The Crown of The Continent

Location of the Blackfeet

2009-08-06T13:30:00.000-07:00

Location of the Blackfeet tribe in Northern Montana.

The Blackfoot Confederacy actually consists of 5 tribes: the Northern Piegan(Aapátohsipikáni), the Blackfeet or South Piegan (Aamsskáápipikani), the Kainai (Káínaa: "Blood"), and the Siksika ("Blackfoot") or more correctly Siksikáwa ("Blackfoot people"). The South Peigan are located in Montana, and the other three are located in Alberta. Together they call themselves the Niitsítapi (the "Original People"). These groups shared a common language, culture and intermarry. Most recently, the passport requirements to cross into Canada has caused issues with these people. With family across the white-man's border, it is silly to many Indians why they need to buy a passport just to walk on their own land. This land was never before divided by this fence.

A Darkened Crown

2009-07-14T17:08:00.000-07:00

Well although my internet is usually far from functional, today it is nonexistent. In fact electricity in all of Glacier County-sans vital units in the hospital- is nonexistent today. The town of Browning normally has high winds, and most structures in town are equipped to handle nature's expected forces. But today for some odd reason things went eerily black and quiet, as dark clouds passed over town.

Coincidentally, today investigators from CMS (Centers from Medicare and Medicaid) descended upon Browning as well. These health-care examiners basically determine if the hospital meets the standards, follows protocol and is functional enough to continue receiving funding from Medicare/Medicaid. If a hospital fails the inspection three times, funding ceases and the hospital closes. This hospital has failed twice, and today they arrived to assess a possible third strike. Lets hope the lights don't go out for good.

[Uploaded from my Verizon Wireless device]

North American Indian Days

2009-07-13T20:41:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Browning hosted one of the most popular Native American events of the summer: Indian Days. Its a 4-day jam-packed celebration in the community campground. It completely transforms the town. Thursday through Sunday- dances, competitions, rodeos, parades, and general fair activities take place.

Surprisingly the entire reservation prohibits the sale of alcohol during these days. This includes all non-native owned restaurants on the reservation as well. It was a great thing to see. Unfortunately as sales ceased 8am Thursday morning, by Thursday afternoon a couple of people already came into the hospital for alcohol withdrawal.

Indian days was such an incredible experience. The campgrounds are basically a huge overgrown field with some dirt paths, 360 days a year. However last Wednesday tipis began going up, and concession stands rolled in. The incredible thing is that many families have set up their tipis in the exact same spot for decades. Originally Indian Days was very historical and cultural, and according to some elders, it has become more commercialized and cheesy. Nevertheless, all dancers were in full costume. My Native friends explained the significance of the different dresses. The dresses made with the 365 hanging gold cones, made from Skoal tobacco containers, and representing the 365 days of the year, are from the Midwest tribes in Minnesota, Michigan, and the Great Lakes region. The feathered caps are Cree, and Blackfeet, and so on. It was great. The entire community was there. Even Indians from Canada, Arizona, and New Mexico drove up for the long weekend. The license plates confirmed!

A few other students and myself sat to watch the Grand Entry on Thursday night, where all the dancers (ages 2-92) enter and dance in a clockwise circle to the drummers and singers on the side. A couple of Sioux warrior dancers, I believe, danced counterclockwise. There was even special seating for the Councilmen and elders. The councilmen were dressed in buffalo-skin chief apparel, and stuck together when they danced. It was like a cute little senior citizen gang.

One of my friends who is in his late twenties, has been dancing since he was about two. He is half Cree, half Blackfeet, which is odd, since they are historically enemy tribes, but there's always plenty of jokes that surround that issue. He also sings with 6 of his friends, and we were able to see them perform.

Another new thing I learned about during Indian Days, were "give-aways". When a community member passes away during the year, the family has a honor dance in remembrance of the deceased, then literally walks around the stadium and gives gifts to people in the community. One of us students even got a set of towels as we were sitting there. This is a way the family shows thanks to the community, in honor of their loved one. This was a great example of the close-knit community of Browning. People joke around, that "everyone is related to everyone". And its completely true. One of the "give-aways" I witnessed, was for an elderly woman who must have had a 100 grandchildren, maybe 20 of them were biological, but people close to the family are considered family too. They even use terms like "auntie", "grandmother", etc, even without blood relation. No one is reluctant to claim responsibility for someone in need.

Fun Times with the Kids

2009-07-10T10:51:00.000-07:00

So although I spend my weekdays in the hospital helping with the Injury Prevention Program, I've been pursuing some other things in my spare time. On my days off, I volunteered at a Diabetes Youth Camp. Its basically a three-day day-camp for "high risk" children. These kids were identified in the schools as having a high risk for developing diabetes. Each day we would have class in the morning, covering new topics such as hypertension, sugar, diabetes, healthy hearts, exercise, etc. We would then take them out and exercise for the rest of the day. One day we played games at a park in the mountains. Another day we took them hiking, horseback riding, even whitewater rafting. It was so much fun to see these kids realize exercise could be a blast.

Its frustrating, however that there are few outlets for exercise in the town. Every home has a satellite dish and video gaming is becoming more popular all across America. One the day we went horseback riding, we basically went to someone's ranch. it was beautiful- out in the hills- a cross between the flat plains and the mountains. The schoolbus we rode in however, could not make it the 1.5 miles back to the house on the gravel road. So the kids had to walk it. they were dying by the time we got there. Every single one of them was complaining! But of course, after they saw the horses, they were having fun. We serve healthy turkey sandwich lunches, with apples, carrots, pretzels, and a diet soda or water. The kids love the lunches, but rarely eat that healthily at home.

In the afternoon-one of the older guys helping out, got on a mini-horse and chased the kids around the corral, like a rodeo. It was so cute. A great game of tag. The last kid left in the circle won a $1.

Unfortunately the adults didn't want to walk to 1.5 miles back to the bus at the end of the day. So instead they loaded all 27 kids into the back of this pick up truck. I wanted to say "Aren't we defeating the purpose of this camp?" Not to mention childrens' safety. But not wanting to sound rude, I stopped pressing after a couple of tries.

Grrrr Taxation!!!

2009-07-10T10:45:00.000-07:00

In the days of tea parties and tax uproars- hah!- I'm actually talking about 2009, not 1770. (Did you know people are having tea parties!!?? against the tax issues today!?, creative but crazy huh?) I think taxes are a nuisance indeed, as almost every American does. Pssht- why should I have to pay Uncle Sam when I really don't know what its going towards?. Ugh. sooooo annoying.

But as I've been living in a town that pays virtually no taxes I've come to realize... hmmm... Uncle Sam might just know what he's talking about. Taxes do work. How else do you fund things that are available to the entire community?

I appreciate having my commute snow-plowed on those blustery Michigan mornings. I appreciate the functional street lights and holiday wreathes that deck my town. I appreciate my great public school system and the financial aid my state colleges provide to those who can't otherwise afford higher education. I appreciate that I have an Animal Control Program, a Health Department, a county commissioner, a governor, state representatives, state parks, safe roads and reliable public safety officers.

Residents of Browning expect things to be provided to them without payment. As I noted in my first few blog entries, stray dogs have been a huge issue. Kids are frequently getting bitten, in fact two little boys have died in the last 10 years from dog bites. This is awful. However, no one here wants to fund this issue. Glacier County says: "You're on a reservation, you're not in our jurisdiction. You're a sovereign nation." True. The Mayor of Browning literally told us he doesn't want anything to do with the program. The tribe takes too many holidays to ever respond. And in reality they don't want to pay for it. I took a community survey and 99% of those surveyed(100 people) said that stray dogs are a safety concern in Browning and we NEED an Animal Control Program. But none of the officials want to fund it. They all expect someone else to pay for it. I want to say: "Where do you expect funding for community programs to come from, if you don't pay taxes? Does money fall from the sky here?". Things have to change.

Dangerous Cycles

2009-07-10T10:10:00.000-07:00

A few things to preface this entry:

Reservations are "Domestic Sovereign Nations" needing to only follow federal law. They are able to create their own laws/ordinances/government/judicial system, etc. Basically a different nation altogether.
The BIA (Bureau for Indian Affairs) funds all tribes-basically the overarching gov't for the Indians, but below the Feds.
All Indians receive free health care at any Indian Health Service (IHS) hospital/service station (ie: no copays, no charges for any service including dental, eye, general checkups, etc). Many Indians are dissatisfied with this healthcare- feeling they are receiving substandard care.
You can live in Browning for life on welfare/unemployment checks. The US government will never cut you off, since the area has such high unemployment rate.
80% of Browning is unemployed.
If you are an Indian and live on a reservation, you pay no taxes except for Federal Income taxes (that is- IF you have a job. Keep in mind 80% of the town is unemployed)
Although these Reservations are Sovereign Nations, they receive free health care from the US, pay no taxes: no state, county, township taxes: everything is funded by the US Government (in otherwords: taxpayers).

Summary:
-IHS: funded by US Gov
-BIA: funded by US Gov, and other "economic ventures"
-Unemployment: Guess who...

Now I'm sure the BIA gets money from somewhere, but from what I understand, it is funded by the United States. The Blackfeet tribe has only a few small casinos, they are primarily filled with Natives. And the one in Browning is barely staying open. At the Indian PowWow this week two booths were set up by oil companies looking to buy and explore Indian land. One booth said "$20 now! For any signee!".

I believe I am a compassionate person.
I believe unemployment assistance, welfare and medicare/medicaid are excellent programs that we are blessed to have in our country.
(PS: I wish Duke would allow multiple Marketplace swipes in one day so I could take the hungry homeless locals like Ed on 9th street to dinner.)
I agree 100% that what the "white men" did to the Indians was horribly wrong. I also agree that slavery was incredibly wrong. The Holocaust was wrong. Everyone agrees. These are no-brainers. Almost every country has despicably shameful pasts that they have moved beyond and recognized as an awful part of history that should never be repeated.

Our government and our neighbors- act as a safety net to help us back on our feet when we need it most. I think this is great. However- as I see people literally living off of these handouts and taking advantage of these things by living in low rent homes and spending unemployment checks on brand new cars and HD TVs I think it is absurd. They are abusing the trust of the American people. Yes, we kicked them off of their land years ago. It was wrong. Every person in the United States agrees. But not a single person in the United States today is to blame. It was years ago. It was awful. However, as the US has attempted to help Indian Nations, things just aren't working out. By letting them govern themselves, live in their own nation, yet still receive massive amounts of aid- all this "help" is actually hurting.

Today reservations have people living in poor conditions and from the words of Indians: "Living their lives off of handouts". There is no stigma attached to this way of living. Their grandparents and parents have lived this way, so it is simply expected that the "tribe" will provide for its people. This includes things like healthcare, housing, and even the smallest things like holding tanks, vitamins, and carseats. The problem is that the tribe is so mismanaged and has such little income- that the US Government ends up paying for most of it. Not to mention mailing out those unemployment and welfare assistance checks. This is a cycle- a way of living- that will simply never change until something drastic happens. The kids growing up today see how their parents live and have no incentive to make money to provide for their family or buy their own healthcare. I think if I grew up here, I wouldn't be able to escape it either. I don't blame the people that have been sucked in. Its too easy. In fact it takes extremely active parents to make their kids see a different way of life. I cannot imagine trying to escape this cycle.

The surprising thing is that the Blackfeet Nation has a number of extremely educated members. But they don't live on the reservation, and those that do come back to the town are not treated very well. Currently the town has students at Stanford, Dartmouth, even Duke. There is a great deal of intelligence in the Indian nation, but when you see your uncles, and grandfathers never working a day in their life, who do you have to look up to?

I don't know where I stand politically. But as I said, I think helping our citizens is great, but I am appalled at those that abuse the system. And its almost impossible to not live off the "system" here. We need to change our policies. Helping these people get on their feet has clearly not worked. I have not seen this abuse of the system in other areas of the country personally, but I have heard stories. I rarely will take people's word when they complain about the unmarried mothers living on welfare and having more kids, etc. But I have seen other examples of this here. And I can say, its awful. We need to help change this cycle. As people are unemployed there is very little to do, and thus they turn to drinking, smoking, drugs and even worse: eating. This leads to awful nutrition, obesity and high rates of diabetes. I know it sounds crazy, but the inactivity and poor nutrition leads to many chronic diseases which are unacceptably high on the reservation here: diabetes, obesity, alcoholism, narcotic addictions, the list goes on and on. The lack of jobs here spirals into so many more severe problems, and it is also putting a strain on the rest of the nation-and by "nation" I mean the entire continental United States.

The Histor(ies) of this Land

2009-07-08T23:26:00.000-07:00

Growing up in the very Dutch, very Christian Western Michigan, I noticed my public school tended to carefully tiptoe around touchy subjects like evolution and Native Americans. We learned the "cool Indian" things like how they lived in wigwams in Michigan, built canoes from trees and traded with the French. But we tended to skip over the more absurd events such as the massacres, mandatory "white schooling", and executive orders uprooting entire native communities from their homelands. In fact, I remember in my 8th grade history class learning about the brilliant Thomas Jefferson and the divine "Manifest Destiny" Ideals that changed the country. I remember thinking "I would have loved to live in that time- explore an uncharted, uninhabited land out West, pick out any plot I pleased and settle down." I remember thinking "Wow. Lewis and Clark were so brave, such adventurous and courageous pioneers that helped promote the expansion of our beautiful country and our quest for freedom." However now, as I am living among the original settlers and explorers of our land, as I am seeing the dwindling families and cultures that were rudely pushed aside as the excited white men came rushing through, I realize manifest destiny was the most absurdly ignorant and blindly misunderstood robbery in history. We trampled lives, cultures and blatantly went against the precise things we were promoting: freedom, liberty, and opportunity.

Native Americans were indeed the original settlers of the land that is North America. Europeans sailed west, explored, and somehow came up with the idea that due to the color of the Native American's skin- they were merely weeds that needed to be plucked and discarded so that proper and civilized life could be planted and sowed. The Native inhabitants were accustomed to battles and feuds with nearby tribes. The Blackfeet here on the reservation for example, warred with the Flatheads to the west and the Cree to the south. Jokes still fly around the reservation, but surprisingly no matter whom you speak with, it is clear the Blackfeet were the strongest and most powerful of the plains warriors. Yet once they heard that their enemies(the Cree and Flatheads) had already joined with the white men, trading for guns, etc. The Blackfeet had no choice but to see the white men as a threat. And so it began.

As I've spent almost two months in Browning, where the majority of people are Indian, I've been attempting to describe the sentiment that surrounds my presence. Every once in a while, when the conversation drifts back to the history of the Blackfeet or cultural heritage of their tribe, an interesting pause appears. Its almost a pause to recognize- "You. You and your people came and told us to move. it wasn't enough that you killed many of our men. That can be accepted, since war was frequent between Indian tribes anyhow. No, it is that you came and brought your new ways and changed our ways forever. We can never recover from the harm you brought."

A Success!

2009-06-27T10:02:00.000-07:00

This past two weeks I've had the chance to do a number of fun and rewarding activities. Throughout my time in the hospital I've been working primarily with the "Injury Prevention" Program. Which consists of a single federal employee, Brian, attempting to improve the community. He is also responsible for any environmental health issue the community members may have, sanitation in the hospital, safety issues in the hospital, fire-preparedness in the hospital, and a number of other things. Needless to say, his duties are endless and funds are limited.

Brian and I have been working over the past month on creating community projects in promotion of "Injury Prevention". After stumbling a number of times looking for funding- then attempting to access the funding-which was tangled in a crazy knotted web of government bureaucratic hoops and chains- we were finally were able to get rolling! THis past week we had our "Fire Safety/Injury Prevention Fair" on government square (a small central grassy area in town). We invited a number of other community organizations and hospital departments. It soon turned into a general "health fair", but hey- the more the merrier!

I made a large board with the issues we've been working on: ATV safety and dog bites. We also handed out Life-Meters, a small stick-on thermometer to put on the inside of your car window. It indicates how hot the interior of the car is getting, so you can be aware of how dangerous the inside temperatures are. Hopefully this can help prevent parents from leaving infants, children, even animals inside the car.

I also handed out surveys asking for community input on the Animal Control Program I'm hoping to get initiated. I'm not trying to head up this project- just get tribal members interested. They all agree that an Animal Control Officer is necessary, but they just need someone to get going with the project. At least 1 or 2 kids come into the ER each week from dog attacks, and its only a town of 2,800 people!! The Blackfeet reservation has the highest number of dog bite attacks of any of the Montana Reservations. Its becoming a serious health issue, but no one is addressing it.

At the fair we invited the Optometry department to present fireworks-safety information, with the holidays coming up, eye injuries from fireworks is also a huge problem.

I'll just list some other people that came to the fair- to save you some boring reading time :)

Hotshots- the forest-firefighter team
Fire Department
Police
Public Safety Department
Healthy Hearts: the Tribal-run healthy lifestyle program
Infection Control from the hospital presenting with MRSA info
Smokey the Bear
Buckle the Bear-promoting seatbelts
Maintenance workers from the hospital had a cookout for everyone
SIDNE:a go-kart that simulates drunk-driving
Brian and I also had a bike-rodeo that required kids to bring their bikes, drive through an obstacle course- and upon completion receive a free helmet!

The Injury Prevention Fair turned out great. There were tons of people- I really think everyone from town came. We even had a tug of war between the hospital employees and the tribal employees. I was so glad that our hard work and preparation paid off. I now just hope that some of the information was valuable to the community. I think the bike helmets especially will be great for the kids. I've already seen a few wearing their helmets just around town-biking or not!! It'd be great if bike helmets turned into a fashion-statement! :)

Support from the Press

2009-06-16T18:23:00.000-07:00

After receiving an email from my uncle this week, I was both surprised and devastated to read the following article by the Associated Press. Promises, Promises: Indian Healthcare needs unmet

Over the past four weeks I've spoken with doctors, nurses, patients, volunteers, employees, residents and non-residents, natives and non-natives. I've heard a number of things, but I'm often reluctant to post opinons and facts from hear-say alone. But this article- which I assume was written with research and appropriate journalism tactics-outline exactly what I've been hearing repeatedly these last few weeks. Indian Health care is a tangled, circuitous web of obligation held up with minimal support from federal funding.

I was even surprised to find this article using the same statistics I had found in my DukeEngage project proposal. Unfortunately, this journalist found even more disturbing numbers and issues. Some that I wish were not true. Some that I wish I didn't see outside my window each day, or in the halls of the hospital, or even the realities behind the doors of the doctors' offices.

A couple of excerpts from this article can convey the message of the state of Indian healthcare, but it cannot convey the emotion. Only until you are a part of this community can you fully understand the tragedies that have swept across this town due to misappropriations and an system that prevents escape.

The U.S. has an obligation, based on a 1787 agreement between tribes and the government, to provide American Indians with free health care on reservations. But that promise has not been kept. About one-third more is spent per capita on health care for felons in federal prison, according to 2005 data from the health service.

After Haiti, men on the impoverished Pine Ridge and Rosebud Reservations in South Dakota have the lowest life expectancy in the Western Hemisphere.

American Indians have an infant death rate that is 40 percent higher than the rate for whites. They are twice as likely to die from diabetes, 60 percent more likely to have a stroke.

Getting Acquainted

2009-05-29T14:04:00.000-07:00

So I've been in and around town now- it seems like for weeks, but I glanced at a calendar today and realized its only been 1 week! I feel like I've met so many people and been all over the place! I've been working with the Injury Prevention Coordinator the past couple of days learning about local issues with injury/trauma in the area.

However as I've learned time and time again- there is a shortage of funding in many IHS facilities. So the Injury Prevention Coordinator is also the Fire Marshal, Sanitarian, Safety Officer, and Environmental Health Officer for this hospital. He is responsible for HazMat education, sanitary issues, mold problems in the community, Injury/trauma prevention, the list goes on and on.

We've been brainstorming and these first couple of days I've been primarily learning about the way government hospitals work. There is so much red-tape and hoops to jump through, often the initial project is never completed or there is no funding to enforce or sustain it. For example alcohol projects are almost completely abandoned at this hospital. No matter how much effort is put into doing teen drinking campaigns, alcohol education, etc, when it comes down to it- there is simply to funding to keep these projects going. Or-even worse, there is no enforcement whatsoever.

After speaking to a couple of people in the community I've heard multiple people say that if you know one of the Tribal Board Members (governing body of the Blackfeet) your case can easily be thrown out. This leads to few charges and with no follow through or consequences for breaking the law- it simply continues to happen. The statistics for disorderly conduct are staggering. Hundreds per month. And some people have said that very few of these are actually charged. (Again- this is word of mouth- I don't have the statistics on the number of cases dismissed without action.)

Seatbelts are not a primary offense in the state of Montana, so you cannot be stopped for not wearing your belt. The law to change it to "primary" was brought up again this February but died in the Senate and was not passed. From observations- only about 11% of persons driving through Browning were wearing seatbelts- (they may or may not be Reservation residents). Browning, a town of about 2800, had a motor vehicle accident, on average, every other day last year. Every other day. Now factor that into the low compliance with seatbelt safety and you have a recipe for disaster.

I'm also meeting with doctors and learning more about their perspective. They talk with and see patients more than the Community Health personnel, and may know more of the whole story. As I was having conversations with different people around the hospital two topics frequently came up in regards to injury prevention: trampolines and ATVs.

Many yards have the large trampolines in the back yard, but safety nets are rarely seen. We're thinking about doing community education for the nets, and maybe finding grants for these.

Another issue is the ATV safety. As a rural community often sees: All-Terrain-Vehicles are an integral part of life. Unfortunately small kids pile on these and ride around town without helmets. Basically disregarding all safety warnings on them: "One passenger only", "Always wear a helmet", and "Made for those over 12". The ER sees about 1-2 visits per week due to these. So we're hoping to have an Injury Prevention Fair in June and have some educational videos or even better- find funding for helmets.

My first week has been great. For the most part those in the hospital are welcoming to me and glad to learn more about the project. I am enjoying myself, but want to be sure I'm putting in enough time. Often I feel like my community partner has so many other things to do rather than chat with me. And I don't want to come in acting like I have all these great solutions for a community I just arrived to. I'm kind of feeling things out and learning more and more about how an Indian Health Services hospital works.

This weekend I'll be continuing researching ATV helmets and possible community ed opportunities for this. I'll also hopefully be taking my first overnight camping trip in the park! After a full week- that is what most of the docs talk about on a Friday- is getting out into the nice weather during the weekend.

I wish my photos could better convey the incredible contrast between Browning and Glacier National Park. They're only a few miles apart, but so incredibly different. I'll be doing a post next week on the history of the Blackfeet and the Park. Its astonishing. Stay tuned. And wish me luck on coming out of the Park alive this weekend! I've already seen my first grizzly and a couple of black bears!

Yes, its really this beautiful.

2009-05-29T13:31:00.000-07:00

From much advice of my contacts at the hospital, they told me to go explore the park last weekend, before we got into the real swing of things. So another student and myself set off for Glacier National Park, but not without some advice from the locals first:

Never hike alone.
Leave the keys in the car, so when one of you gets eaten by a bear, the other one doesn't have to worry about searching for the keys amongst the carcass.
Always bring bearspray, which is basically industrial strength mace with triple strength capsacin that burns skin on contact.
A bear can run 100 yards in 4.5 seconds so if a bear decides to come after you, you probably won't be able to get to your bear spray in time anyways.
Write your name on your boots so if you are eaten by a bear its easier to identify you.

These were all true statements made by people we'd chatted with last week including some more that were a bit more crude and not suitable for children or public posts on this blog.

Not really so cute...

2009-05-24T19:25:00.000-07:00

Dogs.
Roaming on the streets of Browning.

At first I thought the warnings before I arrived were a bit exaggerated. But when I arrived at my apartment I noticed stray dogs all over. And they are large dogs, much unlike the skinny malnourished strays of many cities. And apparently they can be a bit troublesome.
Bicycling throughout the town is surprisingly dangerous endeavor. Each week approximately 1 bicycle rider comes in with serious injuries from dog attacks. Sometimes found in pairs or packs, in fact there are two outside my apartment right now. And they do have a fancy for attacking bikers. In any case, cars are the best and safest option here.
Today, under the advice of others, I went to a large fenced in field with a paved track that winds randomly around. Its bordered by a 6 foot chain link fence with barbed wire most of the way around. Its scattered with lots of trash and beer cans, but also unkept grass and flowers. As I made my first 100 yards I noticed a dog sprinting straight towards me!! I immediately stopped running and walked with a strong step, pretending not to be playing with the approaching canine. He swerved past me and kept running towards another unsuspecting jogger. Jogging defensively is something I really never imagined I'd have to do!

Planes, Trains and Automobiles.

2009-05-23T22:53:00.000-07:00

My Journey to Browning.

Browning, MT is not an easily accessible town. With a population of 1,000 its no surprise there are only 2 gas stations and 1 grocery store, but transportation is an entirely different issue. During the months of May-October even the Amtrak doesn't stop here, nor do any buses or taxis.

So, after flying into Kalispell, MT I took a shuttle to my hotel in a different town: Whitefish, where the Amtrak station is. The following morning I arranged a ride to the Whitefish train-depot, which was adorably old-fashioned-old west style train station. I then had a beautiful early morning train-ride skirting the southern border of Glacier National Park. Just after the park boundaries, the terrain starkly shifts from big beautiful mountains to a brownish, yellow grassland. Along the way we passed Browning, a small, but sprawiling town consisting primarily of junk-yards, trailers, and old cars. A couple of newer buildings are visible- a new casino and school.

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Glacier Park Area --> Plains

I arrived in Cut Bank, MT where I had arranged to rent a car. Cut Bank isn't much different than Browning, but the people I spoke with in Cut Bank had a look of disgust every time I mentioned Browning. I drove to Browning and spent the rest of the day around the hospital and getting moved into my apartment. My internet only works in a small corner of my apartment, so access is limited! The following day after orientation in the hospital I drove 38 miles to the nearest acceptable grocery store. The grocery store in town is extremely expensive and on my extremely small stipend- $4 for a bag of frozen veggies is just not going to work. Most Browning residents that I noticed in the local store were only buying a couple of items, not a whole cartful.

Despite most Montanans opinion of Browning, I actually think it has a great deal to say and a great deal to teach me.

Post-Academy, Pre-Departure, and Plenty of Challenging Choices

2009-05-08T15:00:00.000-07:00

So I've just finished with Duke Engage Academy- a 3-day workshop to prepare us for our summer of service with Duke Engage. It was a bit different for me, being a Domestic-Individual project. Many group things did not apply to me, nor the intense language barrier issues, deadly mosquitoes or water sanitation concerns that many of my friends on their way to Ghana, South Africa and Belize really needed to hear about. All in all, I applaud the DE office for their commitment to success, as I know they want all of us to have a safe and rewarding experience this summer.

Nevertheless, I think I came out of the academy with more stress than when I went in. I have approximately $475 to spend on transportation for about 60 days. Based on public transportation, this is a reasonable amount, but in Browning, MT public transportation is not an option. In fact, it doesn't exist. A rental car is about $1700. The nearest airports are 90 and 150 miles away, and there are no bus systems, taxis, shuttles, nothing. I've spoken with a number of people in the community, and it's clear that I'll need a car. In fact, the primary reason I'll need a car is safety. I worried I'll be going into a community with compromised safety precautions, and more importantly against the warnings of my community partner. DE has made it clear I'll need to be creative with how I spend the funds, but it made my heart sink when another DE student said he "definitely received too much money", at which point the employees said "well you can just keep the extra". Ahhh and here I am about $1000 short! I don't even want the extra cash, I just enough to barely live on.

And here is where my thinking has changed, I began to think about Duke Engage and their motto: Challenge yourself, Change your world. And that is exactly what they were asking me to do. Challenge myself.

Now granted, I've been in challenging situations before. I've been without resources. I've been stranded in the middle of Central America with no cash or mode of communication, and lived on nothing but a half-package of saltines and three bananas for a week. I've hitched rides in the back of a truck at 1am in the middle of the African countryside. I know what its like to live on very little and figure out how to make do. And I think that's what DE is asking me to do. So as I was walking back to my dorm room- ruminating over what in the world I was going to do and how I was going to find an extra $1000 dollars to rent a car, I realized "Whitney, calm down. You've been in way more difficult situations, and you've survived. So look at it as an adventure and get on with it".