the final stop of the Tribal Road Tour

War Paint Pilot Susie says...

Eastern Shoshone welcomed the Road Tour with an exhibition basketball game for all the elementary school. Teams consisted of the Total Count Committee and the school staff. It was a fun game and many of the children drew hands on new Census t-shirts and all received bags of goodies and information for parents about Census 2010. Thanks to Clint Wagon for all the coordination and a great game.

Later the Road Tour was honored with a hand drum and team dance contest gathering at Arapaho, WY. This was the farewell event for War Paint and the Tribal Road Tour 2010. Activities went on into the night thanks to Ricki Trosper and MC, Mr. William C'Hair.

Northern Cheyenne in Montana and into Wyoming

From War Paint Pilot Susie...

The Tribal Road Tour is in it's last week on the road. The energy and warm welcome at our events are non-the-less. Today we visited the Northern Cheyenne people at Lame Deer, MT. A local voice/personality set up the loud speakers and music to draw attention to our visit and information tables. It did just that. So many folks came to visit and tell us they have been counted, or they haven't and wanted to know what to do. Tribal Census folks came to chat and tell us how happy they are to be helping to make their tribe count! The Tribal President, Leroy Spang, attended to accept a plaque from the Census and stayed to visit with Johnel and me. The tribe had a huge tent put up for us and had the weather cooperate with sun and light winds.

Later, in Sheridan, WY I was stopped in the grocery store parking lot by a Girl Scout leader who said her troop was working on the Census badge and how she wished we could have been there to speak to the Scouts. We gave her a stack of beautiful posters to give to the girls while they work on their Census badge. This is the pay it forward into the future. These young women will know about and appreciate the need for accurate census in the future.

The 2010 Census and the Denver March Powwow

Some of the cast of 1000s...

Who have made this tour possible.

While we're getting set up on the Crow tribal nation in Montana, I can take a moment and recognize some 0f the fabulous efforts along the way. I was most impressed with volunteers from the Omaha Nation Housing Authority. They even had their own Census Road Tour shirt printed!


Below: Presenting the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska their certificate from Tribal Partnership. Gina Grant, Darlene Lee, Karen Wilde & Lori McAlister. (These photos are courtesy of Lori McAlister)

Below: In Lincoln at the Indian Center. Lori McAlister, Andy Pederson, Karen Wilde, Director Clyde Tyndall, Regina Grant and Orval Poor Bear, WIA Program Assistant.


Kids please don't try this at home. Yes, those are our dedicated people handing census bags out in the middle of the street. The Tribal Road Tour wouldn't be near as successful without this kind of insanity help.

Pine Ridge Reservation Welcomes the Tribal Road Tour

Pine Ridge Reservation

Back to South Dakota...Rosebud, Pine Ridge and Rapid

Before we get to the Northern Cheyenne and Crow in southern Montana, and eventually the Wind River in Wyoming, we're stopping in the expansive Rosebud and Pine Ridge tribal nations. We're wrapping up our stops in Rosebud today. The first at their tribal building and the second at the Rosebud Casino.

Here's Rosebud Sioux member Robert Moore with his hopes for his Sioux brothers and sisters.

KOLN TV Lincoln Nails It

From the concerns on tribal lands to the importance of being counted, this story gets it all in 60 seconds.

A big thank you to the Clyde Tyndall, Director of the Lincoln Indian Center, for his time and hospitality. Among its many services, the incredible people at the Indian Center serve lunch everyday to anyone who shows up.

oh, just watched it again...still a great story but they get the door-to-door census dates wrong. It's going through July 10th, not May 30.