Long Day, Bright Night

Today was the longest day we have had so far. The boys worked hard in the classroom with the Blackfeet students and some of the CBC students are working on PowerPoint presentations about themselves to present to the classes they are working in. This is a great opportunity to educate the younger kids about our lives and lifestyle. Most of the kids have no idea where St. Louis is and when you say Missouri they think River first not state. Half the students, Mr. Gerdes and I went to Medicine Bear the local soup kitchen and shelter. This was eye opening for everyone involved. One of the biggest vices on the reservation is Alcoholism and it was front and center for the boys to see. Many of the patrons were buying their time till they had money or knew someone who had money to get some alcohol. Every person we talked to was very appreciative of our work and wanted to know as much as possible. They are very happy go lucky and nearly everyone knew at least one student at De La Salle Blackfeet.

The afternoon was pretty calm for our boys with primarily time in the classroom, but the teachers at DLSBS had a bit of handful with some student behavior issues that most of the CBC guys were oblivious to. In the end all was well and Brother Ray took the boys on a long bus ride home going on the scenic route near Heart Butte.

When we got back our two swimmers took their daily dip in the Two Medicine River, but the current had picked up a bit and they did not make it across this time. As dinner approached we had our first guest speaker of the week, Mr. Marty Martain an Elder in the Blackfeet Tribe. He gave the boys an in depth history of the Blackfeet from their perspective. Mr. Martain is a skilled story teller and wove the myths of the Blackfeet along with the history to captivate the boys attention for nearly three and half hours. His experiences and faith the “Creator” showed the connection between the Christianity and the Native American ways. The interesting fact is the majority of the Blackfeet are Catholics and this “One Creator” connection is the driving force behind their evangelization.

The end of the night was a sort of surprise trip “off the grid” to star gaze. Brother Ray fired up the bus and took us 15 miles east until we left pavement, then there were no more fences and then there were no more utility poles. We then stopped and got out to see more stars than you could fathom along with satellites and the Milky Way. It was a great end to another great day. It is going fast as Thursday will be our last full day in the classrooms.