by donating them website help and blogging about them to raise money.
Betsy and I connected in Rapid City, S.D. She flew in from New York and I from San Francisco. I rented a car and drove three hours to the rez.
Below is my photo diary of the food pantry visit and wacipi. You can click on any photo and see a larger version in a different window. My entire 300+ photo album is here. And Betsy's album is here.
betson08 and the pantry entrance ~ Lakota kids with the backpacks NMRed sent
With our efforts a freezer full of meat ~ With our efforts plenty of coats ready for winter
With our efforts a well stocked pantry ~ Pantry office work station
A load of calculators ready for school ~ School supplies are rolling in
New fridge that Kossacks bought ~ New air conditioner that Kossacks bought, it works!
Meanwhile, Deb is making frybread at the pantry for the wacipi:
Deb testing the temperature of the oil ~ A big batch of dough!
And now for some Lakota Food Pr0n: NDN Stew n' frybread and for dessert: Wojapi! Everyone's favorite. A syrupy cold pudding of chokecherries for dipping your frybread in. In a word: YUM!
Yes. I ate all that.
All the dancers were getting their hair done, Lakota style ~ All finished ~Photo Courtesy of Betsy
Georgia's family gathers behind their giveaway table ~ The wacipi begins with an honoring song for Georgia, the family lines up
A word about technical difficulties. The video in my camera crapped out as I began to shoot the honoring song. I'm posting anyway because it's an important part of the wacipi and the drummer/singers were fantastic. While the color is desaturated you can still see the members of this wonderful, little community. It's such a shame because powwows are all about color. I switched to my iPhone for the rest of the videos which worked just fine. You'll see full color there at this event. If you can, turn your volume all the way up. ;) The video is 5 minutes and 31 seconds.
The honoring song was a very emotional way to start the wacipi in Georgia's memory. But beyond that was another poignant story taking place that day.
Heidi showing the Lakota beaded
necklace gift from her brothers
The larger photo above is of the Lakota MC telling the crowd a very special story. Next to the cute little dancer in purple is Heidi, she just arrived the day before from the Phoenix area. She was born Lisa and was unwillingly given away at birth. She is now holding her birth mother's hand in this photo, Georgia's mother. Heidi's birth mother was told her baby would be given to a Lakota family. Instead she was given to a white family in another state. Heidi had been looking for her family roots for decades, without success. Unknown to her, her South Dakota family had been looking for her. Both parties filled out paperwork years ago to find each other but nothing materialized until 30 days ago. One week ago Heidi finally got the paperwork Georgia filled out to find her. Stapled at the end of that paperwork is a letter Georgia wrote to their lost sister saying we are looking for you and we think you are looking for us. That letter was dated ten years ago. Heidi told me this story sitting next to her mother at lunch. Her mother leaned in at the end of the story and said to Heidi, "I've never forgotten your little baby face."
It's amazing they were finally reunited. Georgia would be proud.
On the other side of Georgia's mother is Barb. She too was given away. She's already been reunited for a few years with her family. She, too, is very resentful of the circumstances around her birth and how her mother was treated.
The whole situation talks about poverty on our reservations, Indian people being manipulated and kept in the dark on matters that bureaucrats deem Indian people are incapable of making decisions about.
I'm glad that Heidi now knows of her roots and can learn about her culture.
Following that story the MC told was a Welcome Home song for Heidi. The whole family was beaming at this miraculous reunion during the drumming.
The wacipi continued:
This is a one minute and 56 second video depicting the Grand Entry, always led by our veterans.
This is a two minute and 58 second video of our youth carrying on the culture with fancy shawl dancing. Royalty was in attendance, you can see, with the two oldest dancers.
Lakota Royalty: Gorgeous, or what?
And now for my favorite video:
This video is 3 minutes and 18 seconds. A vigorous and intense display of ndn drumming. The group is called Walking Thunder and is led by Justin Miller. A drumming group can make or break a powwow. These guys were fantastic!
All American Indian cultures celebrate giving and generosity.
Betsy was given a star quilt for her many years of help ~ I received one, too. Humbling.
And now for the very reason we are here, the Daily Kos Quilt Guild's auction quilt:
I'm holding the plaque of all your names if you donated or helped with the quilt auction. Betsy is holding the quilt. You all should be proud of your contributions to the auction but also those of you who continue to fundraise for Okiciyap. It was a true pleasure to present this quilt at this event. I'm very proud of this community. You've all done a lot of good.
Here is Georgia's mother with the quilt. I love her pleased smile:
The next day we hung the quilt in the pantry on the hardware I sent ahead of our visit.
L-R: navajo, Emily the Pantry Director, a little relative and Betsy. The plaques they are holding will be mounted next to the quilt.
Click on either photo for close-ups of the plaques:
Mission Accomplished!
In loving memory of Eagle Wings Woman
aka Georgia Little Shield