Glacier and Blackfeet Res Tour

The group hiking in Glacier and our Res tour with Jim Higgins... Powerful!

Dancers

Back in Missoula

Today is Friday and I cannot believe that our trip is almost ending. We have been in East Glacier for the past 2 nights. On Wednesday we did some re-vegetation work in the park. We planted over 70 trees and plants! That evening we were visited by some Talent Search folks from the Blackfeet tribe who brought dancers and singers. These pictures cannot even describe how beautiful it was. Yesterday we hiked for about 8 miles in the St. Mary's section of Glacier. We saw several waterfalls and NO bears.....we even met a man from Hiwassee Dam. Our guide was also a tribal member and shared so much of his culture with us. Today we traveled back to Missoula and as I write this, the group is touring the University of Montana. One of their biggest football rivals happens to be App State. We will spend our last night at the KAO in Missoula. The group is doing GREAT and it has been a wonderful trip. The students have learned so much and become very close. I guess this will be our last posting so we will see you tomorrow!

Some of the raft pics

Here are some pics of the raft trip down the Flathead. Today were are off to the hot springs owned by the tribe. We'll post again asap.

All is well.

Traditional Indigenous Games

Playing indigenous games with some of our Koontenai friends. It is a bit of a risk management issue... Parents, all vision survived intact.

Hide Tanning with Oshanee Kennmille

This morning we met Oshanee Kennmille who showed us how to stretch hides. She told us lots of hide tanning secrets. We'll post more when we get time. These are some of our new friends: Mayuk Caye, Shelaine Andy, Phyllissa Mathias, Veda Mathias, Jalyn Burke, and Nathasha Lafferty.

Our New Friends on the Flathead

After a whirlwind of packing, bus and plane rides, loading in the vans, unloading in Missoula, re-packing in Missoula, a BIG food buy at Wal-Mart, we finally made it to the Flathead Reservation--near Polson, MT. We have been welcomed by our new friends, fellow Talent Searchers, and tribal members. It's been AWESOME! We rafted the Flathead River (pictures coming) and then had a campfire and talk with Patrick Chief Stick. We spent the night in tipis, which were set up for us by the local Talent Search program, directed by Renee Dubay.

4 Days and Counting!

Only 4 more days until we meet here on campus. If you have any questions about wheather or not to bring something, bring it. We will do a gear (clothing) inspection and go over all your things before you pack into our issued bags. Go by the items on the list. If in doubt bring it. If you have too much we'll leave it here in the office. See you at 11:00am Saturday.