By Sara Roeder, Class of 2008
Mitakuye oyas’in! This phrase, meaning “all my relatives” in the native Lakota language of the Sioux Native Americans, became the theme of the Stevens Institute of Technology team’s trip to Timber Lake, South Dakota for Habitat for Humanity. With these words, the Lakota culture attempts to communicate the belief that all life is connected, and there was no better premise to observe this cultural philosophy than from the perspective of a Collegiate Challenge.
The Collegiate Challenge is an alternative spring break program sponsored by Habitat for Humanity during which students spend a week building a house for a partnership affiliate. The Stevens Institute of Technology team trekked to the Okiciyapi Tipi HFH affiliate on the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation in Timber Lake. Upon landing in the Midwest, the general sentiment was that the group had arrived in a foreign country, one in which the predictable, geometric patterns created by innumerable skyscrapers were replaced by expansive vistas of rolling prairie and irregular rocky buttes.
As the team pulled in to our final destination at the Holy Cross Catholic School, we were greeted warmly by Sisters Pegge Boehm and Darlene Gutenkauf with their arms full of an extensive array of bar cookies: brownies, blondies, pumpkin bars, spice cake, and more. The hospitality did not end there, as the team enjoyed several home-cooked meals throughout the week. The accommodations at Holy Cross were simply the start of the progression to a new understanding of the word ‘community’.
With bellies full and bodies rested, the team embarked on their true mission for the week: building a house for a Timber Lake family. The Marshalls are a family of five that have fallen on hard times, and have turned to Habitat for Humanity for a hand up. The building site was seven miles away on a gravel road in a desolate town known as Glencross. On Monday, the team was faced with the challenge of erecting an enclosed house on what appeared to be little more than foundation and decking. During the week, the team fought through blisters, splinters, wind, snow, and precarious ladder maneuvers in order build exterior walls, interior framing, and complete a roof for the Marshalls.
Although the work was tough, the team thoroughly enjoyed the time under the tutelage of construction superintendent a.k.a. crew boss Ted “Teddy” Eagle (the added help of Adam Westbrook and Allison Moe, two Habitat veterans in town for a few days, also sped up the construction process). The camaraderie experienced at the site contributed to the group’s increasing awareness of the importance of human relationships in both rural and urban societies. This importance, and relevance, of human connections also carried over into the Native American cultural activities planned by the Okiciyapi Tipi HFH affiliate.
While on the reservation, the Stevens team participated in a native sweat lodge ceremony, listened to live performances of traditional Sioux folksongs and legends, and also ate the local delicacy: “Indian tacos”. By far, the most intense cultural experience the team partook in was the sweat lodge. All 15 team members entered into a deer hide tent constructed with willows that stood approximately four feet tall with a diameter of twelve feet. In the center of this tent lay several igneous rocks that had been heating in a blazing fire for most of the day. The sweat lodge leader would pour water over the rocks during the ceremony to create steam which would in turn heat the participants. The team then endured four rounds of sweating throughout which the sweat lodge leader chanted Lakota songs and prayers. While the team did not directly understand the meaning of the words being spoken, communication and intercultural connections were deepened as a result of the sharing of this ceremony.
Another favorite activity of the Stevens group was a trip out to the ranch of the head of the affiliate, Jerry Farlee. At present, he maintains cattle and bison on the ranch. The excursion was taken on a truly picturesque day, and several team members will have photographs to treasure the landscapes. Throughout the tour, Farlee stressed the Sioux reliance on subsistence living. This event demonstrated the connection that humans have to the land, and also showed how delicate of a connection it is when facing the advance of an increasingly modern world.
As the Stevens students return to Hoboken, New Jersey, many of them have taken on new perspectives as a direct result of their experiences in the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation and, more specifically, the Timber Lake community. The students approached this alternative spring break with open minds and open hearts, and have broadened their perception of community beyond the simply cordial to the nearly familial. As a group, we would like to say thank you, mitakuye oyas’in, for all that you have shared.
