Praying for Sister Jackie and Mammig and
offering gratitude to Dr Wang, Miami and IGR at Villejuif, Paris
The outside temperature is 0 C (32 F).
Yesterday had been a wonderfully sunny and pleasant day in the Plains, with
blue skies. Light rain began falling in the evening and with it brought the
cold.
We arrived at the start of the walk for
Breast Cancer at this village of Lakota Indians at the designated time. Indians
do not follow clock time but when every one is ready, is the right time.
Children from Head Start were trooping in,
their heads covered with colourful apparels and each holding hands of a friend,
and teachers guiding them.
The adults were ready, no one was prepared
for this weather, so one could see people improvising material to protect their
heads and hands from freezing.
I said to myself, yes it is cold, but it is
nothing compared to the suffering of women who has to go through chemotherapy
for their breast cancer.
A Police Car rode in front, with the
leaders of the march carrying a banner.. Fight Like A Girl…
Behind it was a van and from it blared the
drumbeats of the songs of the Indians. The Little ones trooped behind and all
of us mixed with each other and began walking towards the end of the main road,
to the Tribal Head Quarters.
I felt good participating in this walk
along with the Indians whom I had come to see. I said to myself: the Indians of
North America has really made a better person out of me; it is truly a
privilege to know them and be accepted by them. Come with a clean heart and no
agenda, Indians would accept you and you assist them in any way you can, but
not direct them to be something they don't want to be. They are not brown
skinned Americans, but Lakota, Omaha, Winnebago, Meskwakia, Kickapoo, Seminole,
and Alabama-Coushatta…
When we reached the end of the walk, we all
huddled together and waited for an elder who has survived breast cancer.
She began talking in the ancient Lakota
Language and then she would switch and speak a little bit in English.
We are at spiritual war, she intoned, and
we have to pray hard, because prayer is our tool, our weapon against
misfortune.
I pray for all the people, those who have crossed over and the young ones in front of us.
I pray for all the people, those who have crossed over and the young ones in front of us.
I have made this song for them and I will
sing and pray for you, she continued..
She cleared her throat several times and in
a high pitched tone, began singing in Lakota, almost in a pleading voice to the
Great Spirit. Every one including the little ones were silent, heads bowed.
It was a special moment for me. I am with
the Indians, a people I have always respected and loved and who have accepted
me into their midst. In various parts of this land they call the Turtle
Island..
I am fortunate to have the love of my
families in Miami, France and my dearest friends in Cuba…
It was also a significant day for me,
because
Api Pes Ko nea, or White Flower in the
Kickapoo language was completing her third year of life. May all this love be a
blessing upon her..
