Prayer Ties (edit part 1) by stephanie smith

Chapter 1: First Connections

Continued prayers for the communities of Columbine, Red Lake and Sandy Hook 2

As the snow began to fall again on December 18, 2012 , four Red Lake High School graduates began a sixty-two hour round-trip drive from Minnesota to Newtown, Connecticut.

Remembering the profound impact of the Columbine graduates who had visited them shortly after the 2005 school shooting, these Red Lake graduates felt compelled to support the Newtown families who were experiencing unimaginable grief. The Red Lake delegation, those who drove and those who flew to Connecticut, all hoped to stay ahead of the heavy snow storm that was quickly gaining on them. Fifteen inches of freshly fallen snow had already accumulated along their expected route during the past few days. More was on its way across the Rocky Mountains. The delegation was unified in its intention to arrive in time for the Sandy Hook funerals and to leave behind the shadow box with a Dream Catcher inside that had been gifted to their community from Columbine High School. Their purpose was to be present for Newtown like Columbine had been for them six years earlier, to â&#x20AC;&#x153;show Sandy Hook that they are not alone.â&#x20AC;?

They didn’t plan to give big speaches or media presentations. They didn’t want to add to the burden by asking the Newtown school district to create one more event. They didn’t even know exactly how they would get past the well-intentioned and needed security line in order to meet anyone from Sandy Hook to deliver the gift; in fact, they didn’t have any connections to anyone on staff with the school district, or in Newtown at all. Yet they described a compulsion to go -- and nothing could stop them from going to Connecticut or from delivering the Dream Catcher, including bad weather, many unanswered questions, or a lack of finances. They trusted that somehow the Creator who compelled them to go would also provide an invitation to go behind media lines to the people, enough food for everyone to eat, a warm place to stay each night, safety in travel, and enough gas money to make it back home to northern Minnesota. They trusted the Creator to provide “enough”of everything--- and also that the Creator would know exactly how much that was. Many who heard about their plans through facebook and tribal networks responded with extreme generosity to help them go, but when the delegation left that Monday morning, they recognized that this was going to be a tremendous faith journey. The whirlwind trip from the Red Lake reservation near Bemidji, Minnesota began within hours of the decision to go. One extra driver volunteered within minutes of departure. Vehicles packed to overflowing with gifts including the tribal flag, teddy bears and the Dream Catcher, the caravan headed down south to Minneapolis, the first four and a half hour leg of their journey. 6

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Gidasemaake miinawaa ginookwezigeâ&#x20AC;? (offer tobacco & smudge with someone)

Bob Klanderud, a Dakota elder recognized the need for prayers. He brought his ceremonial shell and some sage to smudge those who met the American Indian Center on Franklin Street in south Minneapolis to see them safely on their journey. Some Dakota also provided the cloth and tobacco for prayer ties that would travel with the delegation for ceremonies at Sandy Hook. (The red ties would return to Minnesota, adorning horses during the conclusion of the Dakota 38 ride that was currently in process and would culminate on December 26 in Mankato, Minnesota. The same ties would return to Newtown that summer with the Unity Riders, en route to the United Nations). 7

After the Red Lake delegation shared their trip intentions with media, the spiritual caravan went technologically silent during most of the journey to the east coast in order to pray and focus and get prepared for what they were going to do in Connecticut. They had chosen to tell the press why the were going to Newtown, but beyond that, they didn’t share many details. The delegation also chose not to unwrap the Dream Catcher during the interviews. In fact, they chose not to describe it, or disclose any of the wording or share a photo of it, much to the chagrin of the press corps that was now beginning to swirl with this emerging positive story. The only photo the delegation formally released was of Justin Jordain holding the Red Lake Nation flag that was signed by community members to be gifted to Sandy Hook. When asked for details about the “Columbine traveling plaque,” they did not know many themselves and what they knew they didn’t share. They generally remembered the Columbine surivivors coming, although they couldn’t remember when they came, how many came, or even what was said that day. They generally knew about the Dream Catchers’ journey even though they didn’t know who actually made it or who delivered it to their community. All that really mattered in that moment was that they felt compelled to take the gifts to Newtown immediately and that they were going to follow through on behalf of their community. 8

‘‘It helped a lot, just knowing there are other people out there who understood what we were going through.’’ -- Justin Jourdain told The Pioneer of Bemidji (December 2012) 9

Over thirty hours later, on Tuesday afternoon, the two groups of the Red Lake delegation planned to reunite in Newtown at the Edmond Town Hall on Main Street and then go to the Middle School to meet Dr. Anthony Salvatore, the Assistant Principal. The group that had flown in on Monday had spent Tuesday morning visiting Newtown Middle School encouraging school staff and students. Once reunited, the group then spent the rest of the day and evening on Main Street where people remained lined up for visitations to pay their respects. The visit was filled with meeting people, singing, praying, and ministering as the doors opened. The group also spent bulk, unhurried time at the make-shift memorials, a tangible reminder to all Newtowners that they were not alone. 10

Because of the compact layout of the community and all the activity centered on Main Street, when their caravan drove into Newtown, members of the delegation described feeling caught off guard and how quickly they felt covered by a “heavy blanket of grief.” “When we arrived, we were immediately in the middle of everything. Even with the long trip and knowing what we were about to enter, I still wasn’t ready for it. The lines of people that went on and on who were all waiting in line at the funeral homes… the cops, the lights,the hearses, the horses, all of it. But then it hit me. It was then I knew we needed to be there. They needed the Dream Catcher, they needed our prayers and they needed smudging.” -Jeannette Chosa (December 2012)

(The act of burning dried sage for purification and healing is called ‘smudging’; it is a purification rite practiced by traditional Red Lake members and many other tribal groups across North America, allowing the cleansing smoke to billow up and over a person like incense. Sage is burned in an abalone shell, a clay or stone bowl during smudging ceremonies to drive out bad spirits, feelings, or influences, and also to keep bad spirits from entering the area where a ceremony takes place. After rubbing/washing hands in the smoke, the person gathers the smoke and brings it over the body including the head and any area needing spiritual healing. The botanical name for sage is ‘Salvia’ derived from the Latin root ‘salvare’ which means ‘to heal’). 11

The Red Lake group simply could not prepare for the barrage of visual input they experienced immediately after arriving in Newtown nor for their emotional flashback. At twenty miles an hour, bumper to bumper behind more traffic than the town has ever seen, they drove the length of the two lane Main Street in less than five minutes as the flood of emotions hit everyone in the caravan. For many, the tears flowed and their hearts swelled as they watched the remarkably long line of people stetching down Main Street on the sidewalk ending at the Honan Funeral Home. The single file line of solemn people dressed in black looked like the entire population of nearly 2000 people was amassed in the half mile area, standing quietly in one of the funeral lines or at one of the colorful flower memorials. Within seconds of entering town their vans drove by the line of media trucks, flashing police car lights, people walking in slow motion, a boy scout color guard at attention at Trinity Episopal church on the corner, and then the hearse pulling up. It felt remarkably odd that it could be a brisk sunny day. These four pictures were taken out the van window within the first minutes of the caravanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s arrival and then no more photos were taken the remainder of the day.

They each somehow found a place to park and the reunited delegation met at the Edmond Town Hall, coordinating plans and sharing information. Inside the hall, where no media was allowed, they met therapy dogs, local greeters and a line of counselors ready to assist. The local greeters suggested the Blue Colony Diner just a few blocks away to get some dinner in the break between afternoon and evening visitations. Once packed up again, the group turned left at the flagpole that stood at half mast in the middle of the street. Driving down the hill on Church Street at dusk, they caught one last look out the back of the van at the flagpole and the dwindling line outside the Trinity Episcopal churchJust before crossing Interstate 84 to enter Sandy Hook, they stopped at the diner where across the street another memorial had recently sprung up. A local contractor had hung the USA flag above the tent set up by a local congreation where visitors could stop and pay their respects, leave gifts and write personal notes, no matter the time of day. The group parked across the street at the Blue Colony 50â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Diner whose windows were already covered with elementary school art work from across the country.

It took some time to drum up the courage to enter the tent, a place sure to beckon so many memories. Some stood outside watching, but their legs would not move for quite awhile. The tent was filled with hushed tones. More was said with eyes meeting eyes than words could ever express. Every stranger felt related somehow in that intimate setting In the tent they became reunited with their own story, their own grief. It all came back like a flood as the temperature dropped off with the sun. Then the large flag that was only a backdrop became the centerpiece as they turned on the flood lights. Not only were they continuing to process their personal grief, but many in the delegation were parents of small children and the empathy they felt was palpable.

Christina Welch (photo) was expecting, a little boy she would name Sage when he arrived. Jeanette Chosa had left a young daughter at home and she had mixed emotions about her not coming on the trip. Ashley Lejeunesse told the Star Tribune that found it difficult to leave her six year old daughter Sierra at home but knew this trip was important for Newtown and for her. "I told her I had to go help some other people that went through something just like I did. She knew right away what I was talking about. She knows I've been in a shooting."

On the way home to Minnesota several days later, their vehicles and suitcases were more spacious after delivering all the teddy bears, the flag from their community, the letters, and the Dream Catcher that was successfully handed off to the Newtown School District. Their hearts felt lighter too, even though they had grown larger than they were before. The Mother and son would return to Newtown multiple times that year and she was frequently asked to tell the story about the Dream Catcherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s journey, about the red prayer ties and the horse connection between Minnesota and Connecticut. At that time, the only details she could confirm were about the last few months because she witnessed them unfold. Hoping to learn more about the gift, she made several phone calls, but the leads quickly dried up, the snow melted, and six months passed.

The inscription on the shadow box indicated that the Dream Catcher had been gifted to Red Lake from Columbine and that it had originated in Muskegon, Michigan. But little else was known. Who brought it to Minnesota? Where was it kept all these years in Colorado? How did it get to Littleton? Who made it? During her August 2012 visit to Newtown, after several people again prompted the search, she agreed to try to find theorigin of the Dream Catcher, committing to spend two months on the treasure hunt and to write the story down on paper as best as she could.

Another month passed and students across the country began returning to school, including her nine year old son who was starting third grade. She was reminded of the news story showing the Sandy Hook children on the bus to nearby Monroe CT and she was reminded of her commitment. Recognizing that the project might never be completed without imposing a deadline, she marked the September 21st start date on the calendar, then once again began making calls and sending emails. 21

But in stark contrast to her earlier search in January 2013, people actually started responding. She found people willing to answer questions and even chat with her for quite awhile on the phone. A lead would yield two or three more contacts that would often yield more contacts. The Dream Catcherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s story began to quickly unfold. By late October she started crafting her scattered notes from phone interviews and her visits onto paper. Additional details of this thirteen year journey will undoubtedly continue to surface over time, but she found hope that unites everyone in this story-- that we will see each other again and that the Dream Catcher never travels to another community. This document holds the first person accounts shared with and entrusted to Stephanie Hope Smith and her son Caleb as they tried to find out more about the Dream Catcher and about those who have become connected through it. This narrative also includes details reported through a variety of news and online sources for corraboration. The oral stories and now this document all belong to those who are connected by the Dream Catcher. It has been marked with a copyright to help ensure that any reproduction will meet the expressed wishes of those who shared their story and any agreements she made with the sources for quotes and photos. Thank you for honoring their wishes and intentions. Ba Ma Pee. (November 14, 2013)

Chapter 2: Grafted Together by Grief

These three communities who experienced similar tragedies were able to forge quick but strong bonds, simply because they could communicate without filtering or translating. There was an automatic trust in the message and in their intentions; the wounded allowed the wounded to minister to them when they didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even know what they needed yet. Over time the symbols and gifts between these communities have transformed mere sentiments into intentions, then intentions into action, and action into deepening relationships. The tree grafting analogy became a natural way to explain what is still happening between them. 24

Because the function of tree bark is to protect the layer that brings the nutrients to the rest of the tree, if the bark is scratched or damaged, the tender phloem layer is also wounded and the food supply is effectively shut off. If the damage extends less than one-fourth of the way around a healthy tree, it is likely that the tree will be able to heal its own wound, fight off disease and survive.

However if a tree sustains an injury deep enough to damage the xylem, it will be unable to heal itself. Likewise, a wound that goes around the complete circumference (called â&#x20AC;&#x153;girdlingâ&#x20AC;?) prevents all nutrients from flowing making tree death eminent. Whether as a result of animals feeding on the tree, insect boring or of vandalism, the entire tree will die unless it is able to regrow bark from above the wound, and allow the nutrients to flow again from the roots to the upper part of the tree. No one disputes that through these events, communities outer shell was deeply wounded.

The good news is that just like these communities, many times a tree can heal again, even from liftthreatening wounds within the bark layers of cork cambium, phloem, cambium. Through a process called grafting, a separate branch is inserted as a bridge, allowing the nutrients to bypass the wound while the tree continues to heal, fight off disease and tries to survive. The tree will never look the same because of the large scar and the fusing of this temporary bridge into the trunk. The bridge actually grows along with the rest of the trunk and becomes a permanent part of the tree.

The analogy of tree grafting has its limitations, but the benefits of intentional grafting two healthy trees resonated with many people Hardiness & tolerance to the environment Sturdiness Resistance to injury and disease Provision of a new pollen source for other trees and plants Precocity: Ability to produce fruit years quicker that is also better quality Variety of fruit coming from one tree trunk

For several years the Newtown School District has used the tree as the symbol for its strategic plan and for describing its core attributes. The tree bridge grafting analogy really resonated with members of the school district.

Dr. Anthony Salvatore, Middle School Assistant Principal: “Through this tragedy we’ve had branches severed from our community. Others will leave, we know that. Then there are others who come from these other places and who are grafting into us to make us healthy again someday. I don’t know how they find the strength to do that and to come here for us. They didn’t skype their message, they didn’t send a card or a fax. Those are all good things -- but they chose to come here when we needed them, before we even knew what we needed.” 28

“One day I expect to look up and would you believe it, I’ll see that our ‘Newtown tree’ has started to flower again?! Not just somehow survived and finally become stable, but that we’re healthy enough to bare really good fruit again. Maybe we’re too close to see it and so it will catch us by surprise. But I have hope that somehow we’re going to be ok. Looking out the window right now, things can look a little ‘iffy’at times. How will we make it though the winter? The wounds are deep, so deep in fact that you sometimes wonder if the wounds will ever completely heal, if we will make it at all. But then I look past our back yard out to the other communities that are further along the healing journey. Anyone can see their scars pretty easily but the have scars, not open wounds. Spring will come and when it does, we can heal too. Although their wounds weren’t exactly like ours, there is plenty I can learn about how to help ourselves heal. More importantly, they give me enough hope and resolve to keep trying, to not give up hope because a few years ago, just like us, some wondered if they would make it.

“Now here they are years later, vibrant enough to send people from their community to help us in our time of need. They are living proof that our young kids can grow up and become whole… They aren’t weak branches on a wounded tree – they are so strong! When they look inside they may still see their own weakness and their pain, but all I see is strength and resolve and resiliance. I’m thankful they are here and are helping us while we grieve and regroup. I’m glad to know that in some small way we have helped them too. I’m so sory for their loss, you’d never wish this pain on anyone. But because we’ve both been through this darkness, we are automatically connected. Even if they never came our way again, they have already done enough just by surviving and proving it can be done. Like the plaque says, ‘BA MA PEE.’ At some point I have a pretty good sense that our paths will cross again and I truly look forward to seeing them again.” (December 2012)

“There are huge, permanent scars that will always tell our story, just like I can pretty easily see <their> scars even after all these years. Even if we want to cover them up, and we want, just for a minute to act ‘normal,’ we are simply different than who we were last December, all of us. Some wounds are still really fresh. Some parts start to heal and then they get ripped opened again, at times without any notice. I know that we too can move from having wounds to scars because I talk to the staff from those schools and they are living proof. (January 2013) “Maybe someone else will be able to learn vicariously through our story. Maybe our healing scars will challenge and help others who are hurting. Maybe others will be blessed by seeing that Columbine made it, Red Lake made it, Newtown too. Maybe that will be just enough of a spark of hope that someone else needs to keep going.” (September 2013) --Dr. Anthony Salvatore

“I’m speaking at a conference in a couple weeks to other educators. I’m not sure what I’ll be saying yet. I’m not sure if I will be able to say it. This is new territory for me. But I believe someone will benefit from hearing our story of moving forward, that’s why I agreed to go. My hope is still that the Dream Catcher never travels and that no one ever needs our kind of expertise ever again, and that the only time you hear about it is at a prevention workshop like this. Being together with the other panelists and just spending time with them in person will be my highlight because without needing to say a word, there is a connection. It’s not always the same people but it’s like we just pick up the conversation with the next person. People have been there for me and there have been plenty of chats and cries together on the phone. It’ll be good to just be in the same space with others who undersand and who can really support each other just because we’re together. ” --Dr. Anthony Salvatore (October 2013)

In horticulture, the intentional tree grafting process is used to bring two trees together to yield the desirable fruit by blending the best of both plants. One plant is selected for its stems, leaves, flowers, or fruits (called the scion) and the other for its roots (called the stock or rootstock). The process is completed by joining the vascular tissues from two plants together as living tissues from one plant is physically inserted into another. For successful tree grafting to take place, the vascular cambium tissues of the stock and scion plants must be placed in direct contact with each other. Both tissues must be kept alive and close together until the graft has 'taken', usually a period of a few weeks.

Within the shadow box that holds the Dream Catcher, four short inscriptions are printed in blue ink on white paper. The first saying, nearest to the top is“GDA DWENDAAGNANANIK” followed by the translation: “All Our Relations.” (*pronounced guh-DEN dawg na-nonik). Many other cultures have similar sayings. In Gaelic the phrase is “Mo chlann iomlán.” Those who speak with Lakota/Dakota/Nakota dialects greet each other with“Mitakuye Owasin,” loosely translated “Hello my relatives.” Over the thirteen years, distant communities became intricately interwoven in prayer and friendship as this plaque was gifted and re-gifted. This particuar Dream Catcher also came to symbolize the heart-felt and hopeful sentiment of those who have walked a similarly tragic road.

“Sometimes it takes something horrific to bring us to a place where we can see what was always right in front of us all along: that we all have the same Creator, that we truly are all related and interdependant. Even if we don’t like each other or if we still hang onto the belief that we can be self-sufficient, these tragedies remind us that we all are on this planet together and we are to help take care of each other and take care of Mother earth, her water. Although we’ve always been related, these events have grafted our communities together. I’m here to support you and to remind you that your relatives from Minnesota are praying for you, those of us who came but also those we represent.” -Lisa Bellanger, Red Lake delegation (photo far right) December 2012 36

“We’re forever different because of those events, but perhaps in the end we’ll be a better different. I hope our communities can regroup and grow and make something positive out of such tragedies. It made us acknowledge each other and work together. I wish it didn’t take something tragic to wake us all up. We met people we never would have met otherwise; we are connected now because they came. I’d never wish this on any other school or any other community. But if it does happen, we know their pain and maybe our students can be the ones who help them. Many believe that this community has survived such pain over the generations so that they can help others, that something positive can come from such overwhelming grief. -- Chris Dunshee, Red Lake High School former Principal (October 2013)

Chapter 3: The Red Willowâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Gift

Much like other works of art, people who looked at the Dream Catcher over the years saw different things, interpreting the gift in different ways. Some knew the medicine behind dreamcatchers and immediately appreciated this good gift, both literally and symbolically. They might have wondered about the person who made it --what tribe or clan were they in? Was it made by a child? By an elder? By another student? But they knew its general meaning and intention to filter the dreams of the children. Focusing on the words and the style of the weaving, others wondered if there any special meaning to the elements that were selected? Some saw the bent wooden hoop and called it a â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;tear from God.â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Others passed by the Dream Catcher without even noticing. It was simply lost amid all the gifts and crafts that poured into their town, another item on the wall. Some focused on the thirteen clear beads and assumed like one Columbine staff member, that the thirteen beads stood for each life lost at Columbine, representing twelve students and one teacher. To her, the two other clear beads swinging down from the top and attaching the center feather, represented the two students who took the other lives, still connected the same string yet separate from the others.

Some focused on the journey that was discribed in the shadow box text, opening up more questions. Was the Dream Catcher actually made in Muskegon Michigan or was it re-gifted from a similar tragedy? Who made it? Who sent it? Who decided to re-gift it? The Indian Education office in Muskegon no longer exists, adding to the challenge. Late in September 2013, after a series of phone calls, after hours of internet searching and after sending several notes, an email came back from Michigan providing a name and a phone number. A Muskegon staff member knew who had made the Dream Catcher and was willing to connect. Ironically, until that phone call no one in Michigan affiliated with the Dream Catcher had any idea that it had ever left Columbine, or that it had traveled thousands of miles en route to Sandy Hook, a trip by car that would take nearly 62 hours. No one in Columbine knew it had left Minnesota; in fact few people knew that it had ever gone to Minnesota. During the next few weeks that fall, Stephanie Smith had the blessing of sharing the story over and over with other people who had some connection to the Dream Catcher while she continued to search for the missing details about its origin, its meaning, and its journey. 40

In April 1999 a simple but sincere prayer was offered by a mother as she bent and cut a young twig from a red willow tree that grew near her sister’s home.

The woman describes herself as a relative of the Pokegan Band of Potawatomi through her father’s family and as a relative of the Little River Odawa through her mother’s family. She also describes herself as one who teaches and one who shares the traditional ways with young people. She had been asked to make a Dream Catcher that would be gifted from the Muskegon Indian Education program and she willingly began this task with a good heart.

Offering her ceremonial tobacco wrapped into a red prayer cloth, she tied the cloth to another branch on the willow tree, thanking her relative for the water medicine that would come from its branches. Like any other springtime in Spring Lake Township Michigan, the male and female flowers would have been in full bloom; a sea of tiny seeds in their white cottony fluff would have been blowing in the wind, preparing for a journey. The red prayer tie also blew in the wind, releasing the tobacco incense that wafted through the air to the Creator along with the sweet smell of burning sage.

On that particular evening, as the moon began to rise, she trimmed the catkin from this thin red twig with a hand knife; She began preparing a seemingly insignificant twig that would travel farther than any of those blowing willow seeds.

That simple twig would also travel much farther than she would travel herself.

The mother believed that this branch was provided by the Creator as an answer to her prayers and that this specific branch would help bring healing to the children who were grieving near Littleton Colorado.

Even with such large hopes for the twig, she could have never envisioned the journey this medicine gift was to take, nor all the hands and communities that would touch it along the way.

PHOTO DEBBIES HAND

Her own hands had seen forty five winters and they now began the task of crafting the twig into an oval that she fastened tightly at the top.

Like the elders had taught her, she spoke to the Creator, tying the sinew-like thread to the willow hoop. Usually a dream catcher would have a round or oval shape. On this evening however, while the mother weaved the waxy thread, this oval frame bent to resemble a tear drop as a web began to take shape inside of the hoop.

Weaving inward toward the center, she threaded thirteen clear white beads, each symbolizing one of the thirteen moons her community honors. 45

For the Potawatomi, Odawa and other tribes near the Great Lakes, each new moon brings a new month, a new purpose, a new task to complete that aligns with the natural events that occur during that cycle. Just like their ancestors, traditional people still watch for and follow the instruction given by the moon as it completes thirteen turns each year. Whereas written western calendars record twelve months with varying numbers of days, ancient communities including the Potawatomi, Odawa, Dakota, Ojibwe continue to recognize the natural calendar as the moon completes its full cycle thirteen times. 46

As the mother prepared the Dream Catcher in Michigan, ZISBAKWTO GISES, the maple syrup moon had just finished, the season when the temperature had risen above freezing and the syrup was again flowing. This running sugar, one of the first provisions given to the northern tribes of Turtle Island (Canada, North & South America) is harvested each year to provide for the people and traded with other tribes. On this evening in late April 1999, under the new moon, the mother walked between the trees collecting another kind of medicine, and like the syrup, her gift was harvested from a tree relative.

Sitting by the water, she began her task weaving the thread, spinning a web the Creator would use to filter the dreams of the children. The Dream Catcher would only allow the good dreams to pass down through the feathers while the children slept. Any bad dreams would be caught in the web and would be burned away by the first rays of the early morning sunlight. The children and youth in Littleton Colorado needed a filter from the bad dream they were seeing play out in front of them. The mother prayed that her gift would make a difference. Believing in the Creatorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ability to heal, she firmly believed in the medicine of the willow itself and in the water that it carried deep in its stems. Throughout the centuries and around the world, willow has been known for its healing properties. Patients in China, Europe and North America have been advised to chew on willow bark to reduce swelling, to break a fever, and to lessen pain. Modern pharmacists now understand that willow bark contains salicin, which our bodies convert to salicylic acid, the active ingredient in aspirin. The bark appears to bring relief more slowly than manufactured aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid ) but this natural relief directly from the willow lasts longer. Similarly, this twigâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s medicine would come to represent a healing that would take time, but the results would hopefully last much longer. 48

This was not her first prayer, nor her first Dream Catcher she had woven, but the Creator guided the mother’s words as she continued to craft the gift lying on her lap. Gingerly from the bag she selected a small tawny brown and white feather that would hang down the midline of the tear drop. She choose two more clear beads to affix the feather, nearly covering the oval opening in the very center of what is called the éspiké shiinh, (“spider web”) or a Bawaajige nagwaagan ( “dream snare”).

“We wanted to give something from our program, from our youth to their youth in Colorado after their tragedy at Columbine. We wanted the sacred spirits to watch over them and to keep them safe. We wanted to protect the dreams of the children while they healed and we wanted to let them know that they are not alone. “It became my task to make a Dream Catcher for the students in Colorado that would be delievered in person. I have made many other Dream Catchers, maybe hundreds that I’ve given away to families as a gift. “I have often said that you never truly know how the Creator will take our offerings and make something extra special and beautiful out of it. After all these years, I have just learned that this one gift that I made has had quite a remarkable journey. Even though I believed that it would bring healing, I am so humbled to have been a part of this story that I just learned now includes Red Lake and Newtown. I am simply in awe of what has happened to it since it left us here in Muskegon…and I am more in awe of how it was received and what it has meant to others.”

---Debra Gutowski, maker of the Dream Catcher (October 2013) Currently the director of Native American Ministry, Northern Muskegon

Chapter 4: To Columbine with Love

Months before the word columbine was associated with anything but a stunningly beautiful flower and a community on the eastern edge of the Rocky Mountains, two women on staff with the Title Seven Indian Education program in Muskegon, Michigan planned to travel to Colorado. The program director, Carol Wimpee mailed in two registrations for an education conference at the end of May 1999, then purchased the plane tickets for herself and a staff member, Marcia Morse. As the months passed from winter to spring, they grew especially excited for the trip which would include an onsite visit with Marciaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s younger brother Jerry Williams who was on staff in the Indian Education program in Jefferson County School District. They also were looking forward to enjoying the mountain air during the conference. Then on April 20, 1999 the unthinkable happened at a high school whose name became internationally known and forever linked to a tragic school shooting--- Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado USA.

Within days of this event, Carol and Marcia met with American Indian parents and students at the Muskegon school during their regularly scheduled monthly parents’ meeting. Learning of the direct connection through Marcia’s brother, several Potowatomi and Ottowa youth voiced an interest in sending a gift to the American Indian students who attended high school in the Jefferson County District. They echoed the sentiment that Carol and Marcia had shared days before. They wanted to send a gift with a message of support. “Our American Indian education program in Muskegon Public Schools was relatively small in 1999 and has since been closed. But we when we learned that Columbine High School had about fourteen native students, we felt a heart connection and we wanted to support them in any way we could. We were going to that area anyway and it it seemed right to have a gift that would represent our tradition, our culture, our ways and the people who sent it.” --Carol Wimpee (October 2013) 54

Before leaving the meeting, the group collectively decided to ask one of the mothers, Debra Gutowski, to make a Dream Catcher and to send it to the grieving students. They wanted the willow’s medicine to help heal the community and for the web to catch the bad dreams, allowing only the good dreams to filter through. Many of those who attended that meeting describe the emotional excitement they experienced after making these plans. They described a joy and some “fluttering in their hearts” just knowing they were doing something special for the kids in Colorado. They also liked the suggestion from Marcia’s older brother Ed Williams to include the words “Ba Ma Pee” as a greeting inside the frame. Although the spelling and direct translation varies between communities, the sentiment is the same –“we will see each other again,” “ until we meet again,” and “this is not goodbye.” It was a traditional way to end a conversation in their indigenous cultures and it seemed an especially appropriate way to leave the conversation and the relationship open.

The following morning the group set to work on their individual tasks to prepare the gift. The mother, Debra Gutowski, went to collect a willow branch and made the Dream Catcher out of supplies she had in her home.

Carol Wimpee made connections with friend who provided a shadow box for the gift from her framing company. Then after printing out the inscriptions and cutting them out, Carol and Marcia began the task of laying out the proposed wording while sitting on the floor, arranging and rearranging the contents of the shadow box. The Dream Catcher was added and they smiled at their collective work. When they finally closed the back of the box, they all felt a surging in their hearts that this gift from their community truly was a good thing.

“I wasn’t sure if we spelled the words Ba Ma Pee right. Our language is passed on person to person and it is oral. Only in the last fifteen or so years did our people really begin focusing on writing and teaching the spelling of words in our traditional languages. But we knew that our hearts would be heard, that the words were right and that they would be understood.” Marcia Morse (October 2013)

PHOTO MARCIA

During this same week, families in Columbine attended funeral after funeral. The media continued to give the world a constant stream of live, on-location updates. Counselors and chaplains came. Gifts and cards, emails and stuffed animals began to arrive. People drove from all over the country to visit and support in whatever ways they felt they could. The gifts continued to pour in. The bags of mail addressed to this zipcode seemed endless. Boxes and packages and more boxes filled with quilts and posters and bracelets and drawings. The mail in Littleton was inundated with letters of sympathy and support from around the world. Some notes were delivered to the school, some to the city, some to families who had lost loved ones, some to places of worship. Salutations and return addresses listed scout troops, elderly women in a prayer circle at their church, elementary art classes, Sunday School classes, Principals, towns. 58

Proclaimations were written and sent.The mail was so deep that many packages and letters sat unopened for a time, but the sheer volume spoke the overwhelming message of support even though the specific handwritten messages and emails were not yet read. Eventually all of the mail would be opened and read, one at a time, like a time capsule of love filled with sentiments from people all over the globe.

During this same time, the large gift package with a shadow box with a Dream Catcher inside arrived in the mail from Muskegon Indian Education. Immediately open opening, Marciaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s brother, Jerry William understood the medicine and did not delay in symbolically presenting the gift to the youth in the Jefferson County Indian Education program.

PHOTO JERRY

Jerry Williams (October 2013): “That was a tough time for anyone living in the area. I saw the change in the kids in the program and change in my own kids. The first few years especially were tough. Things like a car backfiring and the kids were scared. Everyone lost their innocence. Yet out of tragedy came this reminder to follow our ways…” 60

“Out of tragedy somehow came hope. It didn’t happen over night but it came. The Dream Catcher was a big part of that, whether or not people even knew it was here, it was here doing what it was designed to do. You don’t need to see it or know about it in order for it to work. It was protecting all the children, native and non-native. And when it was time, it left and went where it was needed. We believe in traditional ways and we believe in dream catchers. This was an authentic medicine they sent to us, not some knock-off artwork made in a factory someplace. Also, we knew the people it came from and knew their heart. Because it was from my family’s people in Michigan it really meant something to me. It was very personal and everytime I saw it I knew I wasn’t alone…that other people prayed for us, remembered us, cared for us, hoped good things for us. Sometimes you don’t have enough hope for yourself but then someone sees good things in you, expresses good things and then you get just enough inspiration to keep going. I was very surprised to learn that our Dream Catcher had traveled again and that its now in Sandy Hook. This is a good thing. Not like it is my place to give approval, but to me it seems like those Red Lake kids did a very good thing and many people are stronger and protected because they brought it out. Those kids in Newtown needed the Dream Catcher to come…” --Jerry Williams (October 2013) 61

“There is no prescription for when to send it, or any expectations. It’s not ours to keep or ours to decide anymore. We gifted it and whoever has it will decide what to do with it---If they decide with a good heart then it will be the right thing. There is no pressure from any of us that had it before. It was a gift for us when we needed it. They can keep it as long as they need it or they can re-gift it right away -- it’s theirs to decide. And it’s not like there needs to be a community vote or anything. If it feel like it’s time and someone feels compelled to go, then it’s the right time. Wherever it winds up, they alone need to decide IF it travels again and when it travels. It may not be the very next tragedy, but they will know when it is to go and who should take it. And no matter what they do or don’t do, they answer to the Creator, not to anyone else. --Jerry Williams (October 2013)

“It’s about what the community wants too. One man should not have to make that decision by himself. That’s an unfair expectation and responsibility to place on one person. It’s too heavy a burden for one alone. Look at its history: Up until now it has been given YEARS after their own tragedy, once the students have grown up and the Dream Catcher has done its job. Because the shootings happened when the students were already in high school ,they weren’t that far from being an adult themselves. By that time they went to help others, ome of there were parents. Some brought their kids with them.. They were able to go and share their story of healing, living proof that there is hope and that they can make it. In each case some one heard about another community suffering, made the heart connection and then made the decision to send the Dream Catcher or to get in their car and go. They decided to go and share and support. There were other horrible things that happened between Columbine and Red Lake and between Red Lake and Sandy Hook.-- it’s not like those other tragedies weren’t ‘big enough’ to warrant getting it. No one is ranking or rating. There will likely be other kinds of ragedies too…maybe it’s not about school shootings or that it stays in the US.”

“I’m glad it’s not turned into traveling plaque that you put your name on it. It’s not a memorial. There is no list of dates or a list of those who died or a tally of any kind. It’s not about telling the details about the killers or retelling the disaster. This isn’t about death. It’s about those who survived and the medicine THEY need.to protect their dreams and guard their hope. Those kids will know when its time to send it to other kids who are likely having bad dreams like they had. I don’t presume to know where it should go. It’s not like a trophy or the Stanley Cup that every community gets or if they don’t get it that they were somehow left out. It’s a gift from kids who survived to help other kids while they heal. They need something to help filterthe bad thoughts and dreams away, so they don’t become bitter and angry and destroyed from the inside. “Up until this time the Dream Catcher was passed from native people to native people who understood the medicine and believe it in. Now that it’s being passed to others, it’s good that something is being written up so that if it travels again the people will know its meaning and the story of how it came to them. Hopefully by then it will be many years later…maybe no one would be around who knows any of the people who can tell them the story they will need the written story because by then. Ideally they would hear the story from them one on one, that is our way. But writing it down is good to keep it all with the Dream Catcher so they can hear from us this way. -- Jerry Williams (October 2013) 64

Shortly after the youth in the Jefferson County Indian Education received the gift, they felt compelled to share this gift directly with students from Columbine, arranging for a presention of the gift from their ‘relatives’ to Columbine High School representatives, part of the diversity leadership club.

Deborah Eskibel Hunt (October 2013) Current Director of American Indian Student Services Educational Opportutnitie Programs at Univeerstiy of Colorado, Denver)

Director Jefferson County Indian Education,CO in both 1999 and 2005 “I remember explaining to the club at Columbine about what a Dream Catcher is and why it was important to us. It was so long ago but I remember that it felt like the right thing and the students seemed to appreciate the thoughtfulness of the gift The Dream Catcher is so significant because of what it represents and what it can do. It is symbolic of what if possible, the possibility of bringing healing to the children and only letting the good dreams come through each night. Our children need the good dreams that often get overwhelmed and blocked by the bad. The Dream Catcher hangs over the bed to protect and guard the children while they sleep. That’s what the children of all ages need, the help to filter out the bad and allow the good to flourish.” 65

“The Dream Catcher is also is a reminder to our people of their role. Each people group, each tribe has a task, a role given to the from the Creator. Ours is to be the healers and to use the medicines that were given and shown to us. It’s so easy to get isolated in grief but we need to go and share the medicine, go and be part of the healing for all people. While we help and bring healing, we are truly who we were made to be and we will find our balance, our purpose, our meaning...

This gift reminds us that w are all related and that we need to share the medicine give to us—because others need the medicine as much as we need to give it.”

PHOTO DEBORAH HUNT