On the road at Niobrara with the Presiding Bishop
Episcopal News Service. June 27, 2008 [062708-01]
Neva Rae Fox, Program Officer for Public Affairs
Presiding Bishop Katharine Jefferts Schori has a new name: "Looks For The Needy."
In one of the highest Native American honors that can be bestowed upon a person, Jefferts Schori was given a Lakota name, Ni-ce Olewin, which means, "Looks for the Needy."
This honor was presented on the first day of the 2008 Niobrara Convocation in the Diocese of South Dakota June 19. The Niobrara Convocation is the annual gathering of the Episcopalians living on the Indian Reservations in the diocese.
On behalf of the Niobrara Episcopal Church Women (ECW), Christina Dunham announced the honor and presented Jefferts Schori with a handcrafted quilt and jewelry made by the time-honored method of porcupine quill.
Visibly moved, the Presiding Bishop bowed and said humbly, "I am abundantly honored." Then, as tradition calls, all those assembled in the large tent greeted and shook hands with Looks For The Needy.
The 136th Niobrara Convocation, this year at the Cheyenne River Mission located on the Cheyenne River Reservation, carried the theme Renew Reflect Rejoice, three characteristics evident throughout the four days. Niobrara has been the gathering event of the peoples of the reservations since 1870, stopping only twice, once during the Depression and the other during World War II.
The Presiding Bishop's visit to the Diocese of South Dakota kicked off June 19 in the state capitol of Pierre, a sprawling city on the Missouri River.
Bishop Creighton Robertson of South Dakota described the diocese as a community of 89 churches: "18 parishes and the rest are missions on reservations." Robertson named the nine reservations which would be gathering at Niobrara: Cheyenne River; Crow Creek; Lower Brule; Pine Ridge; Rosebud; Santee; Sisseton; Standing Rock; and Yankton.
The diocese, Robertson continued, is multi-cultural: in addition to the Native and Anglo congregations, the diocese maintains a Sudanese congregation and outreach to the Asian American population. Also, the diocese has forged a long-standing companion diocese relationship with the Diocese of East Tennessee, whose bishop, the Rt. Rev. Charles G. vonRosenberg, led his diocesan representatives to participate at the Niobrara Convocation.
The first stop on the South Dakota trek was Trinity Church, located in a residential section of the capitol. Built in 1969 and thanks to its central location in the state, Trinity is often the site of diocesan events.
Boasting many ministries, Trinity joins its ecumenical neighbors in sponsoring mid-week youth activities and Christian education, rather than the usual Sunday services and events. This unique arrangement is the result of cooperation with community officials, the schools and all the churches working together, explained the Rev. John Tarrant, Trinity rector.
"Wednesday night is children's night in Pierre," he said, "The schools don't have programs."
Traveling to Niobrara
The Rev. Marion Richtenwald, the first female priest on a reservation known to all as Mother Marion, served as one of the guides along with Denelle High Elk, of St. Peter's, Thunder Butte.
Traveling more than 50 miles west and then northwest from Pierre to the Cheyenne River Mission Reservation on the Native American Scenic Byway, the many changes during the two-hour drive included time and terrain. Wristwatches needed to be readjusted from Central to Mountain Time. The terrain along the way transformed from rolling landscapes with bright green grass to gentle mountains, and then flatlands. Horses, cattle and deer dotted the landscape, but there was a marked absence of buildings, homes or businesses, allowing for the expanse of the north Great Plains.
Cheyenne River Mission is 2.8 million acres, the largest reservation in the U.S. A little more than 1 million acres are tribal owned, High Elk said, with the remainder privately owned by non-tribal members.
High Elk spoke about life on the reservation, where most staples must be trucked in. A car is required to travel around the reservation between communities to visit family, attend church or shop at stores. "Transportation," High Elk pointed out, "is the major challenge that we have."
Three of the poorest counties in the U.S. are located on the reservations in the Diocese of South Dakota, and they face many environmental issues, she said, ranging from a long-term drought to the current over-abundant damage-causing recent rains.
High Elk noted the recent rains that devastated much of the Midwest. "Even with all rain received, we're not near where we are supposed to be," adding, however, "This is the first time we've had grass in three years."
The first stop on the Cheyenne River Reservation was Cherry Creek, the third largest community on the reservation and one of the oldest in the state. Among the small cluster of buildings is St. Andrew's Episcopal Church, one of Richtenwald's churches. Her ministry is wide-ranging, serving 10 congregations stretching over 100 miles, requiring travel mostly on gravel roads.
Crossing the Cheyenne River, Cherry Creek and the surrounding area showed evidence of the storm damage -- roads that had been washed out and closed, water lines on the sides of the small houses, sandbags lining the streets.
Next on the gravel road to Niobrara was Dupree, home of St. Philip's, which sponsors a community garden to help combat the hunger issues in this small community.
Arrival at Niobrara
Traveling took the group from Pierre to Eagle Butte, home to this year's convocation. On Thursday, June 19, people began to gather, setting up campers, bunking in community centers or with friends. As the weekend progressed and more arrived, tents popped up on the Wacipi Grounds.
In addition to the hundreds who were registered for this year's Niobrara, guests traveled from 11 dioceses, including youth groups from far-away dioceses such as Upper South Carolina, North Carolina and Minnesota who volunteered as helpers in the food hall.
Hallmarks of the convocation were sharing and much story-telling, which, unfortunately, tended to center on sorrow and loss. Overarching the people's verbal expressions were proclamations of the love of God and the ministry of the Episcopal Church which helps guide through tough times.
Mostly throughout the weekend, there was laughter and joy, sharing and caring, conversations and greetings, love of God and love of neighbor.
The hub of the convocation action was a large tent, offering shade and respite from the hot sun. A wooden cross carved with the words faith hope unity dominated the center of the tent, with a backdrop -- behind the altar and the head table -- of colorful hand-crafted quilts specially made for honoring, gifting and auctioning.
The tent was the site for the business meetings and worship services -- morning Eucharist, noonday pause and sunset prayers. The worship services were a beautiful blending of cultures -- prayers in English, hymns in Dakota, the Lord's Prayer in native language. Each noon, the youth acted out the day's gospel, interpreted with love and laughter.
"This is a beautiful part of the world," the Presiding Bishop said in her greetings. "I greatly appreciate the conversations we are having."
Friday, June 20
"It's where I pray with all my relatives," the Rev. Paul Sneve of St. Matthew's, Rapid City, described the Niobrara Convocation.
Friday, June 20 included a series of events, each focused on community and tradition. Itancan Vernon Cloud ran the business meeting, punctuated with laughter and humor.
Dana Dupris talked about the Native American storytelling tradition. "It takes a little bit of perseverance to learn where you are from," he explained, remembering as a child listening to his elders tell stories. "Each story is connected to the next."
Dupris named the seven principles of Native American tradition which guide "how you walk on this earth from the time you know how to walk": compassion for others; humility; to honor thyself and others; generosity; honesty; remembrance; and wisdom.
Friday evening was highlighted by the community honoring their catechists and lay readers in the traditional Indian manner of draping honorees with the beautiful hand-crafted quilts.
The Presiding Bishop was robed with a quilt and presented with a Niobrara cross and the book by a local author, "Completing the Circle," which recounts history through the eyes of Indian women. "I am looking forward to learning more about the sometimes less-told tales," Jefferts Schori said. "I am deeply, abundantly honored."
Saturday, June 21
The heat of the day couldn't deter the enthusiasm, interest and love of the people. With kids running around in the sunlight while adults gathered under the tent, Saturday's Ingathering called for each congregation, grouped by reservation, to make a personal presentation. Business conversation also included gas and propane prices, which have adversely affected life on the reservation.
Questions and Answers
In a one-hour question-and-answer session, Jefferts Schori fielded questions on topics which ran the gamut of interests: ecumenical work, understaffing in ministry areas, the Farm Bill, marriage, divorce, same-gender blessings, theological education, the current Episcopal Church advertising campaign, seminaries, baptism, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and the recent Summit on Domestic Poverty.
"The MDGs are about developing nations overseas and that's one of the challenges," she said of the Poverty Summit. "They don't address issues in the United States.
"I know this is a place of pain and suffering. I know there is a long history of abusive behavior by government, by invaders, even by the church. I know the Canadian government offered an apology to residential schools, an apology our own government has not yet made."
Sunday service
Wearing the stole and cross that she had received the previous evening, Jefferts Schori said in her Sunday sermon: "The church made mistakes, and the church in Canada said it was sorry for those mistakes. I hope our church here does the same."
With hymns sung in Dakota, prayers in English, and the Gospel in both languages, the Niobrara Convocation culminated with a rich and colorful worship service.
"We are Jesus' favorite," Jefferts Schori preached. "Every single one of us. Our job is to remind the world that they too are God's favorites -- each and every single person on this planet."
The Presiding Bishop reflected upon her stay at the reservation.
"I have been struck by a couple of things during my time here," she said. "The great tradition of giveaway -- it's a sacramental way that when we lose our life for God we find it again. No one can kill the soul in this place as long as you know that."
She added, "And your deep rooted sense of humor," which evoked bales of laughter.
Jefferts Schori concluded: "No one can kill the soul as long as you can find new life in the midst of what the world brings. I give thanks for you for your witness and I am utterly confident that God is in your midst and life abundant is present in this place, and you are witnesses to that. May God continue to fill you with the confidence that he's always doing a new thing in your midst."
The service, and the visit, concluded with the Niobrara Circle of Life, "where there is no beginning and no ending," Itancan Cloud said. The hundreds of attendees formed a huge circle outside the tent, each greeting one another in love and fellowship, and providing another chance for Looks For The Needy to meet the people.