The state of the nation of American Indians today is actually a lot like that of a battered woman. Anybody who has lost their identity and been continually told that they were evil practitioners of witchcraft will begin to believe it. Fortunately, a few people were able to hold onto and pass down our Blackfeet traditions. When we say our prayer, we always end it by saying, “survival of the Blackfeet.” That doesn’t necessarily mean survival of the race. It means survival of the Blackfeet worldview. That worldview is the answer to all our problems. Not only ours, the Blackfeet’s, problems, but the rest of the world’s too. It all starts with how everything is connected and interrelated, and it’s all based on respect.

My husband and I are bundle holders. What that means is that we are guardians of sacred Blackfeet bundles. These are packages that contain objects that are very sacred to us. I cannot tell you about what is in them, but I can say that we only open them a couple of times a year as part of intricate ceremonies, and that they hold a lot of power inside them. The women used to carry them on their backs. What they represent, really, is the survival of the Blackfeet. Our role is to protect and to reintroduce them to our children and grandchildren.

Our Tribal Council leaders, on the whole, have been assimilated. They don’t know about our Blackfeet spirituality. This all started when they took the children out of Blackfeet homes and sent them to boarding schools. The children who assimilated the fastest were rewarded, and when they were sent back to the community they became leaders. The condition that you see today in many Indians is really a programmed condition. What we’re doing here is working on cultural recovery. We’re reintroducing the Indian back to the Indian so that we can stand up to our oppressors on our own rather than always having somebody from the outside coming in to save us.

These are the things that led us to where we’re at today. They tried to strip our culture from us, but it just went underground. It did not die. The Blackfeet language is coming back quite well. It had been pretty much gone. We have a ceremony that’s called the Medicine Pipe ceremony. It’s supposed to take place over four days. It takes four days to transfer a Medicine Pipe. But if the priest, back in the old days, found out there was a Medicine Pipe ceremony going on, he would go there with the authorities and confiscate the bundle. They would put whomever they could find involved with it—“perpetrators” they called them—in jail. Then the priest would take the bundle down to the Holy Family Mission and burn it. It wasn’t too long ago that they finally said it was OK for us Indians to have eagle feathers for spiritual purposes. It was against the law up until the time of JFK.

The psychological effects of this are still visible today. When you bring up old Blackfeet ways in a group of Blackfeet today, you can see a lot of them just stiffen up, like, “Oh my God, if you talk about Blackfeet, somebody’s gonna die in a car wreck.” Seriously, that is still here today. The psychological damage is so deep.

If you look at our community and try to stamp out alcohol abuse, child abuse, drug abuse—any kind of a social problem—it would be like trying to stamp out one little fire when the whole forest is blazing. Rather than try those piecemeal things, you have to go back down to the root.

You should know about the famous psychologist Abraham Maslow. He invented the psychological tool called the Hierarchy of Needs—it’s in the form of a pyramid. At the bottom are food, clothing, and safety. He got that from the Blackfeet. He lived with the Blackfeet in the Blackfeet Nation and he did that whole thing after spending one summer with the Blackfeet. He saw the beautiful way that our philosophy took care of our social problems back then.

Bob and Charlene Burns’ backyard.

When you find your identity, everything else follows. Before the bundles came to me, I was a Full Gospel preacher. I would have preached that the bundles were witchcraft. I was an ordained minister and everything. But when my ex-husband and I went through a divorce, the Creator sent my new husband Bob my way. I always say that the Creator has a sense of humor. We joke that Bob taught me how to curse and I taught him to pray. Bob was just getting into his Indian cultural ways when we met and I was in my Christian ways still. We agreed that we would respect each other’s ways, so I started to go with him. That’s when I saw the philosophy for myself. It was one of the most humbling things I have ever experienced. Today people here feel like you have to choose between being an Indian and having Christian beliefs, but you don’t at all. It’s like our elder told us, “Whatever you are, the Indian way will make you that much more. If you are a Catholic, you’ll be a better Catholic, and so on.” The Indians always recognized everybody’s spirituality.

Not only everybody, but everything is spiritual to us. In other philosophies, animals are beneath us. In ours, animals, people, stars, trees, and the earth—it’s all one. And nobody is on an individual journey. We are all on a collective journey. All those before us, all those after us, and all of us together. So when I began to see all this, I saw that it was really Christianity to the nth degree. It has enhanced everything I used to know.

The preservation of the Blackfeet people is contained in the bundles. Each bundle has a society built up around it. The Beaver Society has a role that they play and a specific piece of knowledge they preserve, and the Medicine Pipe Society has a role that they play and a specific piece of knowledge they preserve. Also, every bundle is protected by a male and a female, because you’re also preserving the male and the female point of view. To make our people healthy, there has to be a man and a woman there.

The bundles themselves are the chiefs of the Blackfeet. That’s what our people are lacking now I think—the concept of leaders. We are the people who are sitting here taking care of the bundles, but the bundles are the real chiefs. They are the ones that keep us well emotionally, spiritually, physically, and mentally.

For certain things, you go to certain bundles. The Medicine Pipes are used more for doctoring than the Beaver Pipes. More people with illness would go to the Medicine Pipe. As my husband says, if you come to us with a health problem, a spiritual problem, a mental problem, or an alcohol problem, you’re wasting your time. But if you come to the Medicine Bundle with your problem, you will get what you want. My only caution to you would be to make sure of what you’re asking for.

Once Bob went to the bundles because he was having a lot of financial troubles. The way that he asked for help was, “I would like to have my financial problems resolved.” He left it at that, thinking maybe he was going to win the lottery or some big windfall was going to happen. Two weeks later, every organization that he owed money to started foreclosing on him. As they came up one by one, he was able to meet and satisfy what they wanted. At the end, we were debt-free. So he got what he wanted, just not how he expected.

CHARLENE BURNS

COMMENTS

Subject: Title Date: Mar 03 2008 07:00:36 AM Author: Smooty Many Blackfeet have voted on the UGLIEST and STINKIEST female on the rez and we have unanimously made a decision. We decided that Winona Whitford, Nonie, who works for Blackfeet housing, has taken the ungodly title. She is gag a maggot ugly, almost bald and plain ugly. She has bad breath and a smelly bottom. She is so ugly and stink she has not felt a penis for over ten years. Subject: I deserve respect Date: Jul 09 2007 12:25:05 AM Author: Jay St. Goddard I aint aware why so many people are so mad at the Babb people for there insest, insest goes on in Browning and Heart Butte and Cut Bank and California like it goes on in Babb there aint nothin the wrong with it and you listen here i deserve respect I was in council Subject: voted out of the tribal council Date: Jul 05 2007 01:18:14 PM Author: bullying st.gardard boys corruption has no bounds until last week when the new tribal council told the st.gardard boys to pay back the money they stole from the tribe. $70,ooo at last count. jay built a home on another person's land and lost it! jimmy is still living in low rent housing. jay is about to lose his tribal lease. who could be more stupider that that? and stink to boot? what goes around, comes around! Subject: Jay St Goddard Date: May 14 2007 10:38:20 PM Author: Pawneegrl With all this negativity you should respond! You are a real MAN are you not. What do you have to say about these allegations? Post your response or give us a private E-Mail. Subject: Jay St Goddard Date: Apr 22 2007 08:04:07 PM Author: Conscience Come on now Jay, you know that your family is known for incest. Your sister, Ronoldo, I hope I've spelled her name correctly, used to get drunk and cry when she was younger because she said you and your father were boning her and her sisters regularly. Those are your sisters and your fathers daughters, Jay. Jimmy StGoddard regularly boned his son, Martin, that's why Martin got thrown out of the Army and is always in trouble, his head's all messed up. Earl Old Person boned his daughter, Erlina, regularly, finally knocking her up. That's why she finally left the reservation and hasn't been back. Subject: Who is Patricia Smith? Date: Apr 12 2007 12:45:03 AM Author: S Incest (TRUTHFULLY) is in EVERY CULTURE! You should be more informed rather than listen to others B**** travel and SEE for yourself! ARE YOU A PERFECT SPIRIT? If so please let me have the chance to kneel before you!!!! Subject: J ST. Goddard Date: Apr 12 2007 12:16:32 AM Author: SNOW Why do you advicate racism within your own nation? Why so much hate and anger? In the honor of the CREATOR have an open honesty about our BLACKFEET cultural (spiritual) ancestry. Even you do not posses the infinate knowledge the ancient ones possesed and passed. It is forbidden for anyone (except those who are chosen) to posses this knowledge and to KNOW who to pass the knowledge to in its entirety! EMAIL at s_snowhite3@yahoo.com if this is not a pleasing reply to your views regarding this article. Temp email address til 01/08 Subject: Tribal Honor Date: Jan 06 2007 12:13:19 PM Author: Jay ST.Goddard Well I don’t want to put my foot in the stirp before the horse is broke but my uncle Earl Old person is expert and traditional at culture. I don’t think these people should have this bundle really he said. Earl says he would to see the bundle go back to the Last Star decendents. And Earl Old Person Jim St.Goddard and Jay St. Goddard don’t want Babb people to put a negative light on the Blackfeet Tribe we distance our honor from Babb as a community until they put the skids on there behavior. Jay St. Goddard, former tribal Chairman for Earl and Jim and self Subject: Part 3 of Hold me back, hold me back Date: Dec 08 2006 06:03:02 AM Author: Bucksistookie To you, “-native-“, Patricia Smith, what the fuck do you know? You let your husband fuck your daughters, his daughters also! You inbred Bitch! No wonder you’re living in Babb, I heard a common joke from Babb. it was told like this: “My buddy got in trouble last night, he was fucking his wife and she started to make a lot of noise, he whispered in her ear, ‘Shh, be quiet, your mother might wake up…’” That joke is a reference to how wide spread and accepted incest is in the Babb community! You’re right in your environment, stay there, you’re not Blackfeet either! To you, “Pikuniaki”, get the fuck back to Canada where you belong! Stick your nose back where it belongs: in the Queen’s Crack! You old Crack! Finally, to “jim”, as in Jim Bird: Jim, you’re one of the stupidest, laziest, smells kike stink feet cock suckers that’s ever weaseled his way into being called a man! Jim is so dumb, everyone calls him “Big Dumb”! He’s about as smart as a Slim Jim, and smells about the same! Not all, but most of the rest of the comments were written by inbred Babb people or relatives and friends of the Burns’. All of which are lacking-in brains and Blackfeet Blood beyond a sixteenth degree. Fuckin phonies! Subject: Part 2 of Hold me back, hold me back Date: Dec 08 2006 05:58:49 AM Author: Bucksistookie The Burns’ don’t represent The Blackfeet Nation, and I want to shake the hands of “w.h” and “Blackfeet Boxer” for having the courage to speak the truth where-and-when the truth was needed! In this case, it couldn’t have been spoken truer, or needed more. The Burns’ are messing with something that can seriously hurt them, including anyone who participates in their delusions; they remind me of that Apple Indian (Red on the outside, White on the inside), Darryl Kipp, the descendant of Joe Kipp, that dirty-prick who lead the charge against The Heavy Camp, on The Marias River; and of the Yellow Kidney Boys (Donald, etc…), the ones who’ve sold their souls for a dollar, while causing themselves and other participants Cancer, because of their not knowing what they’re doing, with, like the Burns’, their stolen bundle; stolen bundles, that they don’t know how to deal with, other than from White Man’s Writings… Them Chinese Bastard, Yellow Kidneys, and them White, Cree Bastard Burns’ are out of control because of the almighty dollar… WORLD, THEY’RE NOT NOT GENUINE BLACKFEET BUNDLE HOLDERS! Subject: Hold me back, hold me back Date: Dec 08 2006 05:51:11 AM Author: Bucksistookie I’m from The Blackfeet Indian Reservation, an enrolled member, and a Traditional Blackfeet, the real thing. In this and any other related forum, a Traditional Blackfeet, has eminent authority and room-to-comment when it comes to, “White Shamans and Plastic Medicine Men,” such as Charlene and Bob Burns are! Charlene and Bob have done nothing, other than read White Man Philosophy and regurgitate it in a manner which they feel will make them look like-less like the White, Cree fools they are! During one of their artificial ceremonies, a male left the proceedings after loudly-proclaiming that they’d charged him too much for what he was experiencing…several others followed his lead, saying that they’d seen the proceedings that the Burns’ were attempting to convince them were “…genuine Blackfeet…” on an “Old time Western”. They all agreed that the only part of the scenario that was left-out was the “How”, accompanied by the raised arm and right palm… The Burns’ are dangerous to us, because their paying customers are leaving the reservation and returning to their countries, states and cities believing that The Blackfeet are phonies, as represented by these two idiots! “Common” describes the Burns’ to-a-T. The Burns’ worship the mighty dollar, far-above anything else and will drop their panties anywhere for a dime! That’s their prerogative, however, they’re representing The Blackfeet Nation, and that makes it/them a Blackfeet problem. Subject: god money Date: Jun 03 2006 10:01:56 AM Author: Common I always find it strange when people pray for help with money. Subject: on bundle holding pipe holders Date: May 08 2006 04:12:00 PM Author: w.h I believe you have to be handed down a bundle and be raised with it i never knew bob burns to be sprital leader just a bar tender and logger Charlene never wanted to be indian she was a church goer tell she back slid i would not attend one of there cermonies they dont even speak there native which would be (cree)they have dirty nerve to hold a blackfeet bundle and on top of that to buy and not get it handed down both should be very ashamed of them shelves. Subject: ok Date: Mar 07 2006 10:01:52 AM Author: Wildrice_woman The thing that gets me about this convo is that it shouldnt matter who is what blood quamtum wise to carry on the traditions. It should only be about who is native by both blood and culture.. if you are lacking the blood (never said how much you "need") then just pack it up and move on .. If you have the blood and not the culture then go learn it,live it, teach it ,and be it..Anyone who puts christ into our ways is just doing themselves a disservice. Admire christ for his conviction for his people find your own conviction for your people but dont worship him..We dont worship other humans.. Subject: Re: Blackfeet Boxer Date: Feb 28 2006 01:35:10 PM Author: Pikuniaki To be a boxer you must be quite young. I remember what it was like when there was such a big division between Breeds and Bloods. The attendence at the ceremonies was small and in the 1930's was even considered illegal and punishable by law. Those Full Blood Traditionals who risked much to keep the Blackfeet traditions alive during all of the years of oppression by the govt, the dominant culture, christian whites and Indians (both breeds and Bloods) are heroes and heroines! They would also be the first to be appreciative of those who carry the culture now and forth into the future.You talk about things being 1/6th true, if you were traditional using the language you do in your post belies this fact and your knowledge of what is true and not true. I have certainly not heard this type of language from a true traditional person. Subject: What the fuck! Date: Feb 25 2006 01:15:35 AM Author: Blackfeet Boxer Bob Burns and his fucken wife are white people. They are not real Blackfeet. All they want is to stick their big faces into everything and act like natives. This is not authentic material. Everything that I have been reading is about 1/6 true, all the rest is bullshit. You should talk to the elders about tradition and culture. Shit like this really pisses me off, you want to do articles on Indians but you interview people who aren't even native. Dumb fucks. Subject: Great!!! Date: Feb 15 2006 08:42:56 PM Author: sassy indian Char is my cuz from Babb aye part bird part babbalonian giggle-giggle. She is an inspiration to all of us and if you really listen even the idiot making fun of her story could get it. I'm sorry for being rude but hey I'm a "sassy little one" This is really a great way to look at our lives. I choose to believe...Love the Burn's from BABB! Subject: interesting! Date: Feb 15 2006 12:46:00 AM Author: -native- I know Char shes in alot of my classes at BCC i think she is very knowledgeable and knows what she is talking about because she always speaks from the heart. She is one of the reasons i enjoy attending my classes because i enjoy listening to her philosphy on life and i as a blackfeet never was really interested in my culture until i met this women! Subject: Great article Date: Feb 13 2006 09:02:31 AM Author: caryle Char is my sister. I live in New York, I live in the white world. Our lives are very different. I love how my sister views life and how she lives life. We can all learn from her intelligence and her heart. She is a true humanitarian. I admire her. The Blackfeet people are lucky to have her. She is actively trying to improve things that need improving, and seeing the beauty in these wonderful people. Subject: blackfeet traditional seekers Date: Feb 02 2006 09:48:40 PM Author: jim there is great power in those bundles like my sister says, be carfull what you ask for! be humble, be repectfull, listen to your elders and give back to your people. Subject: last star bundle Date: Feb 01 2006 03:29:11 PM Author: sue welch I look forward to coming home and gathering with my family at the bundle opening ceremony each year. I have grown spiritually and have danced with the bundle and felt the awesome energy from the bundle and from the people that surround the sacred circle. I feel a power greater than myself in my dreams and in making everyday decisions. The love and closeness it brings makes it feel like "home". Home is where the heart is right? See you this summer!! AHO Subject: Wow Date: Jan 29 2006 02:59:38 PM Author: S This article just might be the most articulate piece I have ever seen in Vice. I really wasn't expecting such good things with this issue. It's blown me away. Subject: good stuff Date: Jan 28 2006 03:13:01 PM Author: wow Alot of wisdom that I hope goes far in helping Indians understand themselves as well as others understand where Indians are coming from. Subject: good bit Date: Jan 27 2006 07:11:52 PM Author: goliath the reason no one commented on this article is probably that your average vice reader has the attention span of a 4 year old and can only stomach reading about jeans and tshirts. Subject: been there Date: Jan 20 2006 12:45:17 PM Author: Chris McCall I used to live on a reservation in NW Montana called the salish-kootenai res. I have been to some of the bars and played basketball against some of the high school teams in this issue. This is the real deal, and these people are some of the toughest in the world. Subject: yep Date: Jan 17 2006 09:34:37 PM Author: mott cromby this might be a classic issue of Vice foe real Subject: gd2c Date: Jan 17 2006 09:39:16 AM Author: Matt I'd just like to say that this articulate and heartfelt article goes far, i reckon, in dispelling old ideas about... first nations people. Chuffed also that they call themselves Indians. ""-:) PoppyCock PC M Subject: Well, well Date: Jan 17 2006 03:41:02 AM Author: J It pleases me to see that the unoriginal jerks who read Vice (and feel halfway witty for it) meet an article that they can't comment on. You can read Vice, but for Chrissakes don't try to write Vice. Dumb dumbs.