From Soil to Table: Part 2

This entry is dedicated to my remarkable friend Simon Henderson, who died earlier this year of liver failure. As gifted comedian, songwriter, poet, humanitarian, Bamboo Man (my endearment for Simon), was a permaculturalist specializing in the utilization of bamboo in a design concept. He was one of the instructors at the Montana course.


At the end of May, 2000, I embarked upon a most challenging and exciting journey in my life: preparing 3-squares a day during a 3-week for 22 students & instructors on the Blackfeet Nation rez in Browning, Montana. I got more than what I bargained for….

A few months earlier, I was approached by permaculture instructor Farmer Dave from the CSA, Our Farm (see above entry) to become involved with his latest project. As a certified permaculturalist (yes, it’s a legitimate word) who learned the design concept from Bill Mollison himself, Farmer Dave was authorized to teach the tenets of permaculture to students, either on Our Farm, or at another location. This time, Farmer Dave informed me, Browning, Montana (12 miles east of Glacial National Park) was to be the latest spot to teach the course, and to not only some of the members of the Blackfeet Nation, but to people from around the country, and Mexico.

Farmer Dave had an open dialogue with the Blackfeet Medicine Man, Wilburt Fish, a visionary among his people. They both discussed how the applications of permaculture would benefit their people. For a start, creating a viable design concept in the arid plains of western Montana would be quite a challenge, to say the least. Coupled with the desperate and depressing energy that was awash in Browning, where many of the Blackfeet were just getting by.

I was intrigued and excited by the idea of giving back to the community, especially the Native Americans, who have had a most difficult time since they were pushed out of their lands and placed, for the most part, in undesirably-located reservations. Government subsidies, in terms of food, have provided the various Native nations with a feeble attempt to "take care" of these people. Permaculture, as Farmer Dave and Wilburt decided, would be a first step toward self-reliance and to lessen the dependency from government subsidies through the established practices of permaculture.

(As a side note of interest, the prairie grass that dominated the Plains, used to grow to 4 feet in height. Now, due to erosion, cattle farming and a lack of buffalo, the grass is barely a stubble. Dramatically changing part of an ecosystem can effect the whole: For instance, buffalo, as opposed to cattle, have cloven hooves, which create "wells" in the ground as they walk or run, where water and grass seed collect together to. Combined with manure and photosynthesis, the buffalo became a "volunteer" roaming tiller and fertilizer! Cattle, on the other hand, have flat hooves, which level the ground, and eat a lot of grass! Cattle were originally ate from shrubs and bushes, until people changed their eating habits.)

So, I gave notice to the family for whom I was cooking, and prepared myself for the experience in Montana.

The following is an excerpt from my journal in June 2000:

East Glacier Park
Saturday, May 27th, 2000:
East Glacier Park is a tiny town at the gateway to the majestic Glacier National Park. A large resort lodge, built in 1912 and open only in the summer, is just a stone’s throw away from the quaint little train station. As we detrained, we were greeted by sunshine, fresh air and…the powerful wind I had heard about from Farmer Dave! The wind blows through the Marias Pass in G.N.P., which creates a funnel-like affect across the prairie plains.

I walked down to the country store where I called Wilburt Fish, our ambassador and medicine man of the Blackfeet, about getting picked up and taken to our destination in Browning, twelve miles east. My eyebrows raised as I was told that he was not to return until six that evening. I asked if someone was going to pick us up. The person on the other end didn’t have any idea.

Uh-oh. Not good.

Greg and I had a mini pow-wow: we had to hitch a ride to Browning, since we didn’t know anyone in the area, and Dave was en route with equipment and passengers. I stuck my thumb out on the highway and after a few minutes, a blond-haired woman in a mini-van pulled up and asked me if I was with the "permaculture group!" Yes, I said. Alright! Greg, who had been donning warmer clothing, and I clambered in with our gear, and our driver, Mary Clare Weather Wax, took us to her home, on a satellite community outside of the center of Browning. Off to the west, we could see the majestic snow-capped crowns of G.N.P.

We met Calvin Weatherwax, Mary Clare’s husband, who was laying down on the couch. He had just come off a four day fast, so he wasn’t too sociable at that moment. Understandable. When he woke up in the late afternoon, we met A.J. (Arthur) Weather Wax, the seventeen year old son. We dropped our stuff and caught up on some our lost slumber.

The Ceremonial Sing:
That evening, around six, we were invited to participate in a ceremonial "sing" at the Browning Community College. This ceremony was to honor one of the Blackfeet Elders, Buster Yellow Kidney, who had just passed away. Calvin added that nearly twenty Elders passed on throughout the month of May! That’s quite astounding!

The first order of business was to set up the area at one end of the lodge where bright colored cloths were draped over a wooden branch beam, which was held up by a tripod of branches and rope. (I was asked to tie the rope to the three branches.) A buffalo hide lay in front of the hanging fabric, and the ceremonial pipes were carefully unwrapped and displayed. While this preparation was occurring, men, women and children were greeting and laughing with each other. I sensed how easy these people joke with each other. Occasionally, a few people came up and shook our hands. (As an aside, I noticed that when a Blackfeet shakes your hand, it is a light, yet powerful hand movement lasting a couple of seconds and without the lingering embrace. I have shaken hands with people who’s grip is so light, that it almost feels "fishy." Others grip my hands as if they were exercise squeeze balls. Ouch! I find that when people attempt to crush my hands (and I have large, powerful ones), that there is a superficial show of strength, as if to cover up any embarrassing weakness within. I got the sense that the Blackfeet I shook hands with have an inner strength that isn’t openly flaunted.)

Women sat on one side of the room, while the men sat on the opposite side. The center of the room was set up for the feast, which was prepared by various families. To the left of the stage area, several men sat in a small "sing" circle, with the Elders sitting against the wall and facing the room.

Eventually, we started the ceremony with a bowl of service berry soup, a traditional Blackfeet delicacy. Before we ate the soup, we all took a service berry from the soup and held it in front of us. We prayed to the Spirit for guidance, for health, for our loved ones, for each other. One of the women came by with an empty bowl and we dropped the berry into it. Now, we ate the soup! Some of the women plated and served the rest of the food to everyone in the room. After the meal, the ceremonial pipes were lit with a special blend of herbs and tobacco and passed around for smoking. In Blackfeet tradition, there are pipes that only men use, as well as pipes for just the women. The tobacco is not inhaled; rather, the Blackfeet exhale the smoke into their hand, and then spread the smoke over the head and body. If you didn’t want to smoke, you could take the pipe and tap the stem on the right shoulder, then the left, and with the stem facing skyward, and resting on the forehead, a prayer may be uttered. The pipes are treated with extreme care and respect—pipe ceremonies are an important part of Blackfeet culture. Two of the Blackfeet constantly tended to the pipes: cleaning them, refilling with tobacco, and one other person was responsible for lighting them.

After awhile, some of the Blackfeet brought up colored cloths, like the ones hanging on the wooden bar, to be blessed by the tribe. I need to back up a bit here and give just a little history of the Sun Dance ceremony.

A Little History of the Sun Dance:

The Sun Dance is one of the most important ceremonies to the Blackfeet. Their religious life centers upon medicine bundles which were individually owned and originated from a supernatural experience. This is like a vision quest, where in days of old, the adolescent warrior went to a remote area and fasted until he had a vision. He would be given a war song or dance by a guardian spirit and be told of the magical amulets (such as feathers, birds’ beaks, or stones) that should be worn to give him power. Most failed and didn’t have a vision, in which case they would buy a bundle and its ritual. Individual bundles acquired much respect and gave its owner prestige, especially those associated with war such as headdresses and shields.

Elizabeth Atwood Lawrence, in "Animal Symbolism in Plains Indian Sun Dance," writes the following about the Sun Dance ceremony:

"Each year around the beginning of summer the separate wintering bands would gather to observe the Sun Dance. The buffalo, considered the very source of life and the major symbol of the Sun Dance, influenced the time a and locality of the ceremony, which were chosen by the proximity of the buffalo herds. The overall importance of the Sun Dance was the renewal of personal spirituality as well as the renewal of the living earth, a time when kinships within both social and natural realms were reaffirmed; and by doing so prosperity and social harmony would be extended for another year."

Lawrence continues:

"After moving the camp on four successive days, the medicine bundle of the ceremony, the Sun Dance lodge, was built on the fifth day. It was here the people gathered, though only a few men actually participated. They strove to obtain supernatural aid and enhance their personal power through sacrifice in order to become a more meaningful member of their society. The sacrifice required the participants to dance for three or four days while fasting and abstaining from drink. Skewers that pierced the skin and muscles of the men were used as part of the self torture and they performed such feats as hanging from the ceiling of the lodge by the skewers. This self-inflicted pain reflected their desire to return something of themselves to nature in exchange for past and future benefits."


"The Creation was expressed in the Sun Dance by the use of symbolic objects that represented the attributes of various animal kin. Animals were viewed as wise and powerful and served as intermediaries between humans and the supernatural forces. The eagle was chief of all creatures in the air and respected for his wisdom and wealth. The life sustaining buffalo was the central figure. Its’ tongue, considered the most sacred part, was consumed as a sacramental food during the ceremony and its’ skull was used to express the theme of rebirth as bone was presumed to be where the soul resided. The Sun Dance was an important part in reconciliation of killing the buffalo, which violates the kinship between animal and man. After the conclusion of the ceremony the lodge was abandoned and all animal objects left inside so they could return to the earth. This symbolized the renewal of the living and emphasized the necessity of human cooperation in order to bring about universal regeneration." [Lawrence, 1996]

By the way, in 1904, the U.S. government banned the Sun Dance because of the self torture and mutilation it involved. However, the practice still occurs, in a somewhat altered form.

Ok, back to the sing: Many Blackfeet came from out of town and a few of them sat in the circle with the Elders. They were dressing very sharply in cowboy outfits: jeans, button-down shirts, boots, colorful Indian vests and cowboy hats. (In the lodge, most people took off their 20th century footwear and exchanged them for traditional beaded moccasins during the sing.)

After everyone had eaten, and the blessings of the cloths had taken place, it was now time for the singing part of the evening. A few of the Blackfeet took a bundled up buffalo hide and rolled it, along with wooden sticks, toward the seated circle. The hide was unrolled and laid on the floor, skin-side up. Several people sat around the hide and with the sticks, started drumming on the hide. Each of the participants in the circle told their story and then sang four chants, in which the people in the circle beat the hide and chanted along. It was quite a moving experience! I have never heard such hauntingly beautiful singing before. This sing went on for hours, until 4:30 in the morning! I don’t know how Greg and I managed to stay awake and focused, especially since we didn’t sleep well for the two nights we were on the train. We were delighted, however, to be observers of this Blackfeet sing.