Paintings

Thought I would share a story, I had forgotten all about, but maybe some of you have heard it before. I was probably around five or six, when this all happened. Our priest in Oshkosh when I was a child, Father Madsen, had moved up to the Northwest part of the state. I think he was posted in Crawford, Nebraska. Well, one day, he tells Dad, he has some very exciting news for us. He has arranged for us to be allowed to view a Sioux Sun Dance in South Dakota. It was something, Father Madsen told us, very few white people get to experience. It a sacred religious celebration, so it is a very big deal.

We went up to Fr. Madsen's a day or two before the Sun Dance was to take place. Father repeatedly reminded us, how important it was that we show respect for the ceremony and behave ourselves. The day of the celebration we arrive at the place of the sundance, there were already cars there, and an area with some shelter built around part of it, and Native American families were sitting on blankets under the shelter and around the area where the men would dance. I remember sitting on Mom's lap as she sat on the ground watching the dancing begin. As we sat there, a little Indian boy came and grabbed my hand and spoke to me, but I didn't understand him. Mom told me, she thought he wanted me to play, so I went with him. We went to see who I figured was his Mom and he talked to her. She asked me if I would like to play. I told her yes, as long as I didn't get in trouble, because the priest who brought me, said to stay out of trouble. She and some of the ladies laughed and said, they doubted there would be any trouble. 

So I and my little Indian friend played and played. It was really hot that morning, and I was getting awful thirsty. So I went to ask Mom if I could get a pop to drink. Mom had even packed my favorite orange pop. My mom said yes, I could have a pop, but I was only getting to get two pops all day, so make them last. I said ok, and went to get a pop out of the back of our car, it was a station

wagon. My little Indian friend followed me. After I had opened the pop and taken a big drink, I thought I would put the pop back in the cooler, in the ice, so it didn't fall over, and I would drink more later. But looking at my Indian friend, I decided I would let him have a drink, so I handed him the pop. He took a big drink, and when he did, another little Indian boy came over and my friend gave the bottle to him. I said No, and tried to grabbed the bottle back, but other boys had come for drinks, and I had a hard time getting the bottle back. I eventually did, but my friend took it again. So I jumped on him, and he and I started fighting, by the back of our car. I finally knocked him down, and I don't know why I did, but I had a toy gun that shot a cork, and it was in the back of the car. I grabbed the gun and shot my friend while he was on the ground. . .I heard the drums stopped and all sorts of people came running to me and my friend. I saw his Mom, she was one of the first ones there, and the look on her face, I knew it wasn't good. Eventually Father Madsen got things calmed down enough to tell my Dad to get us out of there

 Right Now !!  We left immediately, so we never got to see much of the Sun Dance. I remember my Dad saying, son-of-a-bitch Doug, I would think you would be smart enough not to get into a fight with an Indian in the middle of an Indian Reservation. . . . .a little foot note to this story, Agnes, Father Madsen's housekeeper, explained to me the next morning, that Indians looked differently at things, when I gave that pop to my friend, it became his to share with who he wanted to . . . . .During college at UNK I was in a class that went to the Rosebud Reservation. We were to meet with the Council, but they were running late, so we were sitting outside the building on a bench. An older Indian gentleman and a young girl maybe 5 or 6 sat down beside me and my classmates. The little girl smiled and got up and stepped out in front of me and pulled a rubber ball out of her pocket and bounced it to me. We played like that for a bit, then a little boy came around the corner. He waited until the ball came to me, and then came up to me with his hand out, wanting the ball. I looked at the ball, the little boy, and the little girl, then gave him the ball. My classmate next to me, yelled, you crazy and started towards the boy. I grabbed my classmate and told him, Leave it!  The little boy ran away, the old gentleman nodded and said, I am surprised, you know our ways. The little girl gave me a hug, and she and older gentleman went on their way . . . .never told my classmates how I knew, what I was to do . . . this is all true, though my siblings might have more to add . . . .