Dakota Dream Read Online Free PDF Page A

“You’re looking at four days without any food.”
    He no more than got the words out of his mouth than Kaia showed up with a cast-iron skillet full of casserole. She gave us both a heaping serving on metal plates that looked like they came from an old GI field kit. I took a few bites and said, “I hate to put your sister to this trouble. I could have bought some hot dogs or hamburgers at the snack bar; it’s not like I don’t have any money.”
    Donny was shoveling it in. “You can’t eat that crap now, you’re going on a vision seek. You need Dakota food.”
    â€œWhat is this stuff?”
    â€œChicken and eggplant fried in corn meal.”
    â€œIt’s good,” I said. Which was true, but I didn’t have my usual appetite, not with all the butterflies I felt in my stomach. I asked Donny what would be next, after we finished eating.
    â€œDelbert is going to come. He was a shaman, a long time ago. You’ll be spending a couple of hours in the sweat lodge for purification.”
    â€œWas he a real shaman?” I asked. “Or does he just think he was?”
    Donny smiled. “He was a real shaman.”
    â€œThere are so many people putting themselves out for me. It’s very humbling.”
    â€œHumility is the right frame of mind for vision seeking.”
    â€œBut I don’t feel worthy.”
    â€œI believe in your sincerity,” said Donny. “So does the chief, or he wouldn’t be recommending the hanblecheya. My advice is, don’t think.”
    â€œHave you gone on the hanblecheya ?” I asked him.
    He was finishing off his food. He nodded his head. “I did go once, two years ago. Four days is a long time to go with no TV or stereo or books or other people. It can really grind on you. The worst mistake is to think too much or try to figure things out.”
    â€œBut aren’t you supposed to learn your vision?”
    â€œYou’re supposed to receive your vision. You can’t make it happen, you have to let go.”
    I told him, “When I left the chief’s trailer, I felt my brain spinning around with questions. It was too much. I felt myself wanting to go into a numbout. I think I should just let myself go into that head.”
    â€œThat’s exactly it. Just let it go.” Then he said if I was done eating, we’d better get started. I told him I needed to go to the bathroom, and I’d also like to have a little willow bark for my pipe. He showed me the way to the outhouse, then he headed for that store down at the end of the clearing to get the willow bark.
    The outhouse turned out to be a two-holer, although I couldn’t figure out why. I was sitting there over one hole looking at the extra and wondering would you take a crap with someone side by side? This thought made me giggle, and then I started laughing out loud.
    When I got back to the tipi, Donny and Delbert Bear were waiting. They both had blue jeans on, but no shirt. Delbert was also wearing an authentic Dakota headdress made of eagle feathers.
    Delbert had a small dish of blue paint that looked like greasepaint. He used his thumbs to put the paint on both sides of his nose and under his eyes. Then he did the same to Donny and to me. Delbert’s ancient skin was like loose leather. He smelled like whiskey, but I reminded myself you don’t judge people by what’s on the surface.
    Donny gave me about half a dozen plastic pouches of shredded willow bark, which I put in my backpack. He also gave me a large metal canteen full of water. It looked like shirts were out of touch, so I took mine off and put it in the backpack, too.
    To get to the sweat lodge, we had to follow a path through a small section of timber, mostly pine. Since Delbert was leading the way, we weren’t walking very fast. He was carrying a bundle of sage and lighting pieces of it along the way. He was chanting as he went, but it sounded more like