Tunkasila

First, fun facts--If you haven't caught on yet, Tunkasila (or Tunkasida) means grandfather (It's what I call Fr. Apple most of the time). It is also used to refer to Wakantanka, or God, the way we say "Father" when referring to God. There are also four beings called tunkasila in each of the four directions, and these are referred to in the four direction prayer.

The dynamics between Tunkasila and I have changed over the past couple of years. He's become more open, and more blunt, with me. And it's become easier for me to understand him and pick up on how he is feeling. But there's something else: For the most part, it's in my nature to listen to him quietly most of the time, especially because he's an elder. But increasingly, he asks for my opinion on things and I found out recently that I don't speak up often enough! So that's something I'm trying to work on when we talk. But in a way it means that I have to listen even more, because I need to understand what he is teaching or telling me so that I can respond intelligently. The latest thing is that he's asked me to give feedback on the church--Wi Wicahpi as well as the wider church on the rez--at the end of my summer. So I think I will write him an email soon. I have a lot of thoughts and ideas, and I will share them with you too if you are interested.
Two weeks ago, I hung around after the game day, talking with Christie, Sheryl, and their cousin Beth, and then talking with Tunkasila. It had actually turned out that when I went to pick up pops and lock up the church, he asked where I was and said he wanted to speak with me. It made me a little nervous when Sheryl told me this, but it shouldn't have. He wanted to tell me that he was suffering from four bad things that had happened recently, but that he had managed to balance it out with four good things. I didn't say much, but did a lot of thinking as I listened. Sometimes I think so much about the rez that my head hurts. I have felt my heart ache so many times this summer.
Then at sunset, we drove out to see Freda's gravesite. It's in the cemetery near the little church they used to go to ("I used to think that was a cathedral!" he said). I was unsure of how to behave while doing this. But Tunkasila was fine--I think he's healed more than I knew in some ways. He pointed out the headstone. It's some kind of beautiful dark stone, engraved with the head of an eagle, a pipe ('peace pipe'), and two crosses. I'm not sure if I'll ever know whether Freda struggled with reconciling her traditional ways with Christianity the way others have. "My wife was a cradle Christian," Tunkasila always says. Then we prayed briefly and drove back.
There was something I'd been thinking about a lot, because it's something Tunkasila always talks about with me. "So, Tunkasila," I said, "What if the reason the church is struggling so bad is that it's getting ready for revival?" I'm not sure if I said that very well. The idea I had in my head had to do with the whole rez; something along the lines of all the corruption that the church had brought to Indian country needing to be demolished so that God can really get to work, something like burning bridges, something like rebirth, something like maybe going back to square one and starting over was the only way reconciliation could ever happen. I'm not sure if I conveyed that.
"Oh, revival? Yeah, that's why I want to talk to that new Catholic priest about doing some things with the drum..."
Earlier this summer, I had pressed him about where he thought the church was headed, what needed to happen next. And he told me that he wants to sort-of re-work the services, incorporating the drum and other traditions into worship. But I don't think he wants to do this alone. So he's been waiting for this new Catholic priest to arrive so he can talk to him about collaborating on this. I think they're meeting on Wednesday. But, I keep thinking, what if he doesn't want to collaborate? What if nothing comes of this meeting? Who will help Tunkasila? So, please pray for him that God would provide the means for this to happen in accordance with His will. There are things that I can do, and perhaps even have done this summer, but I cannot help with this; I can only pray. But I feel in my heart that it is of utmost importance, that much hangs on it. Not necessarily this meeting with this Catholic priest, but this idea in general. It's the only thing I've ever gotten out of Tunkasila about a direction or goal for Wi Wicahpi, and I guess that's why I feel it's important. So your prayers are much needed. Pidamayayapi!

Mitakuye Oyas'in
-Jenny