On the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in Montana. Photo by Vision Service Adventures
Bilingual Blue – a sure ’nuff Indun story
By Clara Caufield
Native Sun News Columnist
nsweekly.com One of the best things about being an Indun is sharing a great sense of humor and being amused when one of our friends or fellow tribesmen gets a goot one (practical joke) on us, making us laugh at our own expense. Thus, I share a personal favorite story about when such a clever maneuver was played on me. Those of us who live on Great Plains reservations are very familiar with poverty. At Northern Cheyenne, for example, far too many people lack “wheels” or transportation forcing those from far-flung communities to hitchhike to the reservation hub of Lame Deer for basic necessities. Thus, hitchhikers are a very common sight along highway 212, the major route crossing the reservation connecting the outlying communities of Busby and Ashland to Lame Deer where the main grocery store and government services are available. Many Busby and Ashland residents think nothing of hopping on that highway, sometimes pushing a baby stroller or holding the hands of toddling young ones in hopes of catching a ride to Lame Deer. I don’t know if the Northern Cheyenne could still walk back from Oklahoma to Montana, but many of them can and do easily trek 17 miles to get to Lame Deer. I am a sympathetic picker-upper of those hitchhikers, though limited to one or two passengers as the driver of a single cab pickup truck. Ms. Reilly, my faithful canine companion does not like to share the pickup bed, considering that her own personal domain.
Read the rest of the story on the all new Native Sun News website: Bilingual Blue – a sure ’nuff Indun story (Clara Caufield can be reached at acheyennevoice@gmail.com) Copyright permission Native Sun News
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