Ropes Course

On the last day of the Fellowship retreat, we got really adventurous and did a Ropes Course. It was another gloriously sunny day and it felt good just to be outside for several hours.

Tina, April, Crystal and Josh




Here I am getting ready to climb a 25 foot pole and walk across a balance beam. Thank goodness for the harness!

Climbing
Walking across
Almost finished!
Coming down
Unfortunately, I did not realize that our time was limited and I should have been more assertive in taking my turn on the different stations. I had only done one and was in line for this one when we were told our time was up! I really wanted to climb this pole and jump to the trapeze! Maybe next time.

Learning mixed with fun

In a circle at the Shiprock Chapter House

Community planning workshop in Cove

Flowers
More workshopping

Yes, we worked hard!

I think this is lavender

Each team had to do an opening or closing, which could be serious or fun. One group had us participate in a stick horse rodeo. Hilarious!

The Shiprock Chapter House of the Navajo Nation

Char and Donna with our friend Timmy

Josh from Anchorage working on a timeline for one of our projects.

Visiting Local Communities

Most of the 2010 Fellows at the famous Shiprock

The Shiprock and wall
Our Unalaska Team, Char, Jane and Donna

Flags
Yummy lunch at one of our community stops

Making fry bread
Working the water station at "Just Move It" 4 mile run/walk

Just Move It!

A traditional male hogan

Marge Bluehorse-Anderson is one of our faculty and staff for the HNCF. We were able to meet her parents--her dad is a Traditional Healer and both are long time community leaders. We were fortunate to be educated and blessed by Mr. Bluehorse while meeting in a traditional hogan.

This is sheep country
Roy, one of our Fellows, in his home town, where he shared a great deal of knowledge with us.

Some of the wool and weavings that come from Teec Nos Pos, one community we visited.

The rest of the week was jam-packed with activities and training. We spent several days on the Navajo Nation, visiting various little communities and interacting with the people there. This was by far my favorite part of the training. Although I realize that the classroom-type learning is important, I am much more of a people-person and enjoy meeting and talking with lots of folks. We were fortunate to meet some community activists, elders and a Traditional Healer, ate with people in several communities, and helped with a "Just Move It" 4 mile walk/run. It was great to see everyone from elders to babies in strollers walking, running, and hanging out with one another. I worked at a water station so had the chance to chat with lots of participants. Afterwards, I walked back to our bus so managed to get in a little bit of exercise myself.

On the down side, I really wanted to learn more about the history, culture, and issues surrounding the Navajo Nation rather than spending so much time in workshops. One of my co-participants recommended some books to me so I will be following up with some reading on my own.

As a white person, I still feel a little out of place with the other participants. There are a few other white people in the Fellowship, but the majority of teams are made up of Native Americans or Alaska Native individuals who have such distinctly different historical and cultural experiences than we do. And there's just no way that we can fully understand that experience. Many of them come from reservation communities, with all of the historical trauma associated with that situation. Many are struggling to preserve their culture and their language--I have been highly impressed with the young people who are reviving their languages and their traditions. We were in group discussions one day and I said I had to admit that I am a little envious that I don't have the strong cultural background that many of them do, that I cannot list my clans on both sides of my family for generations back, that I don't really have any long held traditions or cultural identity. And then I wonder if that is insensitive to say as a person from the majority culture who has had very few problems in life--maybe they are thinking "yes, we are proud of our culture and traditions, but give me a break, white girl--do you really want all the other crap that we've had to deal with??!"

River Rafting: Two Thumbs Up

Getting ready to go
Jane and Char

On the first day of the Fellowship, we got up early and drove to the San Juan river where we set out on a rafting trip. Donna, Char and I were teamed with Bev and DJ of the San Carlos Revolutionaries from Arizona, and our guide, Drake, who happens to be the son of Shelly, one of the HNCF faculty. Right off the bat, we were all very impressed with the young people who were our guides on the river. They were well trained, experienced (even though still teens or early 20's) and lots of fun. Bev and DJ are probably two of the smartest people I've ever met and are already amazing leaders in the Native American community. Now this was not just a "fun" river rafting trip, but one designed to enhance our teamwork and problem solving skills. I happened to be sitting in the "captain's" seat as we pulled away so Drake patiently taught me some commands and skills for maneuvering the raft. As the day went on, we all took turns in various positions on the raft, learned to paddle together, to steer and change course, to avoid problem areas and so on. We also stopped a couple of times with all of the other teams and participated in various survival activities. At one point, I was in the position of "adjubell," (okay, I cannot find this word anywhere and have no idea how to spell it) the person who jumps out of the raft as it approaches shore, holding the rope and pulling the raft the rest of the way out of the water. So I was perched on the side of the raft, saying "tell me when to jump," when Bev yelled, "Go for it!" I jumped out of the raft and promptly slipped on the rocks, falling into the water. I had jumped too soon and we were still too far out. I came up, still holding the rope, and tried to pull the raft in, falling again and banging up my knees on the rocks. Up one more time, and into the water AGAIN when one of the other instructors ran over and helped me! We were all laughing so hard by then. In fact, we did not get through the rest of the week without recapping the whole event and dissolving into very loud gales of laughter over and over again. I don't know how many people came up to us at various meetings and asked what was so darned funny.

Drake taught us a game called "The Green Glass Door" which we played incessantly on the raft. There are only certain items that can be seen through the green glass door. For example, you can see the trees, but you can't see the leaves. You can see the paddle, but you can't see the raft. You can see the moon, but you can't see the stars. Get it?? I am not bragging (haha) but I was the first one to figure it out, with DJ right behind me. So he and I joined in with Drake and were driving Donna, Char and Bev crazy. Donna told us she was SO sick of it and didn't want to hear any more. So then I said, "you can see the pooper, but you can't see the party." That did not help. Later, Bev claimed that Donna PUSHED me out of the raft because she was so annoyed about the Green Glass Door.

I don't have photos of the actual trip since I did not want my camera to get wet. I know some others took pix so I will see if I can grab any from them later. It was a fabulous day--I loved being out in the sunshine and warm breezes, enjoying the water and the scenery. We had a great time and were sorry when the trip ended. Next time I am the adjubell, I will know better when to jump!

PS If anyone can help me with that word, please do. I have tried every possible spelling I could think of!

Jane enjoys the dorm life and does not burst into flames

Beautiful flowers near the Navajo Prep School campus

Our dorm
Our room

Hi, blog followers! Sorry for the big delay in posting. It's been a little bit hectic for the past couple of weeks.

Our new house is still quite a mess but I had to leave town on June 17 for the Healthy Native Communities Fellowship retreat in Shiprock, NM. Well, actually, the HNCF headquarters is in Shiprock, but we stayed in Farmington. Not to diss New Mexico, but I had terrible cell phone service and intermittent internet service while there, which is part of my excuse for not posting. The rest of my excuse is that they ran us ragged, day and night!

We left Unalaska and spent the first night in Anchorage with an early flight the next day to Portland, then Denver, then Durango, then got picked up in Durango and driven to Farmington. "Tired" is not a strong enough word! We stayed at the Navajo Prep School and got to have the dorm experience. Donna, Char and I were all assigned to the same room and the bathrooms/showers were down the hall. There was little to no air conditioning and the cafeteria food left a lot to be desired. But we were told that it is good to be humbled once in awhile and we should remember how many people endure these kinds of hardships and worse every day. Personally, I did not mind being uncomfortable all that much, remembering my fun times at the Peace Farm or washing dishes under a cold faucet coming out of the ground in Chiapas with Pastors for Peace. It's true, though, that I do enjoy my modern conveniences and a private bathroom and don't often willingly give them up. :) The opinions ran the gamut from "no biggie" to "I've worked hard for what I have and I don't need to be humbled." The lucky ducks who rented cars were seen leaving campus for most meals and running around town at night. We looked into renting but after seeing that it would be almost $500 for the rest of the week, decided we were not all that desperate for a vehicle.

My ethics and honor were tested when it was discovered that the only thing right nearby was a WalMart. Everyone was walking over to buy drinks and snacks and fans for their rooms. Donna offered to buy me some bottled tea and I was sorely tempted but decided that my boycott was meaningless if I gave in. After being informed that there was a Subway inside the WalMart, though, I relented and walked through the store to get to Subway to buy a sandwich and a big iced tea. Donna said she wished she'd had a photo of me strolling in the door. I rationalized that Subway is independent even though it is situated within the store. I know I am probably fooling myself but I couldn't help it. :)