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Reveal or Conceal?
later in the evening that I realized the rules of the fast also precluded
touching water—no washing or tooth brushing—for the duration! At
that point, I nearly panicked and had to work diligently to subdue a
sudden desire to make an excuse and leave.
That Saturday evening, it rained, which in the Blackfoot “way”
signifies that the Creator has “taken pity” on the fasters and shown
compassion. Accordingly, we were allowed to take a small amount
of water. The catch was that it had to be rainwater collected from the
“natural” environment. Carolla advised us there was a hole in the
eaves trough at the front of the house. Myself and the others, bare-
foot and in our pajamas, were soon scrambling desperately in the dark
through the thick, clay mud, trying to catch a drop of rainwater in a
jar as it leaked through a hole in the gutter.
On the final evening of the fast, after the feast had been cleared—
some given away to friends and relatives, and the remainder packed
away—the women gathered around the kitchen table to sit and talk,
and I sat across the table from Yvonne, a quiet young woman who ap-
peared to be about thirty-five years of age. I indicated to Yvonne that
I had recently moved from the Okanagan Valley to Calgary. Yvonne
replied that she had a sister who lived there and who was also a Sun-
dancer. Yvonne knew about the Eagle Sundance Society, the satellite col-
lege in Kelowna, and the sweat lodge at Duck Lake. Incredibly, I found
myself was face to face with a sister I did not know Gloria had.
As it was late and most of the women had to work the following
morning (and I had yet to drive the more than 180 kilometers back
to Calgary), we began to pack our things and bid each other good-
night. Invariably, as I said goodnight, each woman offered a similar
comment, “I’ll see you at the Sundance.” When I returned to the ta-
ble, Yvonne asked, “Why don’t you come? You don’t have to dance
if you don’t want to. That’s ok. But why not come as a supporter?”
When I did not answer right away, Carolla added, “You don’t have
to make a decision right now. Just pray about it. Pray about it and
ask for guidance.” Without making any commitment, I left and once
again mused, as I drove away from the house, about the sheer num-
ber of “coincidences” I had encountered since I had first met Gloria
only fourteen months earlier. In that light, I had more or less decided
