The Reynolds in North Dakota

1964 ND White Buffalo - Tatanka Ska.tif

      White Buffalo, Great Grandson of Sitting Bull, adopted Johnathan in 1964 and gave him the Indian name of one of Sitting Bull’s uncles, Kiukumpe which means “makes Room.

White Buffalo was a Medicine Man who was very industrious. Here he is shown wearing a wahápa (headdress). He visited us many times and always had interesting stories to tell.

Perhaps one of the most significant stories was about the White Buffalo Calf Woman who gave the Lakota Nation a Sacred Pipe that is kept in a bundle by the Keeper of the Pipe in Sweet Grass, South Dakota. We traveled there with several Native friends and prayed with our Medicine Pipe over the Bundle. A truly significant moment in our lives.

1964 ND Yates Audrie & Ina Mae Brown.tif

      Ina Mae Brown, Great Granddaughter of Sitting Bull, a lovely 23 year old Lakota woman had become Bahá’í before we met her. We had heard of her but had not met her. She lived in Little Eagle, (Wanbli Chikala) South Dakota. One day she came to meet Audrie in our home. There was a soft knock on the door and when Audrie opened the door there stood Ina Mae. “Hi. I’m Ina Mae.”

At that first meeting Ina Mae was very withdrawn and not at all expressive. Several meetings later Ina Mae showed her true self, vivacious, full of laughter and very expressive of her feelings and highly intelligent.

When Audrie asked her about why she behaved as she did at their first meeting, Ina Mae responded that her grandmother had taught her that so that the white man would not expect very much from her. This self-protection technique so touched Audrie that she wrote a poem about Ina Mae. That poem includes the reaction of a teen age Indian girl who, when she first met In Mae, could not believe that such a beautiful woman could be Native American.

Some time later she and White Buffalo and Charlie Brown, all members f the Sitting Bull family joined together in adopting Ted Blackmore, a visiting Englishman who had been instrumental in introducing and educating Audrie in the history, artwork, and famous names in Native American background when she was 15 years old.

1964 ND Yates Audrie.tif

      She was looking at something. Maybe it was a flower. Audrie loved flowers, trees, and all things in nature, animals, and people. Such was her love that it became a magnet that the hearts and minds of everybody who met her was attracted. Animals adored her. When she prayed for flowers, they bloomed brighter. Bahá’u’lláh writes of the power exercised by such people from the next kingdom in benefiting this kingdom. Friends in Wales wrote that they are asking for her assistance in their teaching efforts in Wales.

1965 ND Audrie After Being Adopted.tif

      Katie Standing Crow, an old woman, said one day, “I lost an infant daughter. I am going to adopt Audrie as my daughter.” That summer she did adopt Audrie in a three-day celebration. There were many tipis. After the ceremony a Medicine Woman invited Audrie into her tipi and taught about using herbs, grasses and roots to heal sicknesses. Audrie learned her lesson well and used that knowledge to heal both Johnathan on several occasions and also Coonie when he got sick.

Several doctors from Public Health asked Audrie about what she had learned but Audrie declined out of respect for privacy of the Medicine Woman who had taught her.

1966 J & Audrie Natl. Convention 2.tif

      This was a wonderful visit to the House Of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois. It was a great opportunity to renew friendships with many people from different parts of USA and to attend the Convention. This was Audrie’s second USA National Convention the first being when she was elected Delegate to the 1964 National Convention. At that time she was almost brand new in USA, having arrived in October 1963. She knew nobody and had to vote for 9 Members to the NSA. She prayed, wrote down 9 names and those were the 9 who were elected! Is that a  minor miracle?