A Reservation Christmas Tale

A Reservation Christmas Tale

         Today is our last day of school and everyone is going home for Christmas vacation. Our teacher stapled some paper together with red and green covers made out of construction paper. Sister Grace told us that we are to write about our two week vacation for homework. I looked over at my cousin Kristy and groaned and she made a face and shook her head. Kristy and I were in the same third grade class at St. Agatha Indian School. All the kids in class moaned but quietly accepted their paper books to write about Christmas vacation in. School seemed to last forever that day and five minute's before it came to an end, everyone got a new pair of socks with an orange and a candy cane inside as a present from the Teacher. We finally got on our coats and walked in line outside to wait for our family's to pick us up. It was freezing out as we waited in the snow covered parking lot. Kristy had one pair of mittens and we shared one when she let me put my hand inside of one of her mittens. I had my old green scarf still and stretched it out so she could use part of it to keep warmer too.

"Kristy, Sara!!" We heard our names called out and it was Uncle Wally and Auntie Annie who came to drive us home. Uncle Wally waved as we ran to the old red Plymouth he must have had for fifty years. Uncle Wally and Auntie Annie were Kristy's parents, and two of my favorite Auntie's and Uncle's in the world. We scrambled into the back seat for the long ride home to our reservation. It was 75 miles in one direction, and though the car was old, the heater stll worked a little.

         It took over an hour and a half to get home and all dring the drive back, Kristy and I whispered, giggled and made faces at each other as we tried to imitate Sister Grace on one of her bad day's. Sister Grace had a bad day everyday, and this was more fun because she couldn't catch us making faces now. I got dropped off first and my mother was waiting for me at the front door of the house smiling. I waved to my mom, then to Kristy, Auntie Annie and Uncle Wally. Uncle Wally could never be missed no matter where he went, and was the only one who had a pair of purple pants on the whole reservation. Anytime we would refer to Uncle Wally about anything, he was always known as the 'guy with the purple pants.'

"Your dad will be home soon Sara, so go on and get ready for dinner." My mom was the world's best fry bread maker too. I couldn't wait to eat some real food for a change. Boarding school food took a long time to get used to and most of the time nobody ever knew what they were eating at all.

"Ok Mom, I'll be ready soon." I said as I flashed my brand new pair of white socks out for all to see. My other brothers and sisters were there too and my mom was still waiting for three more of my brothers to get home from their schools also.

          I left to go change and wash up, then I hid my new socks, one still with the orange inside. I knew that If I didn't hide them my baby sister, Mandy would be into them as soon as she could. I smelled the fry bread now and hoped there would be wojapi to go with it. Wojapi was my favorite and it was made from the wild choke cherries that grew wild during the summer. My auntie's and mom would dry them, and store them to use for the rest of the year. Us girls would go and pick them all summer and also dig up tinpsila, a wild prairie turnip that mom would dry and grind down into flour, mix with her other flour she got once a month and made fry bread with it. Dinner always's smelled so good at home and I couldn't wait for Dad to get home, and my brothers.

         Soon, a car door was heard slamming, and my brother's got home with my Unci (Grandmother). Dad was soon to follow, about five minute's later. Once the whole family was together, it was time to eat. We had the typical dinner of soup, squash, frybread, green beans and my favorite wojapi We talked as we ate, and soon the mention of the Christmas powwow came up. Unci said she wanted to go right away because her and a few of the older ladies were making a star quilt to raffle off. Dad also said that the trucks would be coming in with all the donations for presents. My Ina (mother) glanced around the table with the same look she gave us all every year and paused before asking what we would like for Christmas this year. I looked around the table and waited for my parents and Unci to answer first, but already knew what ina's reply would be. It was the same every year.

"Why not draw names out of a hat, then make something for who ever we pick?" Ina said.

Everyone else nodded in agreement, so I did too. We did it every year and no one argued about it. So, after dinner us girls did the dishes and the boys went out and brought in wood for our wood stove. Unci sat at the table and asked if anyone had a piece of paper so that she could cut it up into squares and write everyone's names on them. No one had any paper. I remembered my red and green paper book Sister Grace gave us to write about our vacation in. I went and got it, Unci needed it more, and she gave me a big smile getting that paper. She got busy cutting out square after square and putting everyone's name on them. Our family was huge, not only would all of our names be in the hat but also all of our Auntie's, Uncle's and cousin's would be added too. Tonight at our relatives home's, they would be doing the same thing too, after dinner. We had a whole week to make our gifts and five days to go till the powwow. That night I pulled Uncle Wally's name out of the old hat. My big brother Ivan drew mine. Our family had done the gift picking the same way for as long as I could remember.

         Another fun part of Christmas was going visiting. We would vist all of our relatives and friends they would visit us. It was a non stop parade of everyone coming and going. Everyone brought something when they came to our house and we would sit on the floor and make presents, the old ladies would sit at the table and cut squares and diamonds out of fabric to sew into their quilts, and the boys would be outside playing. The older boys and my uncles and dad would be busy heating up stones for the lodges we held at night. I whispered to Auntie Annie and told her that I didnt know what to make for Uncle Wally for a present.

" Make him a new belt, or a belt buckle." She whispered back.

"I don't know how, can you help?" I whispered back.

         I knew that she would and she patted my hand and dug out a small bag of beads out of her purse. I remember my eyes widening, and knew I would make the best present ever. Kristy sat by us and worked on a scarf she was making for her little sister, Katie. Her great grandma had brought a whole bag of yarn home from the senior citizens lunch at the community center, and a crochet hook too.

"Red, White, Yellow and Black, the colors of the four directions. Now who wouldn't want a scarf out of those colors?" Kristy smiled almost from ear to ear as she crocheted each row.

"I know that." I said, but really, I had almost forgotten. What could be worse? I forgot what each color meant too.

{indent{I think Auntie Annie knew because she gave me a kind of a sad look then. I tried to pass it off, and continued to help her seperate beads out for Uncle Wally's belt buckle or belt. We weren't sure which we would make just yet. My cousin Mikey said he could get us some leather, so we sorted beads until he got back the leather shop behind the school he went to. Mikey was lucky. He was in High School and got to go to a community school. He got to come home every day after school too, not like us. We had to stay at school for months and only got to come home twice a year. Christmas and summer vacation. My dad told us not to complain, that when he was a kid he had to go to boarding school the whole time.

         The next four days went by fast, too fast for me and by that time I had learned how to make a pretty nice beaded belt and buckle both. Auntie Annie said that Uncle Wally would be quite happy to wear it. My brother Joseph and Uncle Harry brought in some old discarded newspapers they had gathered up. My sisters Judy and Nadine helped us color the newspapers with their crayons they brought home from school. Soon, we had lot's of wrapping paper to wrap our presents in. My Ina looked over our presents before we wrapped them up and said that we did real good. She even looked proud, and that made me feel all warm inside. Kristy blushed and Auntie Annie just gave her a wink and a smile. Two of the ladies that were helping Unci with the star quilt's came over to look too, and handed us some strings with prayer ties on them. They had made them for the lodge that night out of bright red cloth and tobacco tucked inside. They said that we could tie our packages together with them to keep them closed. I ran and got what was left of my paper book from school and cut off a piece of the red construction paper. I wrote Uncle Wally's name on it and stuck the end of the string through it and hung it on the end of my present. Kristy's eyes got huge and she told me I would be in trouble for not getting my homework done. I told her it was alright because this was more important. I knew my Ina heard, and I held my breath for what seemed like eternity before she smiled and called out,

"Everybody get ready to eat, the powwow starts tomorrow, and we don't want to be late. I hear that Santa Claus is going to be there too!"

         I couldn't believe what I had heard, because Santa Claus never came to visit us, ever!. After dinner that night everyone played games, told jokes and stories, then we all went to lodge. After lodge we were all too excited to sleep and we had neighbors, and relatives visiting all night. I don't remember when I fell asleep, but I woke up wrapped up in a blanket in front of the wood stove. The whole house was waking up and everyone was getting ready to go to the Christmas Powwow. It was Christmas eve, tonight and it would be a fun time of dancing, visiting friends and eating.

         People were gathering together and going into the community center already when we got there. I could hear the drums inside and everyone was getting ready for the grand entry. My Sisters, cousins and aunties all got changed and into our regalia. We braided each others hair up and added on beaded hair ties and attatched our comb's with white eagle plumes. I had my pink jingle dance dress that Unci and Ina had helped me curl all the jingles for it out of snuff can lids last summer. My dress was getting too small. I felt bad because I had only been able to wear it twice before. My mood soon passed as it all got quiet, and grand entry was about to begin. All the veterans led the way into the center. Some in wheel chairs, some with crutches, and some helping others along who were elders and couldn't move too fast anymore. I felt proud and humble for them because they all fought once, willing to die to keep us safe. These were our warrior's and they made the grand entry beginning at every single powwow we ever had. Once they had circled the community center, everyone else followed too. The whole reservation had turned out for this powwow and many people were there. The opening prayer was said by our medicine man, and then one was said by the priest from St. Andrews Mission. Once that was done, the Priest said that many boxes had come full of gifts for all the people. I had heard my dad talking about the trucks that had he had saw coming into the parking lot during the week. Just as soon as the Priest got done talking, the drum's started beating, and the men called for a dance, and everyone danced, the elder ladies went around to sell raffel tickets for their quilt. The men had even planned on having a Christmas raffle drawing too. Women and girls opened the kitchen up and the scent of frybread and indian tacos started filling the air. I felt so happy that my feet danced beneath me in fast, light steps and I held my shawl out letting the fringe fly through the air. It was a good night.

         Many sat in the bleachers and ate food and had a cold soda. As I sat and ate a piece of frybread with honey on it, they called the women's honor dance. I watched as my Ina and Unci, aunties, and cousins went out to dance while all the men and boy's stood, and removed their hats out of respect for them. Next would be the girls choice dance and I already knew who I would pick to dance with. I watched the women dance and hold their white feathered fans high, never missing one spirit beat. I hoped that I could dance like that one day when I got older. When they finished, and the girls choice dance was called, Kristy and my sisters all ran out together. I followed and looked for the boy that I wanted to pick to dance with. I spotted him standing with a group of other boys, and began to dance, each time I circled I got a little closer until I tapped him on the shoulder. He looked very surprised but didn't say no. If he had, the other boys would have picked on him the rest of the night, and he would embarass me. So I knew he couldn't say no. He actually smiled when he danced. His name was Jerry and his family had been our neighbors about five years ago. They had to move to the other side of the reservation when a rancher family rented their land. My dad said that they had lost their land for good now. We were both three years old when that happened and I didn't remember it very well. The dance ended too soon, but I felt happy that I got to dance with him.

         After my dance was over, the Priest announced that everyone would get gifts, and that we should be thankful to his mission for arranging so many donations for us. Everybody clapped and went up to the front of the center. We were excited to see what gifts we were going to get. The boxes were opened and there were toys for the kids, and cloths, coats and shoes. Unci and the other ladies got big flowered dresses and socks. They were busy showing off what each got to the other. My Ina and aunties got boots, hats, and sweatshirts and pants. My dad, uncles, older brothers, and older men all got a sweater and a hat, a pair of shoes and mittens. Everyone, including us kids got a coat. Mine was missing buttons but my Auntie said she would fix it and sew on new ones. She always saved buttons and anything else she could find because she said, you never know when you might need something. She was right, I needed buttons.

         After all the gifts were given out, they told all the kids to go into the small craft room. The Priest and our Medicine man said that Santa Claus was there! OH! we really were going to get to see Santa Claus, and we all ran to the craft room to see. There was Santa Claus sitting in a big red chair and there was even a Christmas Tree! What a surprise this was and we all waited impatiently in line to see Santa. He had a big box next to him and a big red bag on the other side of him. He gave a gift to all the kids there. When my turn came up I sat on Santas lap and he handed me a box wrapped up in red paper. He gave me a big candy cane and asked me in a funny voice if I had been good. I nodded, almost afraid to speak but I seen him smile. His smile looked familiar under the big white beard and long white hair and big red hat. I didn't know what was wrapped up inside of the paper, but I looked down and said "Pilamaye" (thank you). For a moment I stared down, noticing Santa's pants didn't match his red coat, and hat. Santa wore a pair of purple pants! I smiled when I looked up at him again and beneath the beard and hat, I could see my Uncle Wally. I kept the secret though, and tried real hard not to let on that I knew. Uncle Wally gave me a wink and I got down, taking my present and candy cane with me as I ran back into the main room of the community center to open up my present. Inside I found another paper book like the one I had let Unci cut up, and had even used myself for Uncle Wally's present. Underneath was something else wrapped up in white tissue paper.

         I quickly tore off the tissue paper and there in a plastic package was a brand new pair of pajama's, a robe, and fuzzy slippers. I then seen another small package wrapped in tissue paper and pulled it out, opening it quickly, I held a little stuffed teddy bear wearing a necklace around its neck. The necklace was out of red white heart beads with a small carved white buffalo calf on it, and on the very bottom of the box, I got a brand new notebook and a package of pencils so I could write. This was the best Christmas ever!! Then, I wondered if Uncle Wally would like what I had made for him when he got it later on at home. I wrapped my gifts back up and sat them back inside the box. Then Kristy and my sisters came over by me and sat down to show me what they got too. They all got a new pair of pajamas, a teddy bear, a notebook and pencils too. Kristy got a necklace also, almost like mine but hers had a small carved heart on it out of pipestone. My sisters too got the same kind of a necklace on their little bears. I was the only one so far that had a little white buffalo on mine. Everyone was ready to go home, it had been a long night and Unci and her lady friends had just finished raffleing off their quilt. Now they had some money to buy more things to do their crafts with.


         My dad gathered everyone up and drove us all home. Uncle Wally and Auntie Annie, Kristy and her sisters and brothers followed. My other Aunties and Uncles and cousins came too and everyone opened up their gifts that we all had made. I knew that my gift couldnt compare to what I had gotten from Santa Claus with the purple pants. When Uncle Wally opened his present up, the first thing he did was put on his new belt and beaded buckle. They matched his pants perfectly with the purple beads in it. We all laughed and my sisters made us hot tea to drink and my other Uncles brought some cookies out that my Aunt's had made. I fell asleep that night with my new robe on and fuzzy slippers, holding my packaged pajamas, notebooks and my teddy bear. I dreamed that I would never have to leave home again and go back to school. My family might be big, loud, and funny, but they are all mine. As I slept in front of the wood stove that night, my Ina,Unci,Dad, Uncle Wally, Auntie Annie, and Kristy swore they heard me whisper,

"Merry Christmas, I love you, night"