Sitting on a wool blanket inside a tipi on the University of Montana’s campus Oval, Tyson Running Wolf stuffed tobacco into a pipe.
A fire in the center crackled, and the smell of burning sweetgrass filled the air.
Once it was lit, Running Wolf passed the pipe to Leonard Traveller, a Blackfoot knowledge keeper, who came down from Canada for the ceremony. Before sharing a prayer, Traveller spoke of unity.
“Today, we will assist the Western world and the Indian world, or Native American world, or Blackfoot world to come together and move forward,” he told the group. “To decolonize, we have to understand colonization. … I’m proud to say that despite colonization, we never lost our ceremony. This ceremony, it’s pure love. It’s to heal us, to decolonize us.”
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Traveller said a prayer in Blackfoot as he blew smoke from the pipe. Running Wolf followed suit before passing the pipe, tip first, around the tipi — which was packed with dozens of UM students, faculty and community members, Native and non-Native.
As the pipe moved counterclockwise around the tipi, some people smoked from it, while others tapped it on their shoulders four times. Some people prayed, others listened, and some put their right hand over their heart, signifying taking in a prayer.
Blackfoot leaders took deep breaths, blowing clouds of smoke around their faces and used their hands to brush the smoke around their head and shoulders. But some non-Native participants were more hesitant. Not wanting to do something wrong or bring offense, most non-Native attendees took short, quick breaths from the pipe and looked to leaders for approval before passing it on.
When the pipe made its way around the circle, Running Wolf shook his head and smiled at the ground.
“Powerful,” he said. Then he addressed some non-Native members of the group.
“There’s a lesson to take home,” he said. “Did you see how nervous you guys were? Some folks were really good at it, but some of you couldn’t even pray. You were too nervous trying to figure out how you fit in. That’s how we feel when we come here. Understand that, and take it in.”
Lona Running Wolf, Tyson’s wife, expanded on the idea.
“That’s how people feel when we leave the reservation and go to university,” she said. “You wonder, 'Where do I fit in?' And lots of people give up and go home. But today, you were in our world.”
Pipe ceremonies, which promote prayer and healing, are not often a public affair. But Monday’s ceremony was different. It kicked off a series of events sponsored by UM and funded by a grant from the Mellon Foundation. The university was awarded $1 million to hold space for Indigenous elders, to connect Native students with traditional knowledge keepers and to educate non-Native students and faculty on ceremony and culture.
S. Neyooxet Greymorning, Native American studies professor, said aside from when the Payne Family Native American Center was dedicated, “This campus has never seen anything like this before. This is the real deal. And I’m not sure a lot of students will know that. They may think this is just a powwow, but it’s not. It’s ceremony.”
Lona said she’s thrilled the university is opening its doors to explore Blackfoot culture “at this level.”
“Most cultural opportunities (open to the public) are surface level,” she said. “This is different. It’s a reflection of our elders’ willingness to open the door not only to our people but also to the world.”
Events associated with the Mellon grant continued throughout the week. Community members attended several dinners and had the opportunity to build a sweat lodge and participate in a sweat ceremony.
Editor’s note: While pipe ceremonies are normally closed to photographers, Leonard Traveller gave the Missoulian permission to witness and photograph Monday's ceremony in an effort to share Blackfoot culture.