By: Soysalya ( Kamdyn Morton )

Hello my name is Soysalya.My name means time of the winter solstice. I think my name is funny because are winters here are mild not cold! I am part of the Blackfoot tribe. We live in the Great Plains Region where it is very hot any where you go. THIS IS MY STORY……

It was the break of dawn when I woke up. Ma was in the field collecting corn and beans.Papi went hunting with the men. As usual I am stuck in are tipi with Paco my little brother. I worry that Papi will not find any buffalo. If he catches nothing we can not have Pemmican for supper! Oh..if Paco found out we could not have Pemmican for dinner he would through a fit! I slipped on my moccasains, waited for Paco to get dressed ( although I am still in my deer skin dress.) And I walked out with Paco of the tipi to greet Ma and Papi.

This morning it was very quiet in the village. On the horizon people where crowding around the center of our land. The morning breeze was blowing across the plains that look like they go on forever. All the people are dressed their finest skins for the sun dance. All the children have to block off the fox, bear, buffalo, and rabbit for they interrupt are dance. Around the glowing fire the grass is high and the few trees that surround us feel like they are closing in. But this is what a every day feels like in the great plains.

Ho ho oh ho oh ho. The sun dance is about to begin people are throwing bitterroot petals to the dancers. The dancers are the middle age girls. They waltz across the plain barefoot through the high grass. In my opinion they should wear deer skin dresses instead of buffalo skin because the deer skin is lighter. Everyone is shifting to the dining hall. I hoist Paco onto my back and run to find a seat near Ma and Papi. As I enter the dining hall Ma calls me.

Oh well it is almost morning time. If I am not dressed and ready to work in the field with Ma she will scold me. We walked out of are tipi and wow it is HOT! It has always been hot but never like this. I want to sneak to the watering hole but we almost never get water around here. Plus the entire tribe needs water Ma shows me hot to pick cotton and sew deer skin. Plus she does it all out here where if you stood out here long enough your face will melt! Maybe I should help Ma more often. She works very hard for the things we have.

Reed came out of nowhere screaming your …..”P-Papi…..he”.I interrupt “Reed I want to know what going on.” Spit it out already” ! “Fine your Papi was killed by a buffalo when he went hunting”! The last thing I remember seeing is Reed,Ma, and Paco.Where am I,what happened. I wake up with more questions than ever.Ma and Paco are crying I look over and boom, Papi is in a casket. This time he is not playing dead. I try to run over to Ma and Paco but Reeds mother holds me down. I start crying but I am not sad I guess it’s me seeing my family cry. But now I have to lead my family Ma is strong but I do not think she could carry are family like I can.

Reed, three men that went hunting with Papi, Ma, and Paco are gathered around Papi who is not sleeping. Ma said that since Papi meant so much to me I did not have to stay but I did even though it was hard on me. We pray that Papi will never die but to have his spirit watch over us all. We all walk outside in the rain to lay Papi in the ditch we made the day before. The three men who Papi went hunting with lay Papi in the ditch and covered it with buffalo skin on top. Papi is no more.

Hello it’s me again. Oh I have some great news! Some people with white faces and sharp pointy things came riding through the area. They where riding giant bunny’s. They might be called horses? Anyway I tried to touch a sharp thingy and red stuff called blood came out.Oh Paco wants me to put him on a Giant bunny see you later,bye!!!! Giant bunny Pointy thingy

On this assignment I believe I got an A or B+ because I worked very hard on this project and I gave plenty of facts with out sounding like a report. Some things I might do different are to make my introduction a little longer and funnier. Over all I think I did well. I learned that Pemmican is dried buffalo meat. It is almost like beef jerky. I also learned that the Blackfoot tribe has sun dances.This project was hard but yoyu have to pace your self and make sure it makes sense!!!

rroot/ rroot/ Gibson, Karen B. The Blackfeet people of the Dark Moccasins. Mankato, Minnesota: Gregory R.Cambell, Print. 0.jpg Web. 1 Oct