RESERVATION ELK HUNT

Here are a couple of pictures from this morning’s hunt. The second picture is of my son (Greg) and my nephew (Mike). We were scoping-out a small herd of elk we’d spotted after walking a few miles, just below Looking Glass. Greg had a 338 Winchester and Mike had a 300, both Magnums. The elk were approximately three-fourths of a mile to the South-East of us. I took some pictures of them but in the finished product, they aren’t distinguishable from their surroundings – I forgot that I had zoom.

The first picture is of me posing with my baby, the 7mm Remington Magnum (Browning Bar), after the elk had skunked us. How do you like the tennis shoes -- INDIAN STYLE!

It was extremely exciting. After we’d gotten to the area where we’d last seen them, we followed the elk’s tracks-in-the-snow. They led us to about one mile West of the original location, right to a steep side hill, all covered with Pines, snow and patches of willows, very thick stuff. We watched the area for about thirty minutes and decided that they’d bedded down. We made a plan to split-up and make a sweep from the bottom. I thought I knew about where they’d chosen to bed, toward the middle, right where things were thickest. Mike’s pretty smart and had the same idea. He said he’d take the middle and told Greg and I that if he took the middle the elk would spook and run into one of us, attempting to make being positioned on either side more desirable than being in the middle. I knew what he was up to, and used my age and great wisdom to get the position for myself! I told them that I wanted the middle so that I could keep an eye on both of them. They didn’t like it but they went along.

Halfway up the hill, and putting more energy into picking a route than watching for elk, I surprised the elk and myself. All I saw and heard were white flashes and thumping hooves for about ten seconds! Subsequently, all I had time to do was holler, “Here they come!” That’s all I saw, they were gone in a flash! Greg and Mike didn’t see anything but both said they’d heard the meat running through the trees and up the hill…

The end, except for one thing: I can tell you that there are some very lucky elk in Montana, right now, and a lot of “What if’s” streaming from the mouths of my two hunting companions!

Many Thanks,

Calvin Tatsey

2006 BLACKFEET SUNDANCE

The above photo is of some of the people who were involved in the initial preparations for the 2006 Blackfeet Sundance. From left to right: Tyler Many White Horses, Clayton ArrowTopKnot (Ohtikunni), Paul HairyBull, Calvin Tatsey (me), Greg Tatsey (my son), and a midget who'd wandered over from the roadway, ha, ha, naw, his name is (Clay Flammond).

A Holy-Blackfeet Bundle, the Natoas (Sundance Bundle), a.k.a. the Many White Horses Bundle, which hasn’t been used for a Sundance for seventy-seven years, was used during this past June, of 2006. The last time that a Sundance was held under the authority of this bundle, was in 1929.

There are other Sundances that occur here annually; however, they are not genuine-Blackfeet Sundances. Not genuine because of the bundles. One bundle is of Cree origin, another is of Sioux, and so forth… There’s absolutely nothing wrong with their power or medicine, they’re just not Blackfeet, and each bundle and its owner receives the utmost of respect and honor, of which they deserve.

To put everything into context before I go any further, that’s like using Catholic symbolic representation or protocol to conduct Pentecostal services, or Pentecostal to conduct Baptist services.

My Nawtoo Ohtikunni (Holy-Medicine Chief) Clayton ArrowTopKnot, is the current- owner of the Many White Horses Bundle; Clayton was also the Head Medicine Man of the 2006 ceremony.

The Sundance of 1929 was held on Two Medicine River; the Sundance of 2006 was also held on Two Medicine. The sponsor of the 2006 Sundance was, Mr. Terry Wellman, a well known and respected, local business owner and a member of the Blackfeet Tribe.

The next consecutive Sundance will be held on July 6, of 2007. The day might change slightly, but it will happen.

This year’s ceremony was attended by few, when it should have been attended by every traditional man and woman from our reservation. From what I’ve been advised, politics got in the way. Certain traditional people were whispering to others that if they had anything to do with it, that they would get hurt, because, “…it was ‘real medicine’ that was being used [it was real medicine and it will be the same next year and the year after that and the year after that]…” Clayton questioned what those people had been involved with previously. Our comments were of the same nature; we both wondered what they, being traditional and heavily involved-in traditional-ceremonial activities, had gotten used to, for them to fear a real Blackfeet Sundance ceremony. That reminded us of something that a dilettante would say.