When we talk about possible personal growth projects, I wasn’t sure where to begin.  My personal growth experience started almost ten years ago while I was practicing teaching at WalthillPublic School, on the Omaha Reservation.  I immediately fell in love with the kids and started reading everything I could on the tribe.  Nine years ago I became an official employee of the school, entrusted with the educational development of fifth and sixth grade students.  My first year, at Walthill, I found myself sitting on the school’s multicultural committee with many tribal elders and community members.  I also took in two Omaha children for nine months.  I went to every function and took advantage of every opportunity that I could to learn more about the Omaha people.

By my fourth year I knew I wanted change in our school.  I challenged myself to bring in speakers, taught some Omaha history, and even dabbled in art.  I eventually rewrote my 5^th grade social studies curriculum to be more culturally sensitive and persistently add and revise every year.   I became a Mentor for the UNL Career Ladder Program and continue to help Native American students working towards teaching degrees.  I learned the most from a man named Mike Wolfe.  Mike taught me how to quiet down and listen.  He taught me patience and how to incorporate culture into all curriculum areas.  He also told me that I should find myself a good Indian man and I, of course, just laughed.

 I’d like to say that I eventually took his advice, but I really met Tony by accident.  Tony is a Yankton Sioux Tribal member.  I soon found myself being pushed out of my comfort zone at work and at home.  Now that we know each other, our different cultural backgrounds rarely affect our daily lives, but that first year we both had to learn a lot.

The occasion that started this particular personal growth experience happened during our second year together.  That summer I went to the Winnebago Pow Wow with Tony and his little niece, Tatyana.  Taty and I watched the dancers, with our friends Mark and Liz, and she told me that she’d like to dance.  I talked to Tony about it.  No one in his immediate family danced so we weren’t sure where to begin.  We decided to by Taty a shawl and hoped the rest would come to us.  One day at school my friend, Liz WhiteEyes, brought us a shawl to give to Taty.  Taty loved the shawl and that is when I decided that I would have to be the one to make her dance regalia.  I prayed about it and after that things seemed to fall into place.  Now that the project is complete, I can say that I really learned a lot and grew with the experience.  Written words cannot express how my heart feels when I see that little girl dancing in the regalia my grandma and I made for her.  Whenever I needed help people were there for me and encouraged me, now I’ll do the same for Taty as she dances.  In October (2004) I’m going to marry Tony, this will solidify my commitment to learning about his culture and customs.  So I guess that means I’ll soon be committing to a lifelong personal growth project.  

Please click here for the step-by-step process and more photos: Fancy Shawl