journeys of reconciliation

Last Wednesday (5/18), I flew to Billings, Montana with this program called Journeys of Reconciliation sponsored by my school. It's a great concept: a small group of students/faculty/staff make a journey to a part of the world where gross injustices have occurred and attempt to understand the situation(s) and listen to the stories of those oppressed. We basically internalize as much of the situation as we can with hopes that maybe one day, whether through our own actions or through those of people we pass the stories on to, reconciliation of those discriminated against and their oppressors may be one step closer.

I came to Montana to hear the stories of the indigenous peoples of North America, specifically the Crow and the Northern Cheyenne.

What did I know about Native Americans before this trip? Only what I read in the two paragraphs devoted to them in my US History text in high school. Oh yeah, and I also read Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee in high school, which was torture because I simply didn't care.

So again, what did I know about Native Americans before this trip? NOTHING.

I've been here six days and I am overwhelmed, so I'll write more on that later.

I'm exhausted--just got back from a two day blitz through Yellowstone National Park, travelling with 14 people in a 15-passenger van that definitely does NOT fit 15. The place is surreal, like nothing I've seen in person. More on this later, too, because we're leaving at 8 am to go to the Northern Cheyenne reservation.