Thousands gathered in Browning, Montana over this past weekend to reconnect and celebrate the history and culture through song and dance, competitions and remembering, during the 69th annual North American Indian Days. Indian Days is a four-day celebration in the heart of the Blackfeet Nation. This year’s event featured powwow dancers, vendors and visitors from across the state and throughout Indian Country.
Yells of “rock, rock, rock” echoed down the Lhotse Face. Dr. Jacob Weasel from Cheyenne River managed to look up seconds before a racquetball-sized rock struck him in the chest. A temporary setback for the determined 36-year-old, who took a minute to collect himself before continuing his grueling ascent up Mt. Everest. Every time rock calls rang out, his bruised ribs throbbed in pain. Any climber bound for the summit of Everest must traverse the nearly 4,000 ft. tall wall of glacial blue ice which rises with 50-plus-degree pitches. Weasel, a CRST tribal member and trauma surgeon at Rapid City’s Monument Health, would spend 63 hours in the death zone. And on May 17th, 2023, at 8:34 a.m., he unfurled the flag of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe at the highest point on earth.
Those are your headlines at this hour. I’m Colette Keith in the KIPI News center.
