"Sioux North" Tribe of the GA-Sioux Nation North Valley YMCA Y-Princesses

Over the weekend of March 17-18, 2001, the Sioux North tribe joined the rest of the GA-Sioux Nation (together with a brother Sioux tribe from the West Los Angeles YMCA) at Camp Fox, the Glendale YMCA camp on Catalina Island. The following tribe members were able to attend: Laughing Bear and Shooting Star, Running Rabbit and Little Bunny, and Flying Elbow and Bright Star.

The campout started with a 90 minute cruise to the island from San Pedro via Catalina Express. It was fun getting to the dock, as traffic was really bad. We loaded the ship differently, with us marching on, dropping off our luggage, and then getting off again. Later, we came back on for the ride. The ride itself was fun, but a little shaky. Bright Star got a little woozy, but survived the ride. At the other end, we grabbed all the luggage we could carry (not necessarily ours) and sorted it out on the dock. We had a different cabin this year; we had a regular cabin directly next to the dining hall (Cabin 20). After carrying our luggage to our cabin, we adjourned to the dining hall for hot chocolate and cookies. Back in the cabin afterwards, Running Rabbit read the girls the Kurt Vonnegut short story "D.P." from the book Welcome to the Monkey House. Most girls went to sleep fairly quickly, looking forward to the next day.

The next day started with a great breakfast from the Camp Fox cooks: eggs, cereal, pancakes, sausage, and fruit. We didn't want to go up to Bible Peak yet, so instead we went down to the bay to look for shells. Flying Elbow brought his fishing pole, and we got a rowboat and went out to try to catch fish. Unfortunately, our bait was leftover sausage for breakfast, and the fish weren't eating. We then played by the bay, and back at our cabin (the picture to the right shows Bright Star and Shooting Star in the bay). We also went to the Archery area, and learned the proper way to shoot with a bow and arrow. Around 11:00 am, Josie brought over the scavenger list. Running Rabbit tooks the girls and started to hunt down the scavenger hunt items.

Lunch was burgers and a salad bar. After lunch, we returned to find our cabin covered with toilet paper (we're still not sure about who did it, but we have our suspicions). We continued on the scavenger hunt, using our smarts to find things. For example, we had to find a big fish tail. We reasoned that a tribe that had caught fish would be preparing them by the back of the kitchen; sure enough, someone was gutting a fish there and provided us with a tail. We also reasonsed that the required birds feather would be where the birds were, so we looked by the trash dumpster. Sure enough, a feather. Another required item was a patch from Bible Peak, so Flying Elbow, Bright Star, and Shooting Star went up to Bible Peak to get one (the picture to the left shows Bright Star ready to go). We then participated in the Nation Games (as shown in the picture to the right and below). [During this time, someone, probably the T.P.-ers, tossed a water balloon in our cabin. Needless to say, we weren't pleased.]. Shortly before dinner, we began to work on our skit for that night's campfire.

Dinner was fried chicken, scalloped potatos, corn on the cob, biscuits, and salad. After dinner, we continued to practice our skit and play. We had one little accident; the girls were scampering between top bunks, and Little Bunny slipped and fell off the bunk. Luckly, she only had a big bruise on her back, but was quite shaken. We then went to the campfire (even Little Bunny) and enjoyed the skits. We enjoyed the traditional Y-camp songs, such as Super Lizard and Tarzan. We watched the skits, learning how one goes poo in an English Garden, and why there are only 239 beans in any can of beans in Ireland. We also helped Ooga Booga initiate a number of dads into the rites of Ooga Booga by repeating after him (Ooga Booga was rapidly loosing his voice). Our skit involved looking for a wallet where the light was better (Little Bunny helped from the sidelines with a spotlight). We then went to the dining hall to enjoy hot chocolate and fruit ices.

The next morning, the girls played while the dads packed. We again looked for shells, and did some fishing from the dock. This time, using something other than sausages (some squid borrowed from another tribe), we were successful, catching a 10" Calico Bass (after the requisite photo, we returned him to the water). We then boarded the Catalina Express for the return ride to San Pedro.

Disclaimer

This site is presented in conjunction with the North Valley YMCA's Y Guides/Y Princesses program. It is intended to comply with the Y Guides/Princesses guidelines on the usage of the Native American theme and culture. No offense to Native Americans, in particular, to members of the Sioux nation, the Lakota, the Dakota, or the Nakota is intended. Please send any corrections regarding this site, or suggestions for improvement, to the site webmaster.