Lakota Perspectives Testimony: Maia Carney

During my time on Pine Ridge, I learned about a real meaning of community while developing in spiritual, emotional, and interpersonal ways. While this might just scratch the surface of what I learned in two short weeks, I’d like to unpack these experiences.
We participated in building a drip irrigation system for a garden, shoveling out a pit for a well, constructing frames for solar panels, repairing a foot bridge, planting trees on a cattle ranch, planting crops for a greenhouse, digging a hole for a new outhouse, debarking and transporting multiple large logs for use in a ceremony, and collecting countless piles of firewood. These projects worked to improve the land and make it so the Cross family, our hosts, and even those we hadn’t met could reap the benefits during a dance ceremony planned for later in the summer. The fact that our work supported the Cross family feels good.
We also participated in Lakota sweat lodges. The physical setup of a sweat lodge is a dome shaped by sticks and covered in fabric. In the sweat lodge, the participants sit around the edges of the dome, in complete darkness, while water is poured onto hot rocks in the middle. The ritual takes place in four rounds, complete with sharing prayer, reflection, and singing. The five sweat lodges we participated in were by far the most transformative experiences for me. I felt the impacts of true family and community while finally feeling a spiritual connection to the earth and others that I had searched so long for.
While on the reservation, I met Jim Cross, who is also known by his native name as Jim Poor Bear. Jim is the family medicine man who runs many spiritual ceremonies and rituals. Jim immediately made us feel welcome and made sure we were well during our participation in these ceremonies. While Jim had numerous memorable quotes in our time together, the one that stuck the most was “Do time, don’t let time do you.” In saying this, Jim meant that we should take advantage of not only our time, but also what we hold true to ourselves in order to support our intentions with action.
For a community that materially and physically has so little, relevant to the rest of capitalist America, the Cross family truly takes advantage of every opportunity or resource they have while striving to share with others. The Cross family was giving, gracious, and welcoming. Even though we shared life with them for only two weeks, we were connected from that point forward. Upon us leaving, Ron Cross, who is Jim’s brother, said to us that our footsteps are on the land along with the footsteps of their ancestors, which means we are forever intertwined. We made nothing short of the most genuine connections on Pine Ridge. The feelings of belonging and connection to those around me have been hard to find since leaving, but learning and developing myself on Pine Ridge surely made it a whole lot easier.