Travel

South West Blessings

Posted on Updated on

In a previous post, I described my overarching year or two of personal healing as I’ve been taking more and more breaks from the breakneck speed I was moving through the world. Canyon de chellyTo summarize it, I’ve gotten involved in a charity project where we will be going to both the Navajo and Hopi reservations to install durable solar kits for about 50 families, homesteads, and businesses. Because of that, I am offering up a special!

A majority of my time will be spent near Canyon De Chelley, Chaco Canyon, and other sacred sites. We will be staying with elders, and many people who have opened up their land for us to humbly camp during the really cold and snowy South West January and February. I would love to offer some blessings, journeys, or mini shamanic healings for $50 a session!

How it works

I know what you’re thinking, how is that going to work? The reservations barely have cell service, and it’s almost impossible to have internet out there (unless you have a mobile hotspot, which is also pretty spotty). Talk about being off the grid!!

Well it’s simple! If you’ve got a particular issue, challenge, or something that’s really been bugging you, all you do is send an email to chenchira@eagletherapies.com with your question and a picture of you. I will then journey on your behalf while I’m on the reservations, and then record said journey. Next time I happen to be by an internet source or within cell service, I will send you the recording as well as a detailed email (I would expect a 1-2 week turn around). The $50 also covers a phone conversation to go over the results of the journey or healing. If you feel called to offer more then that, then feel free to donate more to the cause. All of the proceeds from this will go directly to supporting me while I help the Hopi and the Navajo.

In addition to offering journeys and healings, I can also simply offer a South West blessing towards you or a friend/family member of your choice (with their consent) for a suggested fee of $30. I would just need a picture of the person receiving the blessing. This can be done in the same way, where I will record the blessing in either a song form or just explain what the blessing is and send you the recording with a detailed email about what was received.

Interested? Sign up for one through email (chenchira@eagletherapies.com) or Facebook messenger. Payment can be accepted through PayPal (eagletherapiesevents@gmail.com) or Venmo (@Stephanie-Seger-1).

Looking forward to working with you!

Living Energy Lights

Posted on Updated on

Wintertime in the Northern Hemisphere is the time for dreaming, resting, and planning for the next year ahead. As many have noticed and commented, I have been hard core going within. My adventure has taken me deep within my own cocoon of personal development. Since I’m in this 5 year shamanic training program with the Last Mask Community, I have hard core discovered that I was an addict to suffering and a chronic “over do-er”. I consistently pushed myself to exhaustion, fitting thing after thing into my busy schedule. I over planned and even managed to double book my “self care” times. Eagle Therapies is an extension of me, because it is my business. It’s been a reflection of my own personal progress as just 2 years ago I was offering anywhere between 6-12 events per month. It also lent itself to a huge US Tour that was quite an adventure! But it was stressful financially, and a great experiment of trust in Spirit. Overproduction much?

It’s a really sad thing, because our society rewards multitasking and pushing yourself to the extent of martyrdom. I can’t rightly see clients when I don’t practice what I preach, so I have been following the advice that I had been gifting out like candy.

Slow down.

I couldn’t hear my own song. And gradually over the last year, my life has taken an incredible turn. I moved to an intentional community called Living Energy Farm back in September.

Me in Hat.jpg
Me chopping firewood with a purple axe 🙂

I got involved with organic farming, open pollinated, non-GMO, USDA organic crop growing and an off the grid lifestyle. Talk about slowing down! I have been living very simply, and taking a minimal amount of clients (thank the gods for distance sessions and mobile internet!).

But my favorite thing? Well, you see in the 5 year program, the first year is all about our relationship with our authentic self, the second year is all about our relationship with shadow repressed/shamed aspects of self, and the third year is all about our relationship with power. In my third year in the cycle, I’ve gotten involved in this huge project that Living Energy Farm is putting forth. In addition to successfully living off grid for about a decade, they are passionate about sharing this renewable energy model with other people. Their big donation project is all about installing 50 battery boxes with solar panels in Navajo and Hopi territory. The four hubs we will be working with are the Tsaile/Wheatfields Dineh Water Users, The Diné College, Rez Refuge, and the Hopi Tutskwa Permaculture Institute.

That’s right. In my shamanic training year where it’s all about relationship to power, I synchronously got involved in a project of returning power to people who wouldn’t otherwise have access to power.

It’s still sad to know that there are people here in the United States that do not have access to electricity or running water. Many kids move away as they grow up because there aren’t any big paying jobs on the reservations. When they make money, they either send money back to their parents, or they purchase mass produced solar equipment that’s based off of the consumerist model. Unfortunately the solar models that are out on the market at the moment are built similarly to regular electricity running through a house, and are operated with materials that break down within a few years so you have to go back to these companies to replace the parts (which means more money for these companies). There’s thousands of dollars of melted inverters, solar panels, and dead batteries all over reservations in the South West.

Living Energy Farm has an alternative, and is offering an opportunity for people who also want to help people who don’t have access to power or running water. We’re looking for desk lamps that have regular screw in light bulbs. We will be re-wiring them so that they can be used in this donation project. If you’re in the Northern VA/DC/MD area, I can definitely stop by before I go. I’ll be up in the DC area on January 14th+15th. You can also feel free to drop off lamps at the Intuitive Wellness Center or bring them to the Journey Group on the 14th.

Xander Lamp.jpg
My son holding a recently converted lamp

Don’t have a lamp? We will happily accept donations! There are three people from the farm going out to AZ and NM to install these solar kits who will be using these donations for food, lodging, and other travel expenses. If you’re looking to gift a larger donation that is tax deductible,you can use this link. After we complete the Arizona project with the Hopi and the Navajo, we also have some installations we will be doing in Ghana, and also some eco-villages in Costa Rica.

Curious about what makes this system different then the conventional solar kits that are on the market? We will be expanding after this big donation project and have begun mass producing this DC Microgrid system and will start selling them beginning in February. Find out more on our sister project site Living Energy Lights (this is our for profit site) where a portion of each battery purchase will go towards funding these charitable adventures.

 

In order to support myself while I am out there, I will be offering distance journeys and mini shamanic healings for $50. This will include a detailed email with what I discovered on my journey or healing, and will give practical next steps for your healing process. This package deal also includes a recording and a phone call to go over the results. The best part? I’ll be doing this in-between these installations and on the reservations, close to powerful sacred and ceremonial places. Receive the juju and blessings of the South West in this magical opportunity!

I am unsure what events I will be offering when I get back from this big month long install as we help out 50 families/institutions get these DC Microgrids. I definitely know that I will still be continuing the Shamanic Journey Groups. My passion has really come out whenever I offer dance ceremonies, so perhaps I will do more of those! But we shall see 🙂

Thank you to all who have been supporting me while I incubate in my cocoon! The support that I feel as I go inward has been immense and has dropped me to my knees in gratitude more often then I can count. I can’t wait to unfold into the person I was born here to be!

Hope to see you around the fire, in the dream world, or around the sacred circle soon. Many blessings to you and your loved ones.

Why Go Across the United States for the US Tour?

Posted on Updated on

As my son and I prepare for our last week in town, the last weekend in town we hosted 3 events. The Eagle Therapies US Tour – Crucible of Transformation happened on Saturday. It was my heartfelt explanation for why I felt called to go across the United States, exposing a little bit more of my personal story. Towards the end I pose some big questions and as a group we discussed what that means for us as a small community – connecting in with larger communities. Feel free to engage in the discussion on the forums.

Other related posts:

Eagle Therapies 2018 US Tour

Posted on Updated on

Other related posts:

Many contemporary people long to connect to a larger energy than themselves. We actively look for answers in community, society, and our western contemporary culture. However, the answers we are seeking in order to heal the story of separation are not going to be found in our culture. The story of interbeing will be coming from the margins.

So… Who is Eagle Therapies?

Eagle Therapies is a small business started by Stephanie Seger (me) in 2014. It was an authentic approach to me establishing myself on my Shamanic path. I have studied with Mary Tyrtle Rooker, Christina Pratt, and have taken courses with/read books by Michael Harner, Evelyn RysdykSandra Ingerman, and Betsy Bergstrom. Since the first Shamanic Journey group back in early spring of 2014, Eagle Therapies has hosted a number of different events in the Northern Virginia, DC, and Maryland area. This is the main local nest, and it has grown to a robust 8-12 events a month, centered around getting people connected with their mental, emotional, and spiritual bodies in a healthy way. Most of the time it’s through fun activities like dancing, drumming, or singing (there’s at least a little each event).

What is happening? Why take this on the road?

As I come to a deeper understanding of myself as well as deepening my connection to my Spirit Guides/Helping Spirits, challenges have been posed to me. I was clearly guided by Spirit to quit my job back in November and thus began my earnest dedication to Eagle Therapies.

Some big lessons for me at this time include trust (trust in myself, trust in the Universe, trust in my guides), humility, asking for help, and faith. Honestly? I tend to be pretty hard headed, so what’s going to push me out of my comfort zone the most? Get in front of a bunch of strangers across the US with community that I have not been tending carefully over the past 4 years… No. It’s not terrifying at all.

One of the things about being a Shamanic Practitioner, is that you have to live in good relationship with the world around you. Through a Shamanic lens, you understand that everything has a Spirit, and we are all connected and interconnected to the Spirit in all things. At first I thought this was going to be a small road trip, but I was wrong. Initially, I journeyed to the Land Spirits requesting permission to travel safely across them. They brought me to the spirit of Great Grandmother Turtle of Turtle Island. She had a mission for me if I chose to accept it (cue Mission Impossible theme).

The main reason why I was given this seed of doing a road trip last year was to offer Ceremonies similar to those I hold in the DC area across the United States. Grandmother Turtle has assured me that the time is right for me to perform what she calls “Awakening” Ceremonies. This is a “Guided by Spirit” road trip, and I’m going to be as transparent as possible with this trip, making my life on the road public for all who are willing to view. I will be bringing my son with me, for he is an extension of my heart and soul. And of course because we get into the most ridiculous shenanigans together. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and sign up for the special road trip newsletter (it will be sent out once weekly and good for those who stay away from social media).

What is an Awakening Ceremony?

To be honest, I don’t know at this point. That’s just the word that came into my head as I kept trying to describe my experiences. I plan on updating this post as time goes on so that people can stay up to date as I know and understand. What I do know at this point is that my main purpose is to connect with as many people as possible.

One of my gifts is the ability to involve people in fun, engaging activities in order to embody complex concepts with ease. The innately intelligent Land Spirits are consistent in their informing me of their earnest desire for humans to connect with them more. To pause in appreciation for the clouds while walking from your car to your work place is an example of the simplicity desired. To connect with the spiritual and natural world is uncomplicated; gratitude doesn’t need to be a complex expression.

You want an opportunity to attend a relaxed, fun drum or song circle? Oh, what’s that? You feel a stirring in your heart and you laughed like you hadn’t ever before? Good! That’s our goal. Transitioning to living a healthier lifestyle with more awareness of the world around you isn’t difficult…it’s joyful. Please join us!

There will be events along the way that will be just drum and song circles, but I will also offer Ancestral Healing Circles, Heart Centered Sound Circles, Life Compass Groups, and Awakening Ceremonies. The Awakening Ceremonies are still a little fuzzy to me, but I will be doing them daily in different areas where I will be staying or traveling through. We will be visiting multiple sacred sites across the US (Serpent Mound, Cahokia Mounds, Black Hills, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone, etc). There is an Itinerary Post, and it will be constantly updated so everyone can stay on the same page. Links to events on Facebook and Meetup will be created. What I do know about the Awakening Ceremonies is that they will be planned closer to the date of performance. Some of the Ceremonies will be strong and structured, while others will leave room for the Sacred to intervene.

If you wish to be a coordinator for an event and you happen to be along the route, then feel free to message and we can most likely work something out! If you are a Shamanic Practitioner along the route, then I will be happy to advertise for your local events while I’m in town. I am flexible, and if it’s meant to happen, things will happen easily and fluidly.

The main point of this road trip is to help awaken ourselves to our true potential. We should be in right relationship with the world around us, and that starts first with where we live. It can be done through the small acts of awareness or through the deep Ceremonies of connection with the Land Spirits. Join in community, bring a friend who knows nothing about Shamanism to a song and drum circle to help open their eyes with how graceful and fun filled it can be. Inside of us is the reason why we were born into this world at this time. It is time we stepped up to be the answer to the prayers our Ancestors have been praying for. If anything, I know that I personally want to leave this world better then the way I found it so that my son and his generation have something substantial to inherit.

I will be carrying local Goose Feathers dropped naturally during molting season with me throughout the whole road trip. They will be potent power objects by the end of the trip, choosing to carry the energy of this road trip as they will be on each travel altar we set up and break down to honor the spirits of the land, ancestors, and sacred beings all around. They will be available for those that choose to donate to the road trip and want to have a piece of the road trip with them or the community.

This road trip is an immense amount of trust. This is an act of Co-Creation and I wouldn’t be able to do it without your support. If the Vision of this road trip calls to you, then please consider donating. We have chosen to go with crowd funding with reward tiers because I am willing to work for donations. Every dollar you donate will go directly to the support of this Vision, and you will get personally thanked by me. If you cannot donate at this time, then spread the word about this road trip. Contact people who might be along the route and let them know these events are coming to town.

If you read it this far, then I give deep gratitude to you as a human. You chose to donate your time and read this, and I honor your heart. May our hearts connect and share that spark of connection – if only for a brief moment. Brightest blessings, and fly high.

 

 

40cean Blessing Bracelets

Posted on Updated on

As some people have been following the blogs and newsletters, they might be aware that for the month of June, I had an offer for people to get recycled bracelets from a company called 4Ocean. To look back at the previous blog post click here. These bracelets are made of trash that has been picked up from the ocean. There are several sites all across the world that have “Ocean clean up” days, where volunteers just pick up trash. The glass beads are made from the glass bottles, and the string is made from recycled plastic bottles.

The fun thing is, that over $400 was raised in order to donate to 4Ocean! I am so proud of those that support our community and the love that was raised for the Ocean <3 The bracelets arrived just in time for me to bring to my first shamanic training in the 4 year training program that I’m in. While I was in Arizona for the Masks of Illusion and the Authentic Self (It’s a 4 year program that teaches how to live a shamanic lifestyle), I had put these wonderful bracelets on the community altar – so the proud owners of the bracelets will walk away with some powerful transformative energies as well as some personalized blessings. These bracelets also came along with me as I traveled and camped in the wilderness of the desert.

I happen to be an introvert, and I knew that training was going to be intense. I was right, it was. And I really needed to heavily process. Sometimes in order to process I escape to nature so I can reconnect with myself and the bigger picture of what I came here to do. I camped at Picacho State Park overnight, and in the morning I gave gratitude and blessings to the Land Spirits that helped hold us during our powerful transformational processes. I will tell you a really funny story… because as I was giving offerings to the land, I happened to give gratitude to the desert by pouring some water on the ground. As soon as I said, “I give this to the Land Spirits and the Spirits of Place” and dumped the water on the ground, there was this little ground squirrel that came out of nowhere, scampered up and shyly drank the water that I just poured. I guess the Land Spirits come in all shapes and sizes 🙂

 

Big bump I climbed

I climbed that big bump you see right there. While I was up at about 2,000 feet above sea level, I had built myself a little offering altar and placed the bracelets up there while it absorbed some really expansive mountain/desert energy. I played a couple of songs on the flute, and sang on the drums. Some of the other hikers appreciated the drumming/singing. It was quite comical because I had found a little shady spot under a cliff, so you couldn’t really see where I was sitting unless you walked past me. I had some hikers comment that they were worried there was a ghost around here, and we had a good laugh as I chatted with some of the good natured folks who also decided to climb Picacho Peak.

I shall start planting the seeds of blessings in them this month. June was a pretty bumpy month for me, and the training took a lot more out of me then I expected. I had to take a break from clients and even cancel a few social/community events I had planned. Thank you to those that are patient in receiving the bracelets 🙂 They shall be delivered soon! With a cute little bag and post cards that say “Thanks for cleaning up the ocean!”

Much love and many blessings to all of you <3 And thank you for caring about the state of our ocean and helping contribute to a cause that is helping clean up the mess humanity is leaving on our planet. We shall do right by the world. Gotta leave it better then we found it so our children and our childrens children can enjoy it.

Synopsis of Standing Rock

Posted on

To all of my beloveds and family members that supported us as my teacher and I went out to Standing Rock, here is a synopsis of our journey. My teacher and I co-wrote this together, but it’s written in his point of view. I’m not going to bother changing it because I’ve had many other projects that I’ve been working on. Feel free to read, comment, share, and everything else. Based off of my Walk With Buffalo post, I find it very funny that a Buffalo Mother decided to walk up to the car to lick it 😛

Posted on his Facebook page at 7:00pm on March 29th

Greeting my Family, Friends and Earth Companions! I am home from my trip to Standing Rock, N.D, and here is our (Stephanie and my) combined synopsis of the trip and what we found and did there. I traveled there this time with a good friend and shamanic student of mine, Stephanie Seger. She is also a shamanic healer in her own right and runs Eagle Therapies to help others. When we arrived, we found out that all the original camps have been completely destroyed by the government with the approval of the Standing Rock Tribes Chief, Dave Archambault, and the council. You can read more about that here . The work on the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) is complete and the oil either is or will be flowing through it by the time I get this finished and out to everyone.

Buffalo drum I painted during our travel

The journey started on Sunday, March 12, 2017. We drove for a little over 12 hours to Peoria, IL and stopped for the night to avoid driving in the blizzard that was coming east. It was a good decision, because we missed the snowfall pretty much completely and started driving again Monday morning to complete our trip to Bismarck, ND. We saw many vehicles’ in the ditches and medians that validated Lora and Stephanie’s counsel to stop and got into Bismarck, ND about 2am on Tuesday. A little over 1800 miles with no problems, we were blessed. We spent much of the drive both days exchanging stories while Stephanie worked on her many art projects. She tends to be a very creative person. One of her projects included free hand painting a buffalo on a new drum.

Four Bands Camp – Greater Sioux Nation

Tuesday morning when we woke up, we rolled out and went to Standing Rock to see what was going on. We were met by a Federal Marshall, who told us that we were not allowed to go into or see the area where the Oceti Sakowin Camp or Sacred Stone camps were. As we had approached Standing Rock, we had seen two small camp areas that had teepees and tents. When we went back to the larger camp, we introduced ourselves to the Four Bands Prayer Camp (Cheyenne River Camp). We met with the leaders (Leon Red Dog and Johnnie Aseron) to find out what they were doing and how we could help. Cheyenne River Lakota Chairman Harold Frazier has authorized the Cheyenne River Camp on the Cannon Ball River. Its purpose will be educational and spiritual. They gave us a copy of their rules for the camp (attached) and said that they need labor, supplies and financial support. So we rolled up our sleeves (figuratively, since it was about 6 degrees out) and help put up tents and clear snow. They didn’t have a general sleeping area yet, so we headed back to Bismarck to sleep since our tent was not going to be warm enough to allow us to stay on site.

It was still light when we left, so we stopped at the second, smaller camp on our way out and found out it was the Wolf’s Den (Sacred Buffalo Prayer Camp). It was an interesting and magical introduction. I stayed in the car while Stephanie walked up and introduced both of us. Stephanie has the gift of working with Spirit Guides, and met the crew outside. They almost turned her away, indicating that this was private property, when somehow her charm and way with words won them over. It also helped that at the same time of explaining her gifts, a Silver Hawk (my Native name and totem) flew in through the middle of camp, catching everyone’s attention. This is a rare occurrence and piqued their interest. It helped us as we introduced ourselves and asked about the camp. The Wolf Den is a smaller, independent camp that is trying to maintain the spirit and purpose of the Standing Rock camps that have been dismantled / destroyed. We went in to their primary tent and listened to their story and then Stephanie was asked to drum on her newly painted Buffalo drum. As Stephanie shared her story of being guided there by a buffalo spirit, the Lakota Song Keeper picked up on the holiness and exchanged song for song. It sealed their acceptance of her and they asked us to come back the next day, since they also didn’t have a general sleeping area yet. They only had one request for supplies to make a good beef stew and maybe some pork chops and bacon. Little did we know, but this camp is home to the “Walking Thunder Buffalo Project”, where they have many buffalo hides available for fleshing/tanning purposes as an educational tool. The hides will be used in sacred ceremony, to teach people about the spirituality that once thrived in these areas before colonialism.

Wednesday morning we rolled out and returned to the Wolf’s Den Camp first and delivered a very large top roast, 20 pounds of potatoes, 20 pounds of carrots, 20 pounds of celery, 20 pounds of onions and several packs of organic beef broth for the stew as well as two large packs of pork chops and two large packs of extra thick bacon. To say the least, it was well received. After catching up, Stephanie was asked if she would like to help with the fleshing of a sacred buffalo hide. She was excited about the opportunity and went out to work in the cold with one of the people. I went on to the Four Bands Prayer Camp (Cheyenne River Camp) to continue to help set up tents and organize supplies and materials. While I was working there, the camp had visits / inspections from the BIA, FBI, and state and local police departments. I believe that the visits were staged to interrupt our efforts, because all of them happened about 2 hours apart and took the better part of an hour. They required we show our ID’s and took photos of our vehicles. Overall it was a good productive day and we were both exhausted by the end of it. Since there still was no general sleeping area available yet, we returned to Bismarck and had dinner with a friend of Stephanie’s who happens to be the lead attorney for the Water Protector Legal Collective. Water Protector Legal Collective (WPLC) provides on-the-ground legal representation and coordination at Standing Rock, North Dakota in partnership with the National Lawyers Guild (NLG). Sandra La Huracán went to North Dakota and left her loved ones in Colorado to stand for the people, and is a big reason that many are not still in jail. I truly honor her work and heart. We are all connected.

Bison berries that I picked 🙂

Thursday was another work day for both of us at the respective camps and I was also asked to go and assist with two PTSD veterans who were having issues with the local authorities and were being moved to the VA Hospital in Fargo. While I did this, Stephanie helped dig out the sweat lodge from a good half foot to a foot of snow. The weather had begun to warm up and it was just a beautiful day to be out doors in nature. It was a beautiful enough day that some of the native plants were peeking up through some of the snow, and the Lakota Song Keeper had decided to share some indigenous knowledge with her. I remember her smile as she shared the splendor of the freshly harvested sage and bison berries. This works agrees with her spirit and energy. But our mission and purpose was about to change. Stephanie had been invited to go to the Rosebud Reservation to talk to a chief and medicine man who runs the Sun Dance there. It was a very exhausting day both mentally and physically for the both of us, and we rested well until we packed up and headed out to the Rosebud reservation about 5 hours south of Cannon Ball, ND. Again, our trip was filled with magic, love, craft projects, and stories exchanged between us.

By the time we arrived, Stephanie was very nervous about meeting a medicine man of such power. She felt him miles out from our destination, and was more reserved then what she normally is. It was a lovely meeting that turned into a deepening kinship between people of a shared purpose. It’s hard to describe, but there’s something special about recognizing who your family members are, and realizing that we are all apart of the same tribe. Once Stephanie got her drum out from the car, the medicine man did an impromptu drum blessing for her newly painted drum. She was moved to tears and couldn’t speak for a little, and we continued conversation – all of us respecting the sacred nature of what had been unfolded before us. There was a lag in conversation when the medicine man turned to look at Stephanie as she held her twice blessed drum, and asked, “So are you going to sing?” Again she was taken aback, but obliged anyway. They asked if they could record her song by video, and she happily responded with a yes. It was another magical moment of a blessing exchange (because the song Stephanie sang was a blessing for the Earth). After her song and in between the discussion, I noticed that Gilly (medicine man) kept moving rather quickly through the background, gathering and collecting certain items and writing things down. Our conversation evolved, and when there was a lull in conversation, Gilly invited us to a ceremony in the Black Hills. We both voiced we were interested in going, and then he hands me a piece of paper with information already written down on it, and informs us that he already told people that we were coming. This adventure seemed to not end as we got another tip in our scavenger hunt of a trip. From this meeting, we drove down to Rapid City, SD where we got a hotel room for the night and got some much needed rest and stretching from being in the car all day.

Momma buffalo licking the salt off the car
Momma Buffalo walking up to the car

Saturday was our last day in the Dakotas, and we spent it in prayer, ceremony, and blessing. We made it out to the Black Hills, which is a sacred site for the Lakota Sioux. We were gifted by live visits from buffalo, prairie dogs, antelope, hawks, deer, and many other types of wildlife. The buffalo even walked up to the truck to lick salt off of it! Stephanie felt called at one point to gather rocks from a buffalo wallow (this is where the buffalo roll around in the grass and leave a depression of dirt). We found the perfect wallow in the middle of a field where there were no buffalo (because you know, safety). She took some of the sage seeds that she gathered while she was with the Lakota Medicine Man at Standing Rock, and did a small ceremony to bury the seeds at the four corners of the buffalo wallow. She picked the three most perfect rocks, for her, my wife and I. As she was walking back, she smiled brightly as she found a sprig of sage that was broken off from the root, next to a buffalo hoof print. Funny that she got gifted sage from the earth that was broken off by the very animal she visited the wallow of. It was the perfect ending to our magical journey. From there, we gathered some gifts for our families from a local native gift shop and set our sights on the journey back home.

All of the bison!

The journey home was a bit longer than the drive out, since we were over 300 miles farther west than Standing Rock. It was evening and I just put myself in Road Warrior mode and off we went. I drove all night and had the pleasure of meeting an Iowa State Trooper around 5:00am when he pulled me over. I was not speeding, but had a headlight that had burned out. He was polite and helpful and only gave me a repair ticket to keep me legit as I finished the drive home. It shook me to see the flashing blue lights and I was just a little rattled when he let us go. Stephanie suggests that I stop somewhere and get some rest and after consulting with Lora, we stopped and slept for a few hours. We woke and hit the road to finish the journey. I drove for 17 hours straight and we arrived back home at 9:30am for a trip total of 6,200 miles.

We both will be going back.

Thanks for reading this post! And thank you to those that gave donations 🙂