On the Northern Cheyenne Reservation in Montana. Photo by Vision Service Adventures
What is harsh to some is normal for others
By Clara Caufield
Native Sun News Today Columnist
nativesunnews.today In a tribal community we are all closely connected. At Northern Cheyenne for example about 5,000 people live on the reservation. Of those about 60% are estimated to be children, under the age of 18 which according to my calculator is 3,000 people. Thus, only about 2,000 are adults. And, since we are nearly all related it is not too hard to know everyone, if not directly, by association or kinship systems. I’ll share such a small personal experience about the reality which too many of our people face without using names as that might be embarrassing to the parties involved. The son of one of my great friends is a wonderful father, taking charge and responsibility after his much younger wife became involved in drugs, stole all the family bank account and the car, running off, abandoning the father and three children, ages 9, 7 & 4. Captain Meth and his First Cousin Heroin are apparently harsh masters, demanding total obedience and sacrifice, even the children. Things then went from bad to worse, resulting in son and children forced to move in with Grandma, age 67, precariously living on $637 per month. Grandma’s small reservation house is graced with a kitchen table and three chairs; one T.V., large floor space, many blankets and pillows. That’s it except for an old wood stove for precious heat and an electric cook stove upon which to cook commodities. Small children can consume many more groceries than is slimly allotted on that budget, especially as “Baby Girl” (age 4) is very fond of Funonions going for $3.69 per bag and the occasional can of Pepsi. Grandma and Daddy indulge her on those small requests as funds allow. These young victims of such crime (and yes, I purposefully call drugs that) were then extremely vulnerable. And then something worse happened. Grandma’s car broke down. As I have probably mentioned too many times, hitchhikers in Northern Cheyenne country are often at great peril especially in arctic conditions. The father is fully capable of such repair, but dependent upon a part which certainly could not be obtained on the Reservation, as he quickly found during many Rez junk yard visits. Don’t discount this young father: he would work, but employment is even harder to be found than an automotive part on the Rez. They somehow scraped up the coins to purchase the part and since I had to go Billings for another errand anyway, we got that job done yesterday, stopping at the Billings Food Bank for a Thanksgiving basket. Returning back to the Rez about 7 p.m., I was invited for dinner with the small family, “Baby Girl” anxious to share a small book which her Head Start teacher had given her. “Look!” she proudly smiled. “My name is written on the front!” Indeed it was and indeed she could spell it out, letter by slow letter.
Read the rest of the story on the Native Sun News Today website: What is harsh to some is normal for others (Clara Caufield can be reached at acheyennevoice@gmail.com) Copyright permission Native Sun News
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