More with the Reynolds North Dakota

1968 ND YATES RIDVAN LSA.tif

      The first Fort Yates LSA was formed during November 1964, one year after our arrival. At that time there was a special dispensation that LSA’s could be formed anytime during the year. Two of our members, Emma & Sam Fly were deaf mutes and consultation had to be with sign language. This photo was four years after our arrival. Audrie repeatedly drove to all of the 7 districts on Standing Rock Reservation as well as into Montana, Canada and Minnesota visiting many Reservations and creating bonds of love with countless people. One trip she and Johnathan drove the entire western seaboard visiting Reservations.

Audrie met Carol Carpenter, a Tejas Tribe member who told her about the missionaries that came to her. She told them that her father had taught her that, according to Tribal Teachings, there had to be TWO Messengers, not one.

Living in the same rooming house as Carol was a Bahá’í woman who said, ‘But, my dear, there are two, The Báb and Bahá’u’lláh. Carol declared very shortly after receiving that wonderful news.

1969 Land's End Margaret Mrs. Rogers Audrie Johnathan.tif

      Land’s End is the southernmost tip of England and is a tourist attraction. The sign is made so that the name of just about any spot on earth and the miles from Land’s End can be posted. So, here we are all posing for this expression of international brotherhood.

Margaret Lord, Audrie’s mother, Audrie and Johnathan. Somehow, having the sign there made Standing Rock seem closer.

1971 ND Proclamation Audrie & Marian Kadrie.tif

      Such love between Marion Kadrie of Fargo and Audrie! Marion has always been very helppful in many situations. For instance, when we visited Standing Rock in September 2009, Marion invited us to go to Fargo, spend the two days with her in her home and then drove us to Standing Rock for a Unit Convention. It had been 40 years since our last time there. All the friends were so gracious and kind and made us feel that we had come home.

1971 ND Proclamation Dan Defender, Feredun Jalili, Audrie, Puva Murday.tif

      A wonderful get together! Dan Defender stands out as one of the most courteous people we have ever known. He was very humble, quiet, and serene in his attitude toward life. John Halsey was a man who never put himself first and had a quiet humor for all occasions. They served the cause with great devotion and steadfastness. We were privileged to serve on the LSA with them. Here is Audrie with her usual wide smile, radiating friendship. The other 2 men came into our lives very briefly.

1971 ND Proclamation Olly Pretends Eagle, Audrie, Marion Kadrie, Sam Fly .tif

      Ollie Pretends Eagle, a quiet lady who had a ready smile, wife of Bernard Pretends Eagle, Audrie with her smile, Marion Kadrie who is shorter than Audrie and a kind servant to the Faith and deaf-mute Sam Fly who with his also deaf mute wife served on the Fort Yates LSA.

1975 ND Delores Taken Alive and child

      Precious souls in Little Eagle. Audrie & Delores communicated on the heart level. When we left Standing Rock for the New Mexico we stopped to visit Delores and her husband Walter. Later when we arrived in New Mexico they wrote that when we drove off, they followed us in their car, stopped on a hill and watched our car lights disappear in the distance and cried.

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?

Johnathan and Audrey Reynolds 1963 England to 2013 Alaska

1963 Audrie Courtship.tif

      Taken the day before Johnathan’s flying back to USA, during the week of the 1963 London World Congress. Within that one week Johnathan had to convince Audrie that she should marry him. She finally said “Yes” dependent on parental approval.

1963 Congress Outside RAH.tif

      Over 6000 Bahá’ís came from all over the world, many in native costume. Before the opening of the Congress they first gathered in the Royal Hotel to meet. It was there that Audrie & Johnathan met. He recognized her immediately from a vision he’d had of her some years before. You may want to see the Bahá’í billboard in the background. Many Two-Decker busses in London carried posters about the Congress.

1963 UK Wales Honeymoon 24.tif

      They stayed at a “Bed & Breakfast” near Caernarvan for the honeymoon. A very beautiful place.

1963 UK Wales John on Honeymoon.tif

      Many gardens to explore. The shoulder bag is Audrie’s and served for many years. These were days of wonder!

1963 UK Wedding Outdoors.tif

      After the Bahá’í wedding program. This old black and white building named Stanley Palace was several centuries old. We never counted the numbers of guests but a guesstimate might say between 70 and 100. One woman came to “Vet” Johnathan to see if he was a man fit to marry Audrie. He passed the test. The love for her from them all the guests was a powerful and living presence.

1963 Wedding, Margaret, Audrie, John, Olive, Hellaby.tif

      The wedding was after the London Congress where Johnathan & Margaret had met. Margaret, a not-yet Bahá’í shares a flat with Audrie who holds regular firesides. At first Margaret left for the fireside evenings. Eventually Margaret declared and is a strong Bahá’í. Audrie is her usual radiant self. It is obvious why everyone loves her. Several men come to Johnathan after the wedding and suggest that do not want to hear that she is unhappy. Olive Rogers, Audrie’s mother is an absolute lady and she shares much love. Bill Hellaby was a clergyman and gave that up to become Bahá’í.

1964 Aug 7 Newspaper Audrie Cooney, children in tipi.tif

      Audrie lived in a tipi for a week with an adjoining tent with Bahá’í literature available for the many visitors. Coonie was a great attraction to everybody and children were fascinated. Here he is a very young raccoon, enjoying the children. He played with our 4 kittens, they jumping up and down from furniture and Coonie laboriously climbing up and down playing with them until he got tired. Then, WHUMP! He would fall asleep in the middle of the kitchen floor and they would all join him making a pile of fur.

1964 ND Audrie Rising Missouri River.tif

      The U.S. Corps of Engineers had built a dam south of Fort Yates, which meant that the Missouri River rose. Here stands Audrie on the west bank of the river with her smile that was so much a part of her. Everybody that met her loved her. She radiated love for all mankind, attracting hearts and minds of countless people everywhere she went.

Ayyam'i'ha Party at Cindy Catches Children's Class 2013