May 1977 St. Paul’s Mission and School

During the two years that Susie and I worked at the mission, Beatrice Stiffarm and Mary Jones were the cooks in the school. Jim Stiffarm was the all-around maintenance, handyman and custodian. They were members of our mission family and were involved in so much more than preparing lunch for the children at the mission school every day. (And their meals were really fantastic and made with so much love for the children). Mary was Jim and Beatrice's daughter.

During an earlier blog, probably from around Thanksgiving time, I noted that Susie and I spent a great deal of time in the kitchen. Susie was preparing the hot breakfast program and all the volunteers enjoyed chipping in to help Beatrice and Mary prepare the meals and clean the kitchen. They arrived early to school, often times before I would start my run in the school bus. When I was on bus duty, I often had a cup of coffee with them before I started the route. If it was really cold out, which occurred regularly, my visit with them before my route was extended. We had to let the buses warm up, and particularly when the temperatures were below zero. I can remember days when it was 30 and 40 below zero.

We spent so much time in the kitchen with them, because they were just wonderful to be around. They both had such a great sense of humor, and they were so kind, genuine and very sweet. We really loved them. All the volunteers loved this family.

And from the perspective of my fieldwork, having conversations with them every day was a gift. Beatrice and Jim were among the last fluent speakers of Gros Ventre. They were descendants of the last medicine men. Beatrice was raised by her grandparents, so she was also among those who still learned some of the traditional culture, although it was changing rapidly and dramatically.

I always had so many questions for them, and they always had responses. If they knew an answer, they shared it with me. If they didn’t, they told me and odds were good that if they didn’t know, no one knew. Because we were so close and they knew me so well, I was comfortable asking them anything. And I did.

In the blog I was referring to during the Thanksgiving time, I had asked Mary if they ever thought about the pilgrims. She didn’t laugh, but in the most sarcastic voice she could muster, she responded by asking me if I ever thought about the pilgrims? We all laughed hysterically. I mentioned that whenever I asked Mary a monumentally stupid question, I always got the most incredulous and sarcastic ‘look’ back from her. In this photograph of Mary, I am the recipient of said mentioned look.

May their memories be a blessing.

5-1-77

I returned to the mission from Ohio at 7:00. Everyone but Mike went up to Havre to say goodbye to Father Simoneau. He was going to Seattle for a couple of months. He will be going to a convalescent home. He doesn’t know what he will be doing later. He thought he might get a trailer and retire at the mission but he’s not sure if he can do it and be so far away from a hospital.

Mike and Bill told me about the confirmation on Tuesday night, April 26, 1977. There were 29 kids confirmed and the church was full. The Bishop arrived Tuesday afternoon. Confirmations had been going on all over the state and he has been traveling around the state. The Bishop must confirm the kids. He was in Harlem on Monday, and he confirmed the kids from the Agency and Harlem. The 29 kids were in the first two rows of pews, and behind them the sponsors. The church was full with parents, grandparents and relatives. Mike thought that a lot of people came to church because the Bishop was there. The twins (Alvin and Andrew) served for the mass. After the kids were confirmed, everyone went to the all-purpose room at the school where a reception was held. Some of the mothers in Hays brought cookies and cake.

5-2-77

At 2:00 the 7^th and 8^th graders played basketball against the faculty and volunteers at the mission. All the kids from 1/2 and 3/4 grades came to watch the game. The faculty won the game 38-34. All the kids had a good time. The kids in the stands were rooting for the students and they booed the faculty.   

The 5th and 6th graders took their field trip today to Havre. They used money that they earned through bake sales during lunch hour at the Mission school, and Sister Giswalda also donated $25 from the school fund to each class for this purpose. Itty and Margaret drove the kids up with Sister Bart to Havre. While in Havre, the kids went to Vita Rich to see how milk was produced, the Coca-Cola Company and they had lunch at Northern Montana College. They took a tour of the college. The kids also went to Dairy Queen and had ice cream. They left at 8:00 and they came back at 7:30.

I was talking to Father Bichsel at the rectory this morning and we were talking about the mission. He said that he'd like to see the school close and have the energies of this mission put in a different direction. He pointed to the community.

The majority of the money and personnel are directed toward the school and I don't think that's right. I don't think it's such a good idea that you have to wait for the nuns to die off before you can change things. The changes should be made when you want to make them. I'd like to see the mission school close and let all the energy be put into making sure that the public school provides a good education for the kids. You can get involved in the educational process down there, but you don't have to have the school here. I think the goal ought to be redirected into the families and away from the school.

You can't teach religion to kids in a school. It has to come from the homes and the family. The school can be used for so many other things. An adult education program would be great for this place. The enrollment at the mission school has really dropped, but this is the national trend. It's really not a unique to this community or school. I have the statistics on this. This is how we closed the school at Saint Leo’s, our parish in Tacoma. They got the people in the community involved in the decision and we gave them all the statistics on parochial schools. Attendance is down nationally. Also, there is very good evidence that once enrollment at these schools goes down, there is rarely a reversal of the trend. The attendance usually either stays low or continues to drop. The mission should take all of this into consideration and then change the goals of the mission. Too much is going into that school.

The people in the community should be running the mission and the school. They ought to be making the decisions. The church is the people. It's not easy to get people involved, especially to make all the decisions. But once you let the people start making decisions, more people will participate. At the mission there should be meetings to discuss the goals and directions of the mission. Right now everything is done on a day-to-day basis. There's no direction at all. If you could meet once a week or two weeks, you could start organizing and outlining some goals. The goals should be out there. He pointed to the community, not the school.

I believe very strongly in team ministry. One of the nuns, Father Retzel, Sister Kathleen and a couple of the volunteers and some people from the community should sit down to make all the decisions. Everyone should be on the same level and have an equal vote. I don't think Father Retzel is ready for team ministry. You'd really have to work on him to get him to accept it. It's hard on the volunteers here because there is no explicit job description and there aren't any goals. When things are this disorganized, it's difficult for everyone. Everyone wants to look like they're working, especially when Father Retzel is around. And no one knows what they're supposed to be doing. So, people are jumping up and down in one spot and there's a lot of guilt. It's just bullshit. I think I understand why Father Russell is so secretive. He thinks that he's protecting confidences. I don't know how you would change his attitude about this.

I think you also have to get Sister Bart out of that school. She's teaching those kids magic in there. I told her that. I told her that what she's teaching them is coming out of her head. It's not written down anywhere. We had it out about this confirmation. I told her that I didn't want the kids to have books. They are supposed to hear what is said. They don't have to read it. When they answer, ‘I do’ to those questions, it should be heard and the answers are supposed to be sincere and from the heart. The books would be nothing more than a distraction. She told me that the kids would never get the sacrament and graces of the sacrament of confirmation if they didn't have the books. I told her that was bullshit. I told her that was all magic. We finally got the Bishop involved in it. I was sorry that he got in the middle of our argument. We didn't give them the books.

I visited Ray and Irma at their home. Irma said that Father Retzel was really worn out.

He's been working so hard, and he doesn't take care of himself. He doesn't come over here to visit much anymore. He used to come over to visit often. I think the reason that he stopped coming over is that we disagree with him about a lot of things and he doesn't like that. He doesn't want to hear it, so he doesn't come over. There have been so many changes in the church, and I just can't accept a lot of these changes. Things like the whole guitar music, I just don't like that kind of thing. There are just too many distractions during Mass. You know, when I go to Mass now, I just want to pray. There are so many distractions that I can't pray anymore in church. I know it sounds horrible but that's just how I feel about it.

I don't like to go to Father Retzel for confession either. I don't feel right about it. I'll sometimes go someplace else, to a different place for confession, or I will wait till there is a different priest visiting at the mission and then I'll go to confession then. Father Retzel knows me. He knows my voice. He can identify me.

I won't accept all these changes in the church. They're driving me away from the church with all these changes. The Latin Mass had a lot of meaning for me. It was so nice, and I used to enjoy it. Then I would go into church and I would really pray. I wish they'd bring back the Latin Mass. I didn't like all that kneeling during the Mass. It was really tough on you. But I really prayed a lot and I liked it a lot more. 

I have a lot of questions that I'd like to get answers to, but Father Retzel won't give me answers. And a lot of these bother me. In the Bible it says that Adam and Eve had all sons. Well, to have kids, there must have been incest with Eve. I'd like someone to explain this to me, but no one has. There are a lot of things like this that I'd like answers to.

When the sisters first got here and they told us that it was a sin if anyone touched them, they said that no one could touch them. Then Mrs. Reebe came and they walked around with their arms around each other. It made a lot of people feel really bad. I think they said this because they were afraid that someone might hurt them somehow. Father Retzel didn't like to hear this. I never prayed with my hands out like some people do. I just don't go for this spaced-out stuff.

I really liked Father Simoneau, and I like the way he did things even though he didn't do much visiting in the community. A lot of people don't know this, but he's part Chippewa. He used to speak French with my father all the time. The mass isn't what it used to be. Now they just rush through it and then everyone is out.

5-3-77  

The mission has a garden and greenhouse that in the past were very productive. Brother Fox maintained the garden, and it produced a lot of food for the mission. For the past few years, that garden was taken care of by two of the volunteers. It was through their interest that the garden started again this past year. Bill built a greenhouse off the rectory garage. The field was plowed with a hand plow and an old tractor that belongs to the mission. This was done about a month ago. The field was also disced. We started planting the garden this week. The soil is poor, it is gumbo and filled with rocks, so the field has to be raked before planting. The mission plants vegetables for their own use by the priests, nuns and volunteers. Sister Germaine, who was the permanent cook and housekeeper in the convent, does some canning in the late summer and early fall. The vegetables planted for the mission are lettuce, peas, beans, onions, corn, cabbage, pumpkin, zucchini, acorn squash and radish. The weather is too cold at night, and the growing season is too short to plant tomatoes. So, these are planted and left in the greenhouse. Bill built the greenhouse out of fiberglass sheets and inside he installed an oil stove so that the temperature can be maintained at night.

The only crop planted for use by the school is potatoes. There is a root cellar behind the convent. And the potatoes are stored by the mission and school.

Mission root cellar and arbor construction in the background

Bill built a greenhouse for Beatrice and Jim. They also have a garden which Bill and I plowed last month for them. They also have about 20 chickens. There are several other families in Hays that have gardens, but most don't. Don Addy, the extension agent on the reservation, helps people with their gardens. He also brings seed for those who want it. Don came to the reservation as a Vista worker in the 1960s and he decided to settle here. He married one of the Indian girls here and moved to Harlem. They have a few kids. He's very active in the church. He has been working on a program this year for people who want trees and shrubs around their homes. He took orders for the trees and shrubs last month and he is supposed to deliver to the families this month.

Father Bichsel left today. He was going to Great Falls for a couple of days to visit a friend and then to Alaska to visit her brother. He would go to Tacoma afterward to start working again after a six-month break where he hitched around the country. He hadn’t planned to stay at the mission so long, but with our priest sick and in the hospital, he really had no choice. Most everyone here hated to see him go. He related well with the community and the mission people. He said that he might come back sometime. Father Retzel will be back on Friday after visiting his mother in Spokane.

Sisters Claire and Germaine started collecting beer cans to raise money for the Mission School. They have been doing it for about a year. They sell the aluminum cans for $0.17 a pound. They collect all over Hays. They go to the turnoff where the kids drink in Hazel's driveway, across from Alan Murphy’s store, The Hays turnoff and the turnoff along 376. They also talk to people who own the bars and ask them to save the cans. Father Simoneau used to save his beer cans for them. He had one beer a day. Sister Claire started to help in the beer can collection and got her students to collect cans. She teaches science to all the grade schoolers and gives them points for bringing in cans. Some of the kids have brought in over 1,000 cans. The parents drive their kids around and the kids toss the cans into the truck.

At lunch today, Martin tried to cut in front of Doug in the lunch line. When Doug tried to stop him a fight started. They were pushing and punching at each other. Some of the 5/6^th graders and I broke it up. Doug went into the bathroom. He didn’t come out for a while, so I went in to see if he was alright. He was crying. I told him to ignore these boys and to come out to eat lunch. I ate lunch with him. The 5/6^th graders are always giving him a hard time. He came to the reservation this year and started school in the middle of the school year. The kids don’t accept new kids very easily and Doug has still not been accepted. Before Doug came, they gave Marvin a hard time. But since Doug came, they stopped torturing Marvin, and they started to include him in sports games and play at recess with him.

After PE, Jimmy and Marvin walked to the playground and I went with them to make sure that they returned to class. They both picked up sling shots that they had hid under the slide. I told them if I saw them shoot at anyone or an animal, I’d take the sling shots away from them. They promised they wouldn’t and they walked into the school and hid the sling shots under their shirts.

5-4-77

The 7/8^th grade boys always tease Martin by calling him ‘martian.’ They ask him how it is on different planets. They have been doing this all year. They also call Bill ‘roots.’ They started doing this after the tv series came on. He has a dark complexion.

5-5-77

Mike spent the afternoon in the mission fields chasing out all the cattle and horses that were on mission land. Then he went around the periphery of the mission and fixed all the fence that was down. He said that he was going to be very strict about keeping cattle and horses out because the garden was being planted and the fields – both hay and alfalfa – would be planted very soon. He said that he was going to load his shotgun shells with rock salt and blast all the horses on mission land. He wasn’t going to use lead pellets because he didn’t want to hurt the horses, just force them off the land and discourage them from coming back. The salt will only burn them for a while. I’ll get up about five feet from the horses and shoot them from the truck.

The phone company sent a man out to the mission today and a wall phone was installed in the rectory hallway. This is part of the new mission phone policy. People will have to call from the hallway, and they will have to stand. The idea is that phone calls will be much shorter. The policy was published in the Church Bulletin and in the Camp Crier and the policy will go into effect on Monday, May 9th. The phone hours will be from 9:00 till 11:00 in the morning and 6:30 to 8:30 in the evening every day. There won't be any phone messages delivered, but they'll be posted on a bulletin board in the rectory across from the phone. Only emergency messages will be delivered. All calls from the Mission will have a base charge of $0.25. The phone bill every month is about $400.00, but the money that is paid is usually around $350. The $0.25 per call will take care of the $0.50 extra charge to the mission for everyone's calls. People will also have to pay their charges on the spot. There will be no IOU's for phone calls. The telephone company also took the phone out of the green trailer. This was done so that when people are sent away from making calls during non-phone hours that they won't come to the green trailer to ask to make calls.

I walked into the art room to talk to Sister Giswalda. I asked her why graduation was moved up to May 25th. She said that graduation was originally scheduled for the 27th, but the Hays Lodge Pole Public School moved their graduation date, and she moved up our graduation date.

I wasn't going to have the kids from the public school running around in the playground and riding horses while our kids were inside watching them through the windows. So, I decided to move up our graduation. We're going to show a movie in the morning, and then we're going to have a picnic lunch outside. We'll dismiss the kids early after eating. After we distribute the report cards and will give them time to go home and prepare for graduation. The graduation ceremonies will start in the evening in the church. We'll try to keep the program short because the people don't want it long. They want to go home early. Francis Lamebull was going to be our graduation speaker. He called and can't make it. He's the attorney for the Gros Ventre and Assiniboine Tribal Council. He said that he would try to get another speaker for our graduation. He's going to talk to attorneys from the Blackfeet and Rocky Boy, both are Indian. If they can't, he's going to try to get Jack Plumage, the tribal chairman. We had Bill Fugelvand last year and that was good. But I want an Indian speaker at the graduation. It's good for the kids to hear a successful Indian.

Brian was working on the water pump at Sister Kathleen’s in Lodge Pole. He said he was having trouble digging because the water table was up from the rain on Tuesday. I asked him if he could get the backhoe. He said that Arnold Allen charged $19 per hour for use and operation of the equipment. That’s a pretty reasonable price. I think he owns the backhoe. I asked Brian if he dug the graves at the cemetery. He said that the tribe did that with their backhoe. That’s one of the benefits of being an enrolled member. You get your grave dug for free. Brian was very sarcastic.

Mike said that Brian told him today that the mission had a bill of $3,000 for three months for heating the school. Brian told me that the mission owed Conoco $,3400 for heat and gas. Brian laughed when he told me about the bill and said that there is no way that the mission could ever pay off that bill. We just don't have that kind of money. Brian said that Father Retzel used up a lot of gasoline just driving around. He spends a lot of time on the road going places. Mike said that he wasn't going to say that Father Retzel spent a lot of time on the road going nowhere, but he did an awful lot of driving. Brian said that he noticed that the gas was lasting in the tank a lot longer since Father Retzel was in the hospital and Spokane. Brian knows the situation better than I do. Mike said that the mission is in financial trouble. He said that Brian told him that the mission couldn't afford to pay the premiums on the insurance for the buildings, so the buildings aren't insured this year. I told Mike that I thought that was crazy with all the fires here, and the fact that every building on the mission has burned down. The only building remaining is the original mission from the 1800s. He agreed. It was crazy. (And that building burned down after Susie and I left the mission).

5-6-77

Mike and I took the 7th and 8th grade boys to the mines in the Little Rocky Mountains. We took them in our trucks during their physical education time. Both Mike and I had cameras.

Mike said that Father Retzel held mass for the sisters every morning at 7:00 in the convent. Very religious Catholics go to mass every day, but it is not necessary. I stopped going. The nuns, Sisters Kathleen, Laura, Bill, Nade and I usually went to this mass. The nuns sang their old songs, sit in the same places, and go to communion in the same order every day. It got to be too much. I stopped going about a month ago.

Father is coming home in the morning to say mass at 11:00. Mass will be said in the shrine every Saturday morning at 10:00 during May. This is Mary’s special month, and the mass is said in her honor. Sister Germaine went to the shrine tonight to fix it up for the mass.

May 19 is a holy day – the day of the ascension, the day Jesus ascended into heaven. A special mass will be held that day. 

5-8-77

Bill said that a group of people came to the mission Saturday night at midnight and they were really drunk. They woke up Father. First, one of the guys told him that they wanted to take a pledge (not to drink for a certain amount of time). Then one of the girls said to wait because they really didn’t mean it, and they shouldn’t take the pledge if they don’t really mean it. They left the rectory and they came back later in the night and woke up Father again. This time they just talked to him for a while.

5-9-77  

Mike and Bill were talking about the horses and cattle in the mission fields and the leasing of the mission fields. There is a small alfalfa field just south of the green trailer. Mike said that Tom Jones suggested that we stop chasing horses out of there and just call the brand inspector and keep calling him. The people would keep their horses out. Going and talking to them doesn’t help. Going to the brand inspector would help to keep the horses out.

Bill said that the big mission field, east of the mission buildings and garden was about 300 acres. The whole mission is 360 acres, a section. That 300 acres could be leased to someone on the reservation. Last year, Dave Hawley leased the 300-acre field and he put in hay. He figured he would get out about 1600 bales, but the horses running around in there, tore it up and eating it, he only got 600 bales. The ranchers bid on the lease for the field. Davey bid $3,500 because he wanted to pay the mission what he thought the field was worth. He is really a great guy. The next highest bid was JJ of $1,500. I don’t think Davey had to pay the full amount on the lease because he didn’t get all the hay that he expected. Still Davey offered what the field was worth.

Bill thought it would be a good idea to lease the fields for a five-year period rather than just for one year. If someone only has it for one year, they have little incentive to invest to fix up the field and the fences and do some irrigation. It isn’t worth it for them to do this work on the field if they’re going to have it for just one year.

Mike said that he drove Steve Fox’s cattle out of the mission field this morning. They ran right through the fence and took down all the fence I fixed last week. Once they get their head through the fence, they think they can get all the way through it. They took the whole fence down. There was no stopping them once they got scared. When I got to the fence, Steve came up on a horse. He didn’t say he was sorry but from the way he was talking I knew that he was. He did indirectly apologize for having the cattle on our field. He said that he would ride our field and make sure all the cattle were out.

5-10-77

Father Retzel held a meeting at 6:00 in the rectory with Brian, Mike, Bill and myself to discuss the leasing of mission lands. The mission is about 360 acres (one section) and the land to lease would be about 300 acres. This land would include the field across the road, just west of the mission, the large field on the east side of the mission, below the pines, and they are including the field north and running east-west from the corner of the convent fence. Davey Hawley leased the fields last year, and they want him to lease the fields again, because he was so responsible. But they decided that too many people would complain if they just gave it to Davey. So, they decided they’d better advertise the lease and hold a meeting. If more than one person comes to the meeting, they’ll ask for bids on the lease. A lot of people have come up to the mission to ask about leasing the land. Davey came, but everyone else wants to lease the land for grazing horses and cattle.

They discussed the lands that would not be leased. The building acres, the cemetery, the creek bed also was taken out of the lease land because the fencing is so poor out there, and horses and cattle would be all over the mission. Also, it would only support a few cattle and horses. No one would take responsibility to fence all that land just to graze a few horses, so they decided to leave it out. While most of the people want the land for grazing, they decided only to put up the lease for growing grain. They did this because they felt they could get back more money on the land through grain.

The terms of the lease were: leasing 300 acres, putting the lease up only for grain, and being responsible for keeping horses and cattle off the land. Then they decided to make it a long-term lease, 5 years, so that it would be worth it for the person leasing to fix up the land and the fence. Brian said that if they said that the lease was only for grain, that would only include a few people on the reservation. That would narrow it down to one of the Healy’s from Lodge Pole and Davey. But Percy Healy hasn’t said that he wants it, so Davey would probably get it.

There are whites on the reservation who lease land and grow grain, but the mission will only lease the land to one of the people from the community. They would put in wheat, barley, oats or some other grain. It’s too late to put it in this year, but someone could put in winter wheat. The mission would be paid for the lease by taking a certain percentage of the harvest. Whenever they sold their crop, the mission percentage would be sold, and they would take the same price for the grain. Also, some of the grain would be taken to feed the chickens. Brian said that while it was a five-year lease, the mission would only get paid once a year after the harvest each year.

Brian was getting ready to leave for Havre this afternoon. He was going up to Western Warehouse to buy food for the school lunch program. The mail came and he took out a check. He said, well, we got this one just in time. The government check for the school lunch program is $540 per month. These checks are always late, usually by about one or two months.

5-11-77  

Bill has been raising chickens for the past year, and Kelly Thomas gave him a piglet to raise. He’s been feeding the chickens grain that he buys in Harlem from his own money. The pig is fed on school days from the wasted food. As the kids bring in their trays, the leftovers are dumped into a bucket. If Mary and Beatrice include anything new in the lunch menu, there’s a lot in the bucket. This week, Kathleen made wheat rolls. The kids wasted them because they’d never seen brown rolls and a lot of them were thrown out.

The chickens lay a lot of eggs that are used in the school breakfast program and used by the mission. The pig’s future is up in the air. Bill is deciding whether to have Houdini slaughtered or mated.

Bill also transferred all the starts from his greenhouse to the garden behind the mission school.

Sister Laura told Father that she didn’t want to teach 3/4^th grade next year and told him that she was going to stay and work in Lodge Pole with Kathleen. Father was thinking about how he would replace her, because it was too late to ask for a Jesuit volunteer (he was too disorganized to plan out the mission needs for next year). Then it struck him that he could ask Socksy. He thought it was a great idea to get people from the community involved in the school and the mission. Later he thought about how he would pay her. He didn’t think he could get money from school district #50, because of the separation of church and state. Later he asked the volunteers if they would give up $50 from their pay to help pay Socksy. Second year volunteers are supposed to get $100 and he wanted us to stay with $50. Mike said to me that he didn’t want to take the cut because he needed the money, it's all going back into the community, gas from driving people around and wear on the truck, presents and contributions, and many other things. Kathleen said that they couldn’t make it on $50 a month. With her and Laura, they got $150 a month this year. We give $30 a month to our community (Dominican) in Spark Hill, NY. They give us a lot more. We also buy a lot on our own. We bought a lot of food and everything else. We use a lot of money. We gave Camie $100 to buy food for the feed. When I was living in the green trailer, I lived almost exclusively on commodity food, because Father Simoneau never asked me if I wanted anything. Also, we spend a lot of money on ceramics from our money. We spent $200 to buy molds last weekend. We do get $10/month from the sisters in our order and another $25 every two months from another place. They are supposed to support a mission effort like ours, but we appreciate the money. I wouldn’t want to take the cut. He couldn’t live on $50/month. With all the driving he does, if he had to fill the truck out of his own pocket every time he went to town. $50 wouldn’t last him a week. He also can take money any time he wants it, and he probably doesn’t realize how much he spends.

I was talking to Granville, and he was saying that he respected the nuns at the mission because they have donated their whole lives to education and educating the kids here. He said that the only problem he ever had with Sister Giswalda was once when she was complaining about Chester being late to school, I wrote a note to give to her. I told her that I try to teach my kids to be responsible. I let them decide about going to school. It’s their decision whether to go or not. I’m not going to force them to go to school. Most of Granville’s kids have not finished high school. Keith didn’t even finish grade school. He quit this year. Chester will graduate from the mission school next week and he is an honor student.

5-14-77

We ate with Margaret at Frosty and Tiny’s wedding reception at the Hays Community Hall. She said that she was in the first group of volunteers at the mission through the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. Father Simoneau was here first. He got very sick and everyone thought he was going to die. Another priest replaced him. Then Father Brown and Simoneau came back. Father Retzel came just before I left the mission.

Mike built an altar for the roadside shrine, and I helped Mike and Father move it to the shrine. The shrine is located at the entrance to the mission and Saturday morning mass is being held there during the month of May in honor of Mary. Father said that Father Fussi had the shrine built in the honor of the blessed mother. People used to come into the shrine to pray and it used to be left open. We’ve locked it now because of the vandalism, and we used to find beer cans in there on Saturday and Sunday morning. Now I’m going to put a sign on it telling people that they can get the key for it in the rectory any time they want to go into the shrine to pray. It was built in 1931 by Father Fussi and he had a statue of Mary carved in wood from Switzerland. He was from Switzerland. The shrine has the equivalent of the stations in there, but it emphasizes the experiences of Mary instead of Jesus. The altar is very pretty with the statue of Mary and there is a metal gate in front of the altar with ‘Ave Maria’ on the top of the gate in metal letters. It has plaster walls and a cement floor and two sections of about eight pews.

Kathleen said that she substituted in the Lodge Pole grade school yesterday. She said she didn’t mind doing it at all and it’s $25 a day.

Kathleen, Susie, Mike and I were talking about paying Socksy’s salary if she becomes a new mission teacher. She said that Title I tutors got paid over $500 a month now, and next year it will be raised to over $600. Also, they have a lot of other benefits through the Montana Education Association, like Blue Cross policies for their whole families, and a pension program. Also, Socksy can get tenure next year. She didn’t think Socksy would take it. The mission couldn’t match the money or the benefits. She said she’d like to see the school close and become a community center for adult education, GED, senior citizens center and other activities. She said that Title II was for under-privileged students, but since there are federal programs, the mission can’t use the materials or money or personal without it being lent. They can take back the materials from us whenever they want to, because they don’t belong to us.

Title IV is the Indian Education Act – it has five parts.

Father told Susie, Mike, Kathleen and I that with Bill Fugelvand’s advice he wrote to the main Jesuit office and applied for money. They agreed to give us $4500. That will catch us up with all our bills. A woman left us a ring with a lot of money and we’re going to give that to the Jesuit community to repay part of the money.

Father said that the Bishop in Great Falls couldn’t help to pay Socksy’s salary. There aren’t enough parochial schools and besides, parochial schools are supported by the parishes.

5-15-77

Today was first communion in the church. Father said the regular mass, with only a few changes. There were 15 kids going to first communion, 10 boys and 5 girls. They were almost all 1^st and 2^nd graders from the mission and a few kids that were older, but who had never taken their first communion – Doug and Buzzy. Sister Benno was in charge of preparing the kids for their first communion. She explains that they are really taking the body of Christ and explains why they have the Holy Eucharist and why they have the sacrament. She also teaches the kids the most important prayers. The kids were supposed to wear white, and most of them did. There was a special processional of the kids in and out of the church and all the kids sat up front. The readings today were special for first communion Sunday, and they are about the eucharist. Instead of wearing white veils, the girls put white ribbons in their hair. Father and Sister Giswalda gave each of them a rosary and a scapular (a holy metal). It is customary to have first communion in May because this month we honor the blessed mother.

5-18-77

Gordon said that he didn’t like to come to the mission anymore. Edith agreed that they wouldn’t be going to the rectory to visit anymore. It’s not very comfortable over there since they moved the phone and put up those doors. And it’s hard to make a phone call. You can’t make a personal call from the hallway, especially if there’s someone waiting to use the phone. They just stand there and listen to your call. Father has just gone from one extreme to the other. First, he liked it when people came to visit. Edith said that they would come to visit us at the trailer.

Mary and Beatrice took an inventory of the mission school food storage room to see what we could have left for the Catholic Indian Congress. There were three cases of commodity food chicken and Beatrice said they wouldn’t serve anymore of that this year. They have only five more lunches to make before the end of the school year. Mary said we should keep it quiet if we use the commodity food for the Congress, because we’re not supposed to use this for anything else but the school lunch and breakfast program. We get it for that reason, and we have so few kids. That’s why we have left over like this. If someone finds out, the mission could get into trouble for serving commodity food.

The mother superior came to the mission today to visit the Franciscan nuns. She came with a few other nuns from the mother house in Milwaukee (from the School Sisters of St. Francis). The sisters have prepared for her coming by cleaning the school and their rooms. Sister Benno cleaned the desks and Socksy said she put all her junk in the tutoring room. We joked that the ‘normal person’s room’ would be a mess. Jimmy was outside washing Sister Bart’s windows. It was drizzling outside. Sister Benno trained the kids to stand at attention and to say, ‘hello sister,’ when she walked into her room. Sister Benno also had one of her kids come over to the trailer at 8:00 in the morning and told Susie to come to her class right away. She wanted her to sing with the kids so that she could sing for the mother superior.

5-19-77

Mike and Bill took the 7/8 grade boys to see Pink Panther and to dinner at Wally’s Café. Most of the boys didn’t want to go. Only Kenny, Bill and Eric ended up going. When we went to pick up Kenny, we had to put my truck into four-wheel drive to get to the house. It’s a quarter mile driveway from the road to the house and there’s no gravel. With all the rain we’ve had, the mud was 6-10 inches thick and we skid all over even in four-wheel drive. The boys really enjoyed the evening.

All the kids at the mission school went to a special mass at 11:00. Today was the Feast of Ascension. After mass, they came back to school for lunch, and then they went home in honor of the holiday. They only had a half day of school.

5-20-77

Sister Benno had a party and indoor picnic with her kids all day today in school. She asked Susie to spend the day with them and to assist in the games and activities. They played Simon says, musical chairs, etc. and Susie led them in singing songs for over an hour. But they spent the major part of the day eating. Sister Giswalda gave each class $25 to use for a class trip, but Sister Benno didn’t take the kids anywhere, so she spent it all on food. They had donuts, cookies, cake, candy, pop, popsicles and fruit, in addition to the regular lunch at noon. Susie said that the kids ate an enormous amount of food. For the most part, they enjoyed the day, but some of the kids didn’t want to play the games. At 10:00, I came in to take a class picture. First, I took it of all the kids – they were cooperative. Then of all the boys. When I tried to take it of the girls, the boys kept running into the picture. Sister Benno had to yell at them to behave.

Mike had the kids do final projects in his shop class (7/8 grade boys). They each built a model home from small strips of wood. It was very hard work and required a lot of patience. They were single story, frame houses. Mike asked Don Addy, the extension agent, to come in and judge the best homes. Mike bought a blue, red and white ribbon and two pocket knives for the two best homes. Kenny was first and Chester was second. Bill came in third. The homes are on display in the library of the mission school.

The kids had projects all year in shop and they enjoyed this work. The boys made gun racks, tools, picture frames and shadow boxes, tables and shelves. Some of the boys won ribbons at the midwinter fair for their projects.

In addition to the cooking that Sister Giswalda had the 7/8 graders do in home economics, in the house of Loretto, the girls also learned the upkeep and cleaning of a home. They also did some sewing. Each of the girls made a quilt.

5-22-77

Father put a notice in the bulletin asking people to please clean up their areas in the cemetery for memorial day, and also because the Congress was coming up. People were at the cemetery all day cleaning it up. Most of the graves were overrun with weeds and the plastic flowers once placed on the graves were blown all over, were dirty and scattered everywhere.

Mike said that Father has some crazy ideas. “I finally decided to ignore him if he tells me to do something that I think is crazy or a waste of time. He forgets it anyway. He gets these ideas. Once he told me to prune the cottonwood trees along the creek.”

Bill said that there was a special mass said for the kids graduating from the mission school this week. After mass the 7^th grade mothers cooked breakfast for the graduates in the school.

5-23-77  

The last day of mission grade school is Wednesday. The school year started on August 31. The sisters are giving their students their grades on Wednesday, and they asked that all grades be turned in by today. The grading system during the year has been based on s = satisfactory, hsi = has shown improvement, ni = not satisfactory. There are four terms in the year and for the first three terms only these letter grades are given. This final term, however, a numerical grade is also given and is recorded on their final records. 100-90 is excellent, 90-80 is good, 80-70 is fair. Sister Giswalda said that anything below 70 is not a passing grade. She explained that these number grades are given for the permanent record, because when the kids go to another school, the letter grades would not be understood. All the kids will go to a different high school, either Hays Lodge Pole or Flandreau, because the mission hasn’t had a high school since the building burned in 1973. The sisters used to be high school teachers, and the grade school was staffed by volunteers. Kathleen was principal of the grade school when she arrived.

5-24-77

Camie said that she couldn’t go to Father for confession. Father had set up a room in the all-purpose room of the school where people could go for the sacrament of penance (reconciliation and confession). “Father knows everyone, and he knows your voice when you talk to him. I usually wait for a visiting priest to come here and I go to confession with him or I go someplace else for confession.” Mike said that things were done the old way here. People think that you have to go to confession just before you go to mass and take communion. It doesn’t have to be that way. You can go much before the mass.

5-25-77

Today was the last day of school. The kids spent the whole morning watching a movie that the sisters had ordered. Sister Giswalda ordered a western as a special treat for the kids. Then the kids had lunch. They had a brown bag lunch. They would have had a picnic, but it was raining. So, they ate in the all-purpose room. They had cheeseburgers, potato chips, carrot sticks and an apple. The kids went home early at noon so that they could  get ready for the graduation ceremony tonight. The kids were also given report cards today to bring home to their parents. For the first three terms, the kids have to return the report cards to the sisters with a parent’s signature. But they are allowed to keep the last report card.

The mission grade school graduation took place tonight. It began in the church at 7:30. Most of the guests were family, relatives and close friends of the graduates. All the mission kids were present from all four classes. Some of their parents were also there. About 100 people were at the ceremonies. David and Martin were the servers for the special benediction said by Father. The service began with the singing of hymns by a choir composed of some of the mission alumni, Edith, Mabel, Itty and Joyce. The service in the church was the “May Crowning” of the statue of Mary in the church. This month is the special month that Mary is honored. While the choir sang, the children began a processional. They marched around the church a few times. The first and second grades led the processional followed by the rest of the grades in order. Carol, Alana and Phyllis wore long dresses and Carol was holding a bouquet of flowers. Richard and Kenny left the processional and returned with the statue of Mary on a platform. They marched behind the platform between them on their shoulders. The processional ended and the children returned to their pews at the front of the church. The graduates formed a line at the front of the church facing the congregation. The three girls stood next to the statue of Mary. The choir then sang, “Mary We Crown Thee.” Alana was holding a pillow with a crown. Then all the graduates sat down in the front rows of pews. Phyllis took the crown from the pillow and placed it on the head of the statue. Then she sat down. The service consisted of a special blessing for the graduates and their families. Father blessed the sacramental eucharist with incense. The servers knelt with him in front of the altar while he blessed the eucharist. David put a robe around his shoulders and Father put the host into a golden holder and held it with the ends of the robe wrapped around his hands.

After Father spoke to the graduates, they left the church and everyone followed them to the all-purpose room. The girls had on long dresses. The boys had on nice shirts and pants. Kenny was wearing a Levi leisure suit.

The ceremonies in the all-purpose room began at 8:00. Chester, Kenny, Eric, Richard, Bill, Carol, Alana and Phyllis, the graduates, sat on the stage in front of the audience. The class slogan was written on top of the stage curtain in paper letters. Chester walked up to the microphone to welcome everyone. ‘On behalf of my fellow classmates, we welcome you to the St. Paul’s Mission graduation ceremonies. We’re glad you could make it and we thank you for coming.”

Then Sister Giswalda had a slide show accompanied by a tape-recorded discussion. It was a slide show from last year and described the rebuilding of the new mission school after the old school burned down, and of the activities and classes at the mission grade school. She showed the same slide show at the mission Christmas program. People were restless and kids ran around. The light in the projector burned out which only made it worse. The show lasted one and half hours.

Then Sister Bart turned on the tape of pomp and circumstance and the kids marched up onto the stage and Sister Giswalda then announced Gerald Stiffarm to give the commencement address.

It’s a pleasure to address this graduation ceremony. This is the first time I have given a speech like this. You have chosen a very excellent moto for your class. Understanding the value of education. Your educational advancement. Making you a better Indian, individual, a successful young Indian and Catholic. By knowing what you do. Contributors. Realize you hold the future in your hands. In closing, as you graduates experience your high school days, it is another testing ground to someday be able to take care of yourselves, to be US citizens. Two suggestions: Always pray, chosen the virgin Mary as saint – the importance of motherhood in all our lives. Please remember to strive to learn the cultural heritage of your tribe, Gros Ventre, Assiniboine, Cree, Chippewa, Native Americans always cherish the way we speak of ‘us people.’ It is through the youth that we will survive. Respect the older members of your family and your community.

People applauded. It was a short speech and people enjoyed it. Father walked up to Gerald and thanked him.

Father said that before he presented the diplomas he wanted to recognize the parents and grandparents of the graduates and their families. He also thanked all the volunteers, workers, teachers and cooks at the mission. Everyone worked together. Then he called each graduate up and gave them their diplomas. He stood forward so that they had to walk longer and pictures were taken. Brothers and sisters of the graduates took pictures.

Then Phyllis took the microphone and gave a thank you speech. “Speaking for the graduates, we are really grateful to parents for all they have done for us and to our teachers. We also thank our custodians, cooks and classmates. Thank you for coming.”

Sister Giswalda took the microphone and announced that she was going to give out some awards. The honor award for the girls went to Phyllis and for the boys, it went to Chester. Then she gave the awards for a national writing contest that took place in March. All the 7/8^th graders submitted essays and four of the mission students won. The essays will be put into an anthology. When they are printed, they will be given to the parents. Chester and Phyllis won, and two of the 7th graders, Bud and Martin.

Then Sister Giswalda gave each of the graduates a farewell gift. She said that they were special, they were blessed. They were silver key chains with a cross.

Then Mike went up to the microphone and announced that he was going to award ribbons to the winners of the home building contest. He called them the future American home builders. He said that all the homes were excellent and he asked everyone to give the boys a round of applause. He had the frame houses on display in the room on a table. Chester got the blue ribbon and a pocket knife, Kenny got the red ribbon and a pocket knife and Bill a white ribbon. Don Addy did the judging.

Then the tape of pomp and circumstance was played again and the graduates left the stage. A cake baked by Mary with ‘congratulations graduates’ and each of their names on it, was served with coffee and Kool-Aid. Everyone left by 10:30.

5-29-77

After mass on Sunday morning, Father held a baptism for Coffee and Jig’s babies, Marie and Margaret. She marked their feet so she could tell them apart. Jigs sat in the front pew with one of the babies on his lap and Coffee sat with the other. Father stood on the altar in front of them with a table next to him. Susie and I sat on the other side of Coffee. Their young daughter sat between them. Mike and Jan sat on the other side of Jigs. They were asked to be godparents. We were the only ones there. Father explained that the baptism was a way of showing that the kids were now a part of God’s family. He went through the baptism ceremony, anointing each of them with oil, with a sign of the cross on the chest. Mike and Jan promised to help with their religious upbringing. Father poured holy water over their heads … three times, in the name of the son, father, and holy spirit. Then there was a prayer after the ceremony. Coffee thanked God for the people who were there and asked for a special blessing for them. She also thanked God for the doctors because they were so good (Havre). Jigs said a similar prayer. Father was very happy about baptizing these kids because Coffee and Jigs have been staying away from the church and have been going to evangelists in the area.

5-30-77

People were up at the cemetery cleaning grave stones, pulling weeds and putting up new plastic flowers all day. They started coming up in the morning and came all the way until evening. It was like this all week. People even came in from out of town. Father held a special mass at the cemetery on this memorial day in honor of and to pray for all of those buried here. People even cleaned graves during the mass. There were two American flags placed near graves on poles. The mass started at noon and was held in the alfalfa field just north of the cemetery. Father put a table out facing the cemetery and he put out benches for people to sit on. But most people stood during mass. About 50 people came. Most of them were older women.

After the memorial service, Father told me that there had been a dispute at one of the graves this morning. They were arguing about who was buried there. The mission doesn’t have a record of who is buried up there and where. I was told that Luke Shortman is about the only one who knows where everyone is buried. He knows just about every grave. I told Father that it would be a good idea to talk to him about it. He said that he was going to let the Christian Mothers group talk to him about it. It is a good project for them after the Congress.

I don’t remember that this ever happened nor that a record of where everyone was buried was ever created.

Catholic Indian Congress

5-3-77

BJ came into the kitchen to see Brian and Mary. As always, he and Beatrice didn't say anything to each other or look at each other. (Son-in-law, Mother-in-law avoidance). I asked BJ if he was going to connect the wiring for the Catholic Indian Congress. He said that he would. And it wouldn't take long. His father was an electrician, and he taught BJ a lot about electrical work.

Mike said that he met with Virgil, the head of the tribal forest department, about getting poles for the arbor at the mission for the Catholic Indian Congress. He said that he asked for 145 poles to build an arbor for the people coming to the Congress, one for the speakers and band and one to go over the serving tables for the meals. “Virgil was very prompt and efficient in handling our request for poles. He brought over all the papers, and I had to sign. They had to list the number of poles wanted, the size of the poles, and where they were coming from. Virgil took me up to the mountains to show me the spot. He wants us to thin the area where we cut down the trees after we take off the limbs. We have to spread out the brush so that it doesn't become a fire hazard. The place where we are cutting the poles is just above King Springs. We're going to cover the arbors with brush and limbs and leaves. We'll do this about two days before the Congress. Howard Mount promised that he would bring all the cover we needed. He wants to thin the cottonwoods on his land and he's going to prune the trees and bring us the brush.

5-9-77

Socksy asked me how the rummage sale went on Saturday. Nade organized the rummage sale to raise money for the Catholic Indian Congress. Itty, Roseann and Flossy really ran the rummage sale. I told her it made about $55. She said that they had a day care rummage sale this winter and made about $100. “It was in the old gym. That was really a great accomplishment.”

There have been a few raffles this past week for the Congress. Sister Laura’s class had a raffle for an afghan that Laura made. And Nade organized a raffle of a turquoise bracelet and baby moccasins. On Friday, Beatrice was complaining that she never wins anything at these raffles. And she wasn’t going to buy anymore raffle tickets for anything. They had the drawing today and Beatrice won the turquoise bracelet. She had really admired it on Friday and was very happy about winning. All the volunteers gave her a hard time about winning after she made the comment about not buying anymore tickets. Mary won the baby moccasins. They were donated by Jessie Ironman.

5-12-77

Mike and I have been building three arbors for the Catholic Indian Congress. We cut poles out of the mountains and started putting in the poles this week. We had the poles next to the old gym Tuesday night and Mike and I wanted to move them to the spot inside the track where the arbor would be built. We tied 60 poles together with heavy telephone rope but when we tried to pull them, the rope broke. Frank came up to the mission and offered his help. He said he didn’t know if he could do better than us. He chained two groups of poles, each about 15 and tightened the chain by twisting a short pole inside the chains. Then he tied back the pole to keep the chain tight. We stacked the poles on another pole on the ground and when we pulled them with the truck, the pole rolled easily to the spot. Frank is a quiet man, and it was obvious he enjoyed giving us instructions and giving his help.

He had his car and when he opened the door, we saw a lot of stuff piled inside. There was a saddle, rope, bridles, boxes, rags. Frank said that someone told him that he might as well carry his horse around in the car.

Frank came up Wednesday morning with a horse and he had the horse drag the rest of the poles over to the location of the Catholic Indian Congress.

Frank looked up to the mission ridge and told us that the south part of the ridge which still had tall and older trees on it was also hit by the fire. The fire hit there so fast that it didn’t do much damage. And the trees weren’t hurt. It wasn’t topping at all through there, but it stayed on the ground. He said that the fire burned through the mountain for three weeks.

Frank said that he never owned a truck, but he’d like to get one. He said that he would buy one as soon as he could get the money together. He said that he would buy a chevy truck and there’s a dealer in Harlem that he would get it from.

5-16-77  

We had a planning meeting for the Catholic Indian Congress in the all-purpose room that began at 6:30. Father had invited some of the women from the Christian Mother’s organization to help with the planning and the Congress itself. Benita and Russell Plainfeather were there from Lodge Pole. Bernice, Irma and Gootch from Hays and Ona from the Agency and a couple of her friends. Father, Mike, Nade and I were the only ones from the mission. JJ came in late. Father made coffee and served cookies.

We all sat around one of the school lunch tables. Father started the meeting with a prayer and asked for direction and success in the meeting. We planned a menu for three days. The women said that we didn’t have to feed breakfast. That the people who came to camp would plan on fixing their own breakfast. Irma said that’s the way the Indian does it. Mike and I thought that we should have something for those who didn’t bring food. Irma thought that we could serve a special breakfast to the bishops, priests and band and guests. Father thought that they should have no special treatment. We compromised by deciding to bake rolls for breakfast and to only serve coffee and rolls. Father said that a woman from Lewistown volunteered to bake rolls for breakfast and to help in other ways.

We also planned lunch and dinner and decided on all the ingredients and amounts to serve 1000 people. Four beefs were donated by Don Addy, Ray Williams, Davey Hawley and Joe Red Thunder. Kelly Thomas donated a pig, but we couldn’t find a use for it. We couldn’t decide on a lot of the amounts – all the women said, ‘who measures?’ When they cook, you just add until it looks right.

Then we had to decide on the beef. Some thought 4 beefs was enough and some thought it wasn’t. Finally, JJ came in and said that the average beef weighed 900 to 1000 pounds on the hoof. Dressed out you’d get about 500 pounds. If you get 50%, you’re doing ok. So, we thought 1 1/3 beefs a night would work out. The beef will be boiled in four 10-gallon kettles each day for that night’s dinner. Then the meat will be served and 40 gallons of soup made by adding the veg-all, onions, tomatoes and macaroni. 3,000 pieces of fry bread will be made for each night. Benita will make the dough for each night’s fry bread but that night’s cooking crew will have to fry it.

Father organized three cooking crews – Lodge Pole, Hays and Agency. Agency volunteered to do the dinner for Friday because they thought it would be small. Lodge Pole will take Saturday lunch and Hays, Sunday lunch. All the crews will prepare and serve Saturday and Sunday dinner. The women there said that they would be responsible for putting together their own cooking crews.

Gootch made a list of the Christian Mothers Organization. There were about 35 women in the group. She said that it would be all the women in the group before 1965. That’s when they stopped being active. Not all the Catholic Mothers were in the group – they had to be accepted into the group.

Father asked about a mini pow wow at the Catholic Indian Congress on Sunday afternoon. Irma said that all the drums were in mourning, and they couldn’t play. Blacklodge was in mourning from Ira and the Hays Singers from Mary. She said that they would have to get drums from Rocky Boy, Fort Peck and Crow. Father said that all he wanted was an honor song for our father Jesus since Sunday was Father’s Day, and there would be a giveaway. Someone from the reservation could do it. Irma said that a mini pow wow could get out of hand, and it could become a big pow wow, and there is no stopping it.

Catholic Indian Congress Meals

About 1000 – 1500 per day

Friday June 17 lunch – Lewistown       dinner - Agency

Saturday June18 breakfast        lunch- Lodge Pole        dinner – all

Sunday June 19 breakfast         lunch – Hays                dinner – all

Menu:

Breakfast (2)

Coffee, rolls, donuts

Lunch (3)

Sandwiches, beans, potato chips (individual, assorted), coffee, tea, Kool-Aid

Dinner (3)

Beef, soup, fry bread, fruit, coffee, tea, Kool-Aid

Utensils

Plastic forks, spoons 2000/ each, hard plastic

Plates – 6,000 cups – 8,000 bowls – 3,000, towels – 1 case, napkins – 8,000

Breakfast

1000 rolls, donuts

4 - 2-pound cans of coffee (all day)

2 pounds tea (all day)

Lunch

Sandwiches:

100 loaves of bread (1 loaf = 10 sandwiches)

50 cans of beef and chicken

5 one-gallon jars of mayonnaise

30 #10 cans of beans

1000 individual packages assorted chips

Coffee tea, 5 large Kool-Aid

Dinner

Beef: 1 1/3 beefs

Soup: 4 10-gallon kettles water from beef, macaroni – 24  one pound packages (6 per kettle), veg-all 12 one gallon cans (3 per kettle), onions 16 large (4 per kettle), tomatoes 12 one gallon cans (3 per kettle).

Fry bread – 3000 pieces

100 pounds of flour

25 pounds of sugar (for coffee)

10 pounds of salt (for cooking)

1 pound can yeast or 6 pounds baking soda

10 gallons shortening

One box powered milk

Fruit: apples, oranges – 1,000

Kool-Aid – 5 large cans

Totals for three days

Coffee: 12 2-pound cans

Rolls and donuts: 2,000

Tea 6 pounds – bulk

Bread 300 loaves

Beef and chicken 150 cans

Mayonnaise 15 one-gallon jars

Beans 90 #10 cans

Chips individual assorted 3,000

Kool-Aid 30 large cans

Beefs 4

Baking powder 18 pounds

Macaroni

72 one-pound packages

Veg-all 36 one-gallon cans

Onions 48 large

Tomatoes 36 one-gallon cans

Flour 300 pounds

Sugar 75 pounds

Salt 30 pounds

Yeast 3 one-pound cans

Shortening 30 gallons

Powdered milk 6 boxes

Apples, oranges 3,000 pieces (both)

Estimates of cost

Rolls $200

Coffee $36

Tea $6

Bread $150

Beef and Chicken $300

Mayonnaise $60

Powdered milk $5

Beans $200

Chips $300

Kool-Aid $60

Macaroni $25

Veg-all $100

Onions $5

Baking powder $20

Tomatoes $100

Flour $200

Sugar $60

Salt $6

Yeast $15

Shortening $15

Fruit $300

Forks and spoons $40

Plates $300

Cups $200

Bowls $150

Towels $25

Napkins $30

Source

Coffee: Camp Crier, Western Warehouse

Rolls, donuts: Lewistown / Eddy’s

Bread: Eddy’s

Tea: Western Warehouse

Beef and chicken: Camp Crier, Mission

Mayonnaise: Western Warehouse

Beans: Camp Crier, Western Warehouse

Chips: Western Warehouse

Kool aid: Western Warehouse

Macaroni: Camp Crier

Veg-all: Camp Crier Western Warehouse

Onions: Food Farm Buttreys

Tomatoes: Camp Crier Western Warehouse

Flour: Western Warehouse

Sugar: Camp Crier Western Warehouse

Salt: Western Warehouse

Yeast: Western Warehouse

Shortening: Camp Crier Western Warehouse

Powdered milk: Mission

Baking powder: Western Warehouse

Apples, oranges: Food Farm’ Buttrey’s, IGA

Mike and I decided to advertise in the Camp Crier the need for donations of food, especially commodity food for the Congress. Mike asked Frank about getting commodities because he’s a councilman and has the job of deciding the eligibility of commodities. Frank said he would check. He is also ordering more posters for the Congress. The posters were done on lithograph. Posters are being sent with a letter to all parishes, missions, and reservations in Montana, North and South Dakota, Wyoming, Idaho, Washington and parts of British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan.

We are planning for between 1,000 and 1,500 people for a three-day Catholic Indian Congress, June 17-19. Camping day is June 16.

Mike and I are building a platform for the speakers and band. Steve Fox has a small sawmill, and he is going to cut planks for us. Mike is helping him, and he is going to sell it to us for a good price.

5-17-77  

Gordon and I were talking about the band for the Catholic Indian Congress. ‘The Living Sound’. I told him they charge $700 per day for playing but they would only charge us what we could afford. Gordon seemed upset about their high price. He said, I wonder why Indian singing groups don’t charge that much. We should tell Father that if he wants the Hays drum to sing, he should pay us $400. I told him that Father would ask someone else. Gordon said that there was one group that charged $150 and thought that was not right.

5-18-77

Frank came up to the mission to report on his activities for the Congress. He ordered more posters from the printer today, and they promised they would get them done by Friday. Frank drew the posters and had 200 printed already. He wants to pay for these also. He said he talked to the people about the commodities, and they said that the mission couldn’t get them for the Congress. They can’t give them to groups like that. The Christmas groups ask for them and they had to say no also.

He talked to the people from the PHS sanitation department to see if we could borrow their porta-johns. I told them that the mission didn’t want to dig holes all over because the Congress would be held in a good wheat field. They said that they would try to locate them for us. I thanked Frank for all the work he’s been doing. He said that he was happy to do it. He said,” you guys are new here, and you don’t know yet how to get some things done. It takes time to learn your way around. I know where to go for these things. I’m glad to help you out. That’s part of my job as a councilman.”

Frank painted a picture of the blessed mother on walnut with pastels and Mike made a frame for it and treated the wood with build 50. It’s been raffled off for $1 a chance or 6 for $5. It has been in Joplin, Havre and Malta. It has made close to $200 so far and will be in the Food Farm before the Congress so it will make more.

While Frank and I were talking, Mike brought out a star quilt to show us. It was the most beautiful star quilt I’ve seen since being here. He said that Francis Fox donated it for the Congress to be raffled off. She is an older woman and lives on the reservation toward Dodson. The chances will be sold for $1 or 6 for $5. The quilt will be used as the backdrop behind the speakers and band platform and will be raffled off on Sunday. Chances will be sold through the Congress. I asked Frank who Francis was and he said that she married Andrew Fox, Quentin’s uncle – he’s deceased. Her maiden name was Ereaux. Henry Fox was Andrew’s brother and so was George – Quentin’s father.

Mike said that the senior citizens had a bake sale today at the community center for the Congress. The women baked for it and everything sold out really fast. They said that they could have sold more. There wasn’t enough. Ruby Jones and Rosey Connors brought up the money. They made $45.

5-18-77

I told Frank that Mike and I were going to cut tipi poles next week because we have to get them ready for the Congress. We’re expecting at least eight tipis from the Crow Reservation. Russell Plainfeather is planning it. I asked Frank if there was any way to strip the bark that is easier. He said that there’s no easy way to do it. It’s a hard job. The old Indian people didn’t all live in tipis. Most of these stone rings out there are from wikiups. You can see them all over. There’s even a lot on top of Snake Butte.

He said if there’s a good way to get the bark off, you tell me, and I’ll be doing it for a living. Frank said that 22 poles were used to put up a tipi. You can’t just throw it up either. You have to know what you’re doing. You can’t just walk around and put up poles. You start with three poles and put them up like a tripod and you tie them up in a special way. You can’t just tie it any way. Then you put up the rest and you put them up clockwise around the tipi. Then you put up two poles that go into a part of the covering, they attach to a flap at the top used for ventilation and when a fire is going, it lets out smoke. When the poles are apart, the flap is open, but when you close the poles, the flap closes. To really sturdy the tipi, they would drop the rope that tied the tops of the poles down into the center of the inside of the tipi and would peg it down to the ground. I’ll tell you, in a big wind, I’d rather be in a tipi than any home.

Father told Frank that he wanted to come to a council meeting soon to explain the Congress and to formally invite the councilmen to the Congress. Frank said that you might be able to get some money from the council. We have Class B Funds – that’s money that comes from tribal leases and other assets. They won’t give money to a religious group. One church wanted to build a church on the reservation, and they asked for money to help them build. We said no, because once you give to one, you have to give to all of them. But the Congress is different. It’s for so many people. I won’t promise you’ll get money, but you can try. We take care of our business, and then we give each guest a twenty-minute period to talk. I don’t know when our next meeting is, but they send me a letter two days before. I’ll let you know.

5-23-77  

Mike and I cut about 75 poles to make the arbors for the Congress. We had most of the poles in the ground, but we needed 20 more poles to complete the three arbors and the electric poles. We had about 25 poles stacked up on the ground. When we went out to the track this morning, we discovered that someone had stolen all the good poles that we had left out there. We’ll have to go back up into the mountains to get the poles we need. Mike said that a new baseball stop was just built in Whitecow Canyon. He said if they used the poles to build it, he had a pretty good idea about who stole the poles.

5-24-77  

Ray said that Cyndee was leaving for Missoula this week to go to school. She’s going to stay with a woman there who came from this reservation, until she can get a place to live and get settled. “Pretty soon it is going to be just me and Irma in the house. I figure we can put up about five or six people for the Catholic Indian Congress. It’s fine if Father Noel wants to stay with us.”

Gordon said that he was going to sing at the Catholic Indian Congress, an honor song before the giveaway. Father wants a mini pow wow on Sunday afternoon, with an honor song and then the giveaway. Gordon said that there wouldn’t be many men dancers, because there was a pow wow at Red Bottom, Ft. Peck at the same time as the Congress. (There seems to be a relationship between the number of men dancers and the success of the pow wow. Earlier Ray told me that the Havre pow wow stunk because there were only three men dancers). Gordon said that there also wouldn’t be many drums because of the Red Bottom pow wow.

Just after the rosary, Frank came up to talk to Mike, Susie and me. He asked us how things were going with the Congress. We talked about the problems we had getting a portable toilet and Frank joked about buying some and then getting stuck with them after the Congress. We talked about getting planks for the platform. Mike said that he might use barn wood from the Old Mission Sheep Ranch (off 376 just south of the reservation).

5-26-77

Father called a planning meeting at 2:00 for the Congress. Father Pete Guthnic came from Poplar and brought a few people from the Ft. Peck Reservation who were active in the planning of the Catholic Indian Congress in Poplar last year, three women and Joe Red Thunder and Tom Doney. There were also people from Hays, Itty, Irene, Lindey, Edith, Gordon, Margaret June, Rosey, Charles and Roseann and Mae Stiffarm. Sister Bart, Mike, Susie and I were there from the mission. Susie fixed dinner and was preparing to serve it.

Father announced that the meeting today would be separated into a few different segments: food, schedule of events, and prayer. I gave our plans for the menu, preparation and serving food.

And then it occurred to me that Susie and I were going to be in charge of the menu, preparation and serving food for between 1,000 and 1,500 people for three meals a day for three days. There’s no way that Franz Boas or Margaret Mead had any of these responsibilities while they were doing their fieldwork.

We all planned the schedule of events. We made up a final schedule and I have arranged it into a bulletin.

One of the women read off some of the costs from last year at Poplar: Father McNutt $750, Living Sound $380, Cooks and helpers $125. Father Pete said that they had a collection Saturday evening and Sunday and they collected $1500. There are a lot of white people who come and want to do something to help contribute since they had nothing to do with the planning. They want these collections. We just passed around a couple of buckets.

Mike asked Joe Thunder if he was going to bring a tipi. They want to use tipis for a confessional and for a prayer place. He said he would and he needed 19 poles. Mike and I laughed. Mike said that everyone we asked gave us a different number of poles, 22, 19, 17 and 14 tipi poles. Joe said it depends on the size of the tipi and how long you plan to keep it up. He said he would bring two tipis and he knew one other woman who would bring a tipi. Tom said that this is a Catholic Indian Congress and we should take every opportunity to bring the Indian tradition into the Congress. He suggested a procession with the Bishop on horses and servers wearing Indian garb. Father agreed that we should do all that we could to incorporate the Indian culture and promised he would do what he could to do this.

Father Pete talked about last year and how local people joined in the singing. Father asked Lindey if Eddie would be interested in playing during the Congress. Eddie writes and sings religious music. They will arrange for him to play along with the Living Sound. Father is also going to ask other local talent.

Father said that the Christian Mothers group was going to get back together. They had planned a benediction Sunday night to begin the group again and the first meeting would be held on Tuesday night. “People are going to want to follow up after the Congress and this group will be one way to do that. There may be other groups that form also. Father McNutt teaches people that they have the power to heal through prayer. We’ll have to follow this up.”

Father brought up the idea of asking television stations to come in and cover the Congress. He said it might be a good idea to have people see something like this take place on the reservation. Then it was mentioned that they might take pictures during the healing session. It was then decided that neither tv or newspapers should be invited in, and we should restrict picture taking to certain times during the Congress.

Tom Doney asked if Sunday morning the mass could be held in Latin. Father and Pete both laughed. They didn’t answer, but everyone there decided it was a good idea. They wanted to hear and see the Latin mass. Tom asked if there was anyone here who could sing a prayer in Gros Ventre. Since the Congress is being held here, the prayers should be sung in Gros Ventre. No one said anything for a while, then Socksy said the only one she could think of was Eddy Doney. He could sing in Gros Ventre and he would put the Gros Ventre to shame. He wasn’t even Gros Ventre. He passed away this year.

After the meeting, everyone held hands in a circle and a prayer meeting was held. Only Father, Pete, Mike and Sister Bart prayed out loud. None of the Indians said anything. They prayed for the preparation and success of the Congress. After the prayer, Father announced that on Tuesdays and Fridays until the Congress, there would be a fast and prayer day to pray for the Congress. Then there was a small feed, and the Ft. Peck people left.

While I have no memory of it, I am certain that I never missed a meal on Tuesdays and Fridays.

5-27-77

Mike said that Tony Costello was leaving. He is the preacher at the Assembly of God Church in Lodge Pole. Mike said that he’s a good man and they’re going to miss him. Mike also said that Sherman Cochran told him that he thought the Congress is the best thing that ever happened to Ft. Belknap. He’s an evangelist singer.

Mike had arranged for Steve Fox to cut the planks for a platform needed for the Catholic Indian Congress. He had a small sawmill and Mike wanted to give him the work. But when Mike went back to him to cut the wood, Steve wasn’t around. No one knew when he was going to be back. So, Mike went to Beaver Creek to see Ted Doney. Ted also has a small sawmill and he told Mike he could do the job for us. He said he would have the wood ready by early June.

5-28-77

After the Sunday movie, Susie and I went to the rectory and we were talking to Father. He said that he was glad that the Christian Mothers group was going to get started again. “They’re having their first meeting on Tuesday night. They are becoming involved in the preparations for the Congress and they will help with the cooking and serving during the Congress. After the Congress there is going to be a need for follow-up and I think the Christian Mothers group will help. The men also want to start a group. I think it is important though that the efforts after the Congress be family oriented and that we work more with families. That the energies not be put into all these groups but that it be centered in the families. I would like to get a couples group started.”

5-29-77

After mass on Sunday, I saw Beatrice and Jim in their car. I went up to talk to them and Beatrice asked me if we got all the money that was donated from the giveaways at the pow wow last night. She said that $100 was donated by a woman from Frazier before the pow wow and $5 was donated by the woman who had the giveaway and $15 more during Preston Stiffarm’s give away. “They called for St. Paul’s mission for the Catholic Indian Congress, but you had left already. And no one went up to get the money during the giveaway. Finally, Jim went up and got it.

I asked Beatrice if she was planning on going to the Christian Mothers meeting. She said that she had already done her share in the group, and she was going to leave it to the younger people.

My fieldnotes make clear that I met Father Pete Guthnic in 1977. I am certain that we met more than once and worked on projects together, such as the Catholic Indian Congress. Father Pete lived and worked on the Rocky Boy Reservation for decades. He was a dear friend to both Mike and Ligia. Mike built the church on Rocky Boy for Father Pete after Mike left the mission. I have no doubt that Father Pete was also a strong influence on Mike deciding to go to the seminary and to become a priest.

In 2017, fifty years after meeting Father Pete, he was there for me during one of the most horrible and challenging times in my life. After Pauline died in a tragic accident, she was taken to a funeral home in Havre. I told Mike and Ligia that I wanted a priest to say the appropriate prayers for her. The next morning, Father Pete came to the funeral home and met Mike, Ligia and I there. We prayed over Pauline. Father then called and spoke to Pauline’s parents. The funeral home took Pauline to the airport in Billings. That same day, Father Pete drove me, Mike and Ligia to Billings. We stayed overnight at a hotel and then Father took us to the airport for me to be on the plane with Pauline back to Columbus at 6:00 in the morning.

I will be forever grateful to Father Pete for his support and care. He is a very good man.

May her memory be a blessing.