April 20thBuffalo Shout
Six years ago, Leanne Bear Froese and Doug Klassen from Foothills and their friends came together to eat, pray, make new friends and discuss the book Buffalo Shout, Salmon Cry. The goal was to meet in different places, do different activities and get to know one another in love, peace and harmony. Some activities included a cook-out at Bowness Park, camping at Camp Valaqua, and even a turkey dinner at the church. The group became known as Buffalo Shout.
In 2019, I agreed to co-lead the group with Leanne. Doing so has been such a blessing in my life because Leanne and I became friends. Most of our events still involve food and fellowship. Since I am not the biggest cook, potlucks are now the norm. Our favourite annual event continues to be our Christmas turkey dinner. We have also done the Blanket Exercise from Kairos.
During Covid, Buffalo Shout took a break. We considered meeting online but many of us had Zoom fatigue. We were able to meet outdoors a few times. Leanne and her friends continue to enjoy Camp Valaqua for a weekend every summer and we were thrilled to join them for a day last summer.
This spring, I thought it would be good for us at Foothills to take the Indigenous Canada course from the University of Alberta together. When I told Leanne and her friend Kathy Bear about this, they wanted to join us so we decided to make this a Buffalo Shout event. So far, we meet twice a month for dinner or dessert. Approximately 15-20 people attend each session. We invite people to attend even if they can only come for 1 or 2 sessions. Last week, we started offering Zoom as well. We have learned a lot about Canadian history. We hope to explore the role of church in time. Most importantly, though, I hope that we all make some new friends in the process. This is Truth and Reconciliation in action. 
Leanne loves selfies.
I would encourage all churches to start a Buffalo Shout type group so that you can create opportunities to meet Indigenous people in your area and make some new friends. We would be happy to support you anyway we can