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99-116

South Dakota hosts 127th Niobrara Convocation

by James Solheim

     (ENS) In what has been described as "the single most 
distinctive institution of American Indian Episcopalians," almost 
a thousand people from the Dakotas, Minnesota, Arkansas (a sister 
diocese of South Dakota), and Delaware gathered in a large tent 
on a pow-wow ground in Eagle Butte, South Dakota, for three days 
at the end of June to eat, sing, share gifts and worship.

     Roots of the Niobrara Convocation go back to 1870 when 
Bishop Robert H. Clarkson, the missionary bishop of Nebraska and 
Dakota, called an Indian Missionary Convocation for all Episcopal 
clergy working with Indians in the territories, as well as lay 
delegates from each chapel and from every band of every tribe 
which had a mission.

     From the early days, when people arrived by horse and wagon, 
and later automobiles, people erected tents in the traditional 
camp circle, sharing their fires and food. Now people are just as 
likely to stay at motels or travel trailers, as well tents. But 
the spirit of sharing still permeates the convocation.

     The Niobrara Episcopal Church Women led Sunset Prayers at 
this year's opening service, held under the main tent as the last 
rays of the sun sank in the west.

     Presiding Bishop Frank T. Griswold and his wife Phoebe were 
special guests this year, mixing with participants, listening to 
their stories and sharing meals. They also visited Eagle Butte to 
talk with Greg Bourland, tribal chairman of the Cheyenne River 
Sioux Tribe.

     It was not the first visit for the presiding bishop. As a 
college student he spent part of a summer, 42 years ago, serving 
at a work camp sponsored by the national church at St. Andrew's, 
a parish of the Cheyenne River Episcopal Mission. Two years later 
he spent his summer working at Calvary Church, Okreek, on the 
Rosebud Reservation. That summer he attended the Niobrara 
Convocation at a parish on the Standing Rock Reservation where he 
received a ribbon as a registered visitor.

     Griswold told participants at this year's convocation, "I 
have kept this [ribbon] in my prayer book all these years. I 
remember you whenever I see the ribbon and say a prayer for you."

Honoring fallen leaders

     The theme this year, "Remember your leaders, who spoke God's 
word to you," honored four priests who served the Cheyenne River 
Episcopal Mission and died in 1996 or 1997--John Lurvey, Wilbur 
Bear's Heart, Sydney Platt and Robert Mesteth. A sunrise memorial 
service, for example, was at a roadside site near Eagle Butte 
where Mesteth died in an automobile accident.

     General meetings dealt with the work of individual churches, 
the continuing translation of the Book of Common Prayer into the 
Lakota/Dakota language, the great need for more clergy to serve 
the people of reservation missions, and the desire for more lay 
training.

     Many other activities drew participants in a number of 
different directions. The Diocese of South Dakota sponsored a 
Habitat for Humanity project, restoring three homes. A large 
group of high school and college students from Maryland led a 
vacation Bible school, reintroducing the game of Lacrosse to 
Indian youth after it had been prohibited by Indian authorities 
who thought it was training for war. 

     The game, known among the Sioux as "the little brother of 
war," was often used in lieu of battle to settle disputes, such 
as hunting or fishing rights. White explorers called the game 
lacrosse because the sticks used in the game reminded them of a 
bishop's crozier.

     Organizers of Faith Journey, as the annual venture by youth 
from Delaware to the Cheyenne River Reservation is known, were 
determined to bring the game back to the Sioux and they 
succeeded, holding clinics for youth at the high school football 
field every afternoon. A Michigan corporation supplied goals and 
lacrosse sticks for instruction and scrimmage, to be used later 
to start a program in the Eagle Butte school system. Since she 
had played the game at college, Phoebe Griswold was invited to 
join a scrimmage.

     On a more serious note, during a youth fest young people 
were invited and encouraged by older youth to seek a new way of 
life, avoiding drink and drugs that too easily pervade 
reservation life.

An ordination and sharing of gifts

     More than 800 people crowded into the main tent or in 
surrounding bleachers for the ordination of Paul M. Sneve to the 
priesthood during Sunday's Eucharist. Neve, a Dakota, is from 
Tiospaye Wakan (Sacred Family) Indian congregation of Calvary 
Cathedral in Sioux Falls. He will serve St. Matthew's in Rapid 
City. He is the grandson of the Rev. James Driving Hawk.

     He was presented with a deerskin chasuble decorated with 
beadwork.

     Many participants wore the Niobrara Cross, designed by 
Bishop William Hare, the first bishop of South Dakota, as a mark 
of confirmed membership in the church and a constant reminder of 
Christian calling. At the convocation in 1975, the Niobrara 
Deanery voted to share the cross with the entire diocese and, to 
this day, all confirmands receive the cross as part of their 
confirmation.

     Niobrara is always a time of gift-giving and this year was 
no exception. The walls of the meeting tent were lined with hand-
made quilts in traditional designs. Star quilts were given to 
Phoebe Griswold and the nine bishops who attended the 
convocation--Harold Jones, Walter Jones and Craig Anderson, all 
former bishops of South Dakota; Larry Maze of Arkansas; George 
Harris, retired bishop of Alaska; James Jelinek of Minnesota; and 
Wayne Wright of Delaware. The presiding bishop also received a 
gold Niobrara cross and a hand-beaded, deerskin stole.

     For the Rev. John Robertson, interim officer for Native 
American Ministries, Niobrara represents a "spiritual 
homecoming," since his whole family is from South Dakota. "The 
center of Niobrara was the recognition of the making, the 
formation, of native Christians. That's why the Niobrara cross, 
given at confirmation, has been such a sign over the years for us 
as a ceremonial people. The convocation and its ceremonies tie 
together the past, present and future," he said.

--James Solheim is director of the Episcopal Church's Office of 
News and Information. This article is based on information from 
Rita Winters, administrative assistant to the bishop of South 
Dakota.