Living on the Res, you get to see a lot of things. Some are beautiful, and some not so beautiful.
On my way to work the other morning (which is a three minute walk for me), I saw a couple of coyotes (Sumanitu) hanging around the culvert under the road. They were kind of cool to see, but they weren't very excited to see me. They were pacing, like they were ready to go check out the cattle pens, but they didn't want me around when they did.
Then, on the way back from town the other day, I saw an eagle (wanbli) lift up off the side of the road when we passed it. In its talons it carried a huge snake almost as long as its wingspan. How I wished I had a camera when I saw that. It was an amazing sight to see.
The not so amazing sight I saw, however, was when I came into class on Monday. I went to my back table, where I prep for the day and make sure everything's ready to go, and saw something white moving on it. I thought, "EWW! Bug!" So I picked up a crayon to squish it. When I went to squish it however, it jumped away. Then the dreaded thought came to my mind, "LICE!" It took me a couple of tries, but I finally managed to get the little bugger and squish it with my crayon.
Lice can live about 4 days off of the host, and we had a 3 day weekend. So, someone who had been in my class had lice. The problem is... who?
Life for the people of this tribe is not easy. They make very little money and therefore don't have the means to properly take care of themselves. Lice is a common problem that we deal with weekly, it seems. I'm afraid to bring home a bag that I left on the floor for fear it might have lice eggs on it. That's something my wife would hate me for- bringing home lice. So, until my room is bug-bombed with one of those new bombs that kills the eggs, too, I am not daring to bring that bag home.
Well, I better get to work!
Wasichu-Witko
Stories of a White Teacher on a Reservation
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Monday, October 4, 2010
You Always Remember Your Firsts... Part II (Long Overdue)
Sorry about the break there people. I was in the middle of reorganizing my classroom and getting things to where I felt comfortable teaching without having to search for things. Ever since I've been here, I've been cleaning up my desk area to where I feel there is some semblance of organization. I've found things from several teachers ago in my desk that I've had to throw away...
... Anyway... Back to my story...
There we were... The white family, pulling up in a white minivan, and when we got out, I'm pretty sure almost everyone there turned and looked at us. I kept telling myself, "I'm here because my student is dancing and I want to support him." I knew that it was going to be a longer day than I'd planned when I didn't see anyone I knew there at the Pau Wau.
We went to the circle of mini-bleachers and found a spot in a bit of shade. I looked around to see if I could find my student, as dancers were arriving continually, but could not locate him. I also looked for my Aid, but he was nowhere to be found either.
As the minutes turned into hours, I began to wonder if anyone I knew would show up...
Finally, the dancers began to dance. My daughter was pretty excited when someone lent her a jingle dress (a dress covered in tiny tin bells) to dance in. It was better when she didn't have the dress. At least then, she was only slightly drawing attention to the wasichu family on the sidelines. After she got the dress on... Oh boy! Every time the dancers quit dancing, she would run almost all the way out to the middle pole and back to us in one giant loop that caught everyone's attention.
When the drummers began to drum and sing their songs, my oldest boy would hover around them and look longingly at their drum as if to say, "Please let me hit it, too!"
And, of course, there was one little argument between my kids and a couple of the Native kids over something my son dropped. It was really my son who was doing the yelling. The other kid was just trying to be nice and give it back to him.
As for the rest of the afternoon... Well, let's just say that my student never showed up, I met one person from work and, after we ate, my wife was ready to leave. So we left.
I could imagine the sighs that went on when we left, too. We wasichu are an annoying bunch to a cultural thing like that that is supposed to be a traditional event for them...
That's all there is to that little story!
Wasichu-Witko
... Anyway... Back to my story...
There we were... The white family, pulling up in a white minivan, and when we got out, I'm pretty sure almost everyone there turned and looked at us. I kept telling myself, "I'm here because my student is dancing and I want to support him." I knew that it was going to be a longer day than I'd planned when I didn't see anyone I knew there at the Pau Wau.
We went to the circle of mini-bleachers and found a spot in a bit of shade. I looked around to see if I could find my student, as dancers were arriving continually, but could not locate him. I also looked for my Aid, but he was nowhere to be found either.
As the minutes turned into hours, I began to wonder if anyone I knew would show up...
Finally, the dancers began to dance. My daughter was pretty excited when someone lent her a jingle dress (a dress covered in tiny tin bells) to dance in. It was better when she didn't have the dress. At least then, she was only slightly drawing attention to the wasichu family on the sidelines. After she got the dress on... Oh boy! Every time the dancers quit dancing, she would run almost all the way out to the middle pole and back to us in one giant loop that caught everyone's attention.
When the drummers began to drum and sing their songs, my oldest boy would hover around them and look longingly at their drum as if to say, "Please let me hit it, too!"
And, of course, there was one little argument between my kids and a couple of the Native kids over something my son dropped. It was really my son who was doing the yelling. The other kid was just trying to be nice and give it back to him.
As for the rest of the afternoon... Well, let's just say that my student never showed up, I met one person from work and, after we ate, my wife was ready to leave. So we left.
I could imagine the sighs that went on when we left, too. We wasichu are an annoying bunch to a cultural thing like that that is supposed to be a traditional event for them...
That's all there is to that little story!
Wasichu-Witko
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