Notes for "A Body Taking a Mind for a Walk"
These are the notes for "A Body Taking a Mind for a Walk."
Grey Bull (Todd Hamilton) -- He has fair skin and gray eyes. His long hair was brown in his youth, but has gone white all around the front and sides rather abruptly. The front and top turned white about a year ago, then the sides over the next several months. His heritage is Assiniboine and Cree; he speaks English and Nakota (Assiniboine). He is 67 years old in 2014.
Todd grew up in the Fort Peck Reservation, then married a woman from Rocky Boy's Reservation. After moving back and forth several times, he currently lives in Rocky Boy's. He served in the army for 4 years. Then he worked in bison conservation, gaining a herd for Fort Peck in 1992, when he got the name Grey Bull. He is a widower with 5 children, 8 grandchildren, and 3 great-grandchildren. He also has 3 sisters and 2 brothers, along with their 9 children and 2 great-grandchildren. His relatives help take care of him as his health is failing, likely due to exposure to toxic chemicals during military service. Grey Bull has decided to approach his death as a new adventure, rather than pursue elaborate medical interventions.
Qualities: Master (+8) Existential Wisdom, Expert (+4) Bison Conservation, Expert (+4) Elder, Good (+2) Army Veteran, Good (+2) Nature Lover, Good (+2) Tadaguyebi
Poor (-2) Kidney Failure
The Assiniboine Family is called Tadaguyebi. The Assiniboine word translated to mean, “All of those who are related to each other.”
(In T-America, the Fort Peck herd started in March 1992.)
Bison
In March 2012, 63 American bison from Yellowstone National Park were transferred to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation prairie, to be released to a 2,100-acre (8.5 km2; 3.3 sq mi) game preserve 25 miles (40 km) north of Poplar. There are many other bison herds outside Yellowstone, but this is one of the very few genetically pure ones, not cross-bred with cattle. Native Americans celebrated the move, which came over a century after bison were nearly wiped out by hunters and the government. The Assiniboine and Gros Ventre tribes at the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation will also receive a portion of this herd.[12] In November 2014, an additional 136 American Bison from Yellowstone National Park were added to the Fort Peck Herd. The preserve has also been enlarged to 13,000 acres (53 km2; 20 sq mi) as Fort Peck Fish and Game works toward their target goal of 1,000 bison, which scientists feel is the minimum herd size necessary to restore the Bison to the role they once had in the environment.[13] The tribe continues to receive Yellowstone bison for quarantine and transfer to other tribes.
The Fort Peck Tribes Fish and Game Department maintain Turtle Mound Buffalo ranch in Montana, which has about 200 head (2013) in the buffalo herd. Buffalo were reintroduced to this area in 1999.
Kidney disease is a known but not acknowledged consequence of exposure to Agent Orange. Toxins in general often damage the filtering organs.
* * *
"For what are we, if not a body taking a mind for a walk, just to see what's there?"
-- Cory Taylor, from her book Dying: A Memoir
"I am making a shape for my death, so that I, and others, can see it clearly," she writes, "and I am making dying bearable for myself."
-- Cory Taylor, from her book Dying: A Memoir
Clouds come in many shapes.
End of life care is often execrable in the mainstream. Compassionate touch and company can improve this.
Elders play a major role in tribal society that gains them much respect, usually starting around age 60, sometimes younger or older. Many Tongues counts as a young elder because he is both disabled and active in language preservation: he's doing the work, so he gets the credit.
In tribal cultures, it is considered an honor to care for elders, although there are still problems. It makes a big difference, whether elders are valued as in tribal culture or devalued in mainstream culture. Regarding end-of-life care, many elders seek a peaceful death with little or no medical intervention, rather than wanting heroic action; a "just let me go" approach follows naturally from tribal beliefs about life and death.
Many tribal people resent and distrust institutions, which are badly designed for their needs, and elders are most likely to have survived some really terrible treatment. So many Terramagne-American reservations, including Rocky Boy's, have built their own eldercare systems to support traditional family care and long-term care. Their time-based tribal currency really helps this, because people without close relatives can stockpile it to hire tribal helpers later. Young people can serve the tribe, or an elder, for two years and that's enough to cover a degree at the tribal college. Stone Child College offers a variety of cultural, social service, and health degrees, so tribe members can easily access training useful in caregiving. The T-American version has more than the L-American one, including a specific option for Elder Care.
When people know that death is coming, they have time to talk about it and plan ahead. This is preferable to getting caught unawares. There are tasks that should be completed before death. However, it is much better to do things as you go along, so you aren't scrambling to finish at the last moment. If we treated death like birth, and prepared for it, more people would have a good death than the miserable mess that typically happens. Mindful death is something people can pursue; here are some resources.
Native American beliefs and rituals about death vary across tribes. Compare Chippewa and Cree examples. Many tribes of the Great Plains laid people to rest on a platform or in a tree. These videos offer tribal experiences about death, loss, and grief.
The Sun Dance was banned from 1883 to 1933, or 1978. Some people performed Sun Dances in secret, but many were deterred. In theory, it's legal now. In practice, sometimes outsiders still interrupt ceremonies and harass the participants.
Grey Bull (Todd Hamilton) -- He has fair skin and gray eyes. His long hair was brown in his youth, but has gone white all around the front and sides rather abruptly. The front and top turned white about a year ago, then the sides over the next several months. His heritage is Assiniboine and Cree; he speaks English and Nakota (Assiniboine). He is 67 years old in 2014.
Todd grew up in the Fort Peck Reservation, then married a woman from Rocky Boy's Reservation. After moving back and forth several times, he currently lives in Rocky Boy's. He served in the army for 4 years. Then he worked in bison conservation, gaining a herd for Fort Peck in 1992, when he got the name Grey Bull. He is a widower with 5 children, 8 grandchildren, and 3 great-grandchildren. He also has 3 sisters and 2 brothers, along with their 9 children and 2 great-grandchildren. His relatives help take care of him as his health is failing, likely due to exposure to toxic chemicals during military service. Grey Bull has decided to approach his death as a new adventure, rather than pursue elaborate medical interventions.
Qualities: Master (+8) Existential Wisdom, Expert (+4) Bison Conservation, Expert (+4) Elder, Good (+2) Army Veteran, Good (+2) Nature Lover, Good (+2) Tadaguyebi
Poor (-2) Kidney Failure
The Assiniboine Family is called Tadaguyebi. The Assiniboine word translated to mean, “All of those who are related to each other.”
(In T-America, the Fort Peck herd started in March 1992.)
Bison
In March 2012, 63 American bison from Yellowstone National Park were transferred to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation prairie, to be released to a 2,100-acre (8.5 km2; 3.3 sq mi) game preserve 25 miles (40 km) north of Poplar. There are many other bison herds outside Yellowstone, but this is one of the very few genetically pure ones, not cross-bred with cattle. Native Americans celebrated the move, which came over a century after bison were nearly wiped out by hunters and the government. The Assiniboine and Gros Ventre tribes at the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation will also receive a portion of this herd.[12] In November 2014, an additional 136 American Bison from Yellowstone National Park were added to the Fort Peck Herd. The preserve has also been enlarged to 13,000 acres (53 km2; 20 sq mi) as Fort Peck Fish and Game works toward their target goal of 1,000 bison, which scientists feel is the minimum herd size necessary to restore the Bison to the role they once had in the environment.[13] The tribe continues to receive Yellowstone bison for quarantine and transfer to other tribes.
The Fort Peck Tribes Fish and Game Department maintain Turtle Mound Buffalo ranch in Montana, which has about 200 head (2013) in the buffalo herd. Buffalo were reintroduced to this area in 1999.
Kidney disease is a known but not acknowledged consequence of exposure to Agent Orange. Toxins in general often damage the filtering organs.
* * *
"For what are we, if not a body taking a mind for a walk, just to see what's there?"
-- Cory Taylor, from her book Dying: A Memoir
"I am making a shape for my death, so that I, and others, can see it clearly," she writes, "and I am making dying bearable for myself."
-- Cory Taylor, from her book Dying: A Memoir
Clouds come in many shapes.
End of life care is often execrable in the mainstream. Compassionate touch and company can improve this.
Elders play a major role in tribal society that gains them much respect, usually starting around age 60, sometimes younger or older. Many Tongues counts as a young elder because he is both disabled and active in language preservation: he's doing the work, so he gets the credit.
In tribal cultures, it is considered an honor to care for elders, although there are still problems. It makes a big difference, whether elders are valued as in tribal culture or devalued in mainstream culture. Regarding end-of-life care, many elders seek a peaceful death with little or no medical intervention, rather than wanting heroic action; a "just let me go" approach follows naturally from tribal beliefs about life and death.
Many tribal people resent and distrust institutions, which are badly designed for their needs, and elders are most likely to have survived some really terrible treatment. So many Terramagne-American reservations, including Rocky Boy's, have built their own eldercare systems to support traditional family care and long-term care. Their time-based tribal currency really helps this, because people without close relatives can stockpile it to hire tribal helpers later. Young people can serve the tribe, or an elder, for two years and that's enough to cover a degree at the tribal college. Stone Child College offers a variety of cultural, social service, and health degrees, so tribe members can easily access training useful in caregiving. The T-American version has more than the L-American one, including a specific option for Elder Care.
When people know that death is coming, they have time to talk about it and plan ahead. This is preferable to getting caught unawares. There are tasks that should be completed before death. However, it is much better to do things as you go along, so you aren't scrambling to finish at the last moment. If we treated death like birth, and prepared for it, more people would have a good death than the miserable mess that typically happens. Mindful death is something people can pursue; here are some resources.
Native American beliefs and rituals about death vary across tribes. Compare Chippewa and Cree examples. Many tribes of the Great Plains laid people to rest on a platform or in a tree. These videos offer tribal experiences about death, loss, and grief.
The Sun Dance was banned from 1883 to 1933, or 1978. Some people performed Sun Dances in secret, but many were deterred. In theory, it's legal now. In practice, sometimes outsiders still interrupt ceremonies and harass the participants.