Browning, Montana 2025

Day 1 - Small Towns, Big Hearts, and Pow Wow Nights

Morning Message: All the money in the world couldn't make her smile. She prefers things that are worthwhile. Like small towns, that old style, and smaller acts

Hey everyone!

Today was Day 1 of volunteering in Montana, and it was jam-packed. We started off with our morning breakfast and meeting before splitting up for today’s assignments throughout Browning, the city center of the Blackfeet reservation. Kirin, Martin, Kiersten, and Mireia spent their morning working at FAST Blackfeet, the local food pantry that plays a crucial role in combatting food insecurity throughout the community. Whether we were transporting food from East Glacier or putting together shelves, our work was all in preparation for the first of two weekly food distribution events on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Sophia and Ali were working with the maintenance department at Browning Public Schools, pulling weeds around the district’s newly built cultural center and baseball fields. We learned that, especially with new building projects in the community post-COVID, engineers often failed to consider long-term maintenance, and Browning is prioritizing putting personnel or systems in place to ensure long-term building conservation. It was definitely a very relevant learning, as engineers ourselves! Lastly, Johnny and Adam were working double duty, both weeding at the high school and mowing a local lawn (which happens to be at the ranch where we are staying). 

Starting in the morning, we had an orientation to learn about the program, the Blackfeet culture, and rules and guidelines for our time here. It provided us with a background about the community and ensured us that the work we were doing was what was asked for by the community. We then transitioned into a team building exercise where we each wrote down 2 goals, put them into categories, and then created team characteristics in order to achieve those goals. Some of our goals involved building new relationships and leaving a positive impact on the community. To add on, some of the characteristics we wanted our team to embody were respect, kindness, and understanding in order to optimize our experience and achieve our goals.

After the session, we headed out to a city called Heart Butte, where we attended one of the cultural traditions, called a “Pow Wow”. It was incredible to see all of the different regalias, which varied from fancy garments with various feathers to more traditional and simpler garments. There were different circles of men playing the drums and singing their cultural songs while different age/style groups would perform their dances. They were competing for the championship on this day, and there were several different divisions of people. We also got to walk around the Pow Wow site, where people had campers and tepees set up to stay the weekend. 

On our drive back to our lodging, we made multiple stops at historical landmarks within the Blackfeet reservation. We learned countless stories about these landmarks and their importance to the people. From how the people used to kill their buffalo to the oppression that the US government pushed onto this community, we learned about both the successes and the struggles in the history of these people. It was very eye opening to learn about the stories that are often told as “helpful” impacts the US government made on these communities, but in reality, they were detrimental. It reminded us to get all sides of the story rather than the ones just spoon-fed to us and forced us to acknowledge some of the privileges we have. Although we learned about a lot of oppression, we were also able to learn about the ways that the Indigenous people would hunt for their food and what they would eat, which allowed us insight to their culture. A woman native to the Blackfeet Reservation told us all of these stories, which made them evermore invaluable.

Finally, we returned back and ate some dinner. We were about to head on a walk when the horses were feeling quite friendly. We went over to pet them, and the owner of the horses showed up to take care of one of their horses. The owners allowed us to ride the horse, which prepared us for our horse-riding session on Wednesday. We then went on our walk and reflected on our day with each other. 

-Sophia Lustig

Day 2 - Bear Tracks, Waterfalls, and Grateful Guests

Morning Message: That love, kindness, and community prevail despite centuries of abuse—that is the ultimate evidence of humanity’s nature; of their strength and capacity for empathy

Today was Day 1 of volunteering in Montana, and it was jam-packed. We started off with our morning breakfast and meeting before splitting up for today’s assignments throughout Browning, the city center of the Blackfeet reservation. Kirin, Martin, Kiersten, and Mireia spent their morning working at FAST Blackfeet, the local food pantry that plays a crucial role in combatting food insecurity throughout the community. Whether we were transporting food from East Glacier or putting together shelves, our work was all in preparation for the first of two weekly food distribution events on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Sophia and Ali were working with the maintenance department at Browning Public Schools, pulling weeds around the district’s newly built cultural center and baseball fields. We learned that, especially with new building projects in the community post-COVID, engineers often failed to consider long-term maintenance, and Browning is prioritizing putting personnel or systems in place to ensure long-term building conservation. It was definitely a very relevant learning, as engineers ourselves! Lastly, Johnny and Adam were working double duty, both weeding at the high school and mowing a local lawn (which happens to be at the ranch where we are staying). 

In the afternoon, we were lucky enough to get a community tour from Global Volunteers leaders, Rosie and Joe. They shared the history of Browning, Glacier National Park, and its surrounding areas, teaching us all things geography and nature safety. We were able to go on a 2-mile hike to St. Mary’s Falls in Glacier, which was definitely a highlight of the day. To round out the tour, we stopped for ice cream, per Joe’s love for chocolate sweet treats, and we even got to see a grizzly bear (no fear, we were in the car and Martin was loaded with bear spray). It was so easy to see why Joe, Rosie, and so many others call this place home, and we are incredibly grateful they took the time to share it with us.

Wrapping up, we had a lovely dinner back at the ranch and finished with our daily journaling session. See you tomorrow!!

-Ali Ryland

Day 3 - Gardens, Grit, and Lessons from the Land

Morning Message: It is important to draw wisdom from many different places. If we take it from only one place, it becomes rigid and stale. Understanding others, the other elements, and the other nations, will help you to become whole.

Greetings from Montana! On our third day volunteering, our group split into three: some went to high school, a few to middle school, and some to church! 

At Browning High School, we helped the maintenance team set up an irrigation system for a community garden brimming with native bushes and berries. The school has a vision for an outdoor learning space where students can learn not just ecology but also the Blackfoot Indian's storied relationship with nature and the land.

At Browning’s newest middle school (faithfully nicknamed "Old High school"), volunteers helped assemble furniture and prepare spaces for the upcoming scholastic year! Everyone at the Browning school district has been working hard to gear up for the school year, and we are proud to have put some of our sweat into the efforts. 

Finally, our church-goers got to help renovate one of Browning’s most important community spaces. The church’s interior is being renovated, and we were on ceilings duty! We climbed up high and sanded the ceiling corner-to-corner, preparing it to be painted soon. 

A lot of elbow grease was put on Browning by our volunteers today, and we are all very proud to have contributed our hearts and bodies towards improving spaces important to everyone in Browning!

-Martin Stier

Day 4 - Beanbags, Cattle Drives, and Ghost Stories at Sunset

Montana Day 4!!! Today we were all around Browning. A few of us spent the morning working at Medicine Bear homeless shelter, FAST Food pantry, and again at the school! We worked to unload the vegetables from the truck and then rested for a second before distribution day! It was great to see the impact of the pantry and all of the  community members utilize the resources that they had. 

It was great to talk to Cindy, the contact at the Food Pantry, and see how even though she was so busy she cares so much about the community and made sure that everyone was getting what they needed for their families. 

I spent the morning working at the school with Mireia and Kiersten and clearing out a back room full of old supplies. Some of the items we moved had been there since the 70’s! The team was so appreciative of what we were doing and were great to talk to. One of the highlights was getting to move a giant beanbag (bigger than the 3 of us combined) from the school to the daycare and laughing as we tried to move it through small doorways. 

In the afternoon, we got to visit Deboo’s Ranch and have Chuck take us on the most amazing horseback ride while he herded up all of the cattle! It was one of the most amazing things we have ever experienced and definitely a highlight of the trip. His wife Lori cooked us a great dinner of Burgers, Watermelon, and Salad while we watched the sunset and played with the puppies at the ranch. One of the most perfect days ever! 

A final highlight of the day was having Shawnee (a global volunteer employee and member of the blackfeet community) share some well known ghost stories from around the community and scare us as we drove back to the Ranch we were staying at! Don’t worry though because before we went to sleep she helped us save the room to clear all the bad energy! Such a great day and looking forward to our final volunteering day tomorrow. 

- Kirin Raval