Tell us about your time with VISIONS—what was your role and what program(s) were you part of?
I was an attendee of VISIONS Montana Blackfeet 2023 and 2024.
Tell us about your VISIONS experience. What was most memorable about it?
Whenever I think back to my time in Montana, several things tend to pop up—nature, the ranch house, the huckleberries. The most memorable part of my experience, however, is the people I’ve gotten to meet on “the rez.”
The Blackfeet people, as I’ve gotten to learn over the past two years, have had an incredibly difficult path to walk. Since the advent of European settlers, they have been subject to boarding schools, starvation, cultural decay and economic stagnancy. Yet despite all that, they remain some of the warmest and most welcoming people I have ever met. The Blackfeet people’s resolve and perseverance is something that I’ll never forget.
What was the main worksite like? What kinds of projects did you focus on? Did you have a favorite?
My favorite worksite, and the one where I spent the most time, was Joe Kipp’s Sundance. We had the opportunity to help set up and run one of the most sacred ceremonies in Blackfeet culture. I chopped wood for the fire, cleared debris for the Buffalo skull run (which I eventually got to participate in!), and had a great time conversing with the Blackfeet attendees.
Looking back at it, my experience at the Sundance was very surreal. The sound of the bone whistles and drums never left my ears, even after I was gone from Montana. At the same time, I witnessed many rituals that I could have never imagined. It made me feel ever smaller in the world.
How has VISIONS propelled you to your future goals? Did VISIONS shift your perspective on where you want your life to go?
Before attending VISIONS, I had long planned to have a stable job in the future that would give me good pay and moderate happiness. Two trips to Montana, however, have changed that thought. Seeing the Blackfeet culture has given me an unquenchable thirst to explore other cultures around the world and see what they have to offer. I now wish to travel the world.
What are you up to these days?
While visiting Montana for the first time in 2023, I quickly found myself enthralled with the dire situation of the Blackfeet language. During the boarding school era, the US government attempted to destroy the native tongue of the Blackfeet people. Today, the language’s speaker count is rapidly declining.
I noticed that the problem of language death was not unique to the Blackfeet—indeed, it was something over half the languages around our planet struggle with. When a language dies, the culture and history that come along with it also diminishes. I therefore made it my goal to raise social awareness about the neglected problem of linguistic death. This summer, I was fortunate enough to give a speech about language extinction in front of 500 people, while specifically highlighting my experiences in Montana. I’m also starting a club at my school that wishes to collaborate with language protection activists and educate the public on language extinction.
What is something that makes you hopeful for the future?
I always feel hopeful for our future when I see or hear about social activists who try to do what is just. Ultimately, it is people like these who make better lives for their communities. While working with VISIONS, I noted that the Blackfeet community had no shortage of change-makers, and that causes me to feel hope.
In what ways, big or small, would you like to change the world?
Many people nowadays (including the Blackfeet) live and are affected by the shadows of their history. More often than not, that history is one of injustice and subjugation. Although the sources of repression may not exist anymore, people from subjugated communities still suffer from social inequities in their daily life. I have thus made it my goal to help communities walk out of their generational trauma and start a better future.
Anything else to add?
Join VISIONS and go on a program! Everyone returns home learning something different, but I can guarantee that you will have a transformative journey and a better self after the trip.
