Remembering Sitting Bull's words

              My grandfather, born in 1878, was a landscape artist, a quiet and loving man who smoked a pipe.  As little kids, my older sister, brother and I would sit at his feet waiting for him to tell another story.  "Well Sir", he'd always begin, taking the pipe out of his mouth and start weaving our tale.  It was always about the west, about Indians, the land and water, Indian  lives, hunting buffalo, having ceremonies around huge fires.  He never told tales of fighting.  Everything was always exciting in other ways.  He'd spin tales about wild animals, storms all sorts of things.  We little tykes were mesmerized. 

              The other day, I ran across this message from Sitting Bull, the Lakota Medicine Man and Sioux Chief.  As I was reading it, I immediately thought of sitting at my grandfather's knee and listening to his words.  Here is Sitting Bull's powerful and wise message:

              "The warrior is not someone who fights, for no one has the right to take another life.  The warrior , for us, is the one who sacrifices himself for the good of others.  His task is to take care of the elderly, the defenseless, those who cannot provide for themselves, and above all the children, the future of humanity."

               Today, much of our family unit structure has broken down.  Many kids have incredible daily struggles.  The helping structures need to be in place and effective. We are in the middle of crisis.  Yet we have the tools, we have the will, we have the people, and resources are available. 

              We have, right here in the Mission Valley, all we need to work together very effectively through our schools, our clubs, our organizations and our political entities to prove to ourselves, our state and our world that it does take a community to raise a child. 

              It is not a chore to shake our heads over , it is a privilege to be celebrated for it builds a society echoing Sitting Bull's words. 

Bob McClellan, Polson