Cheyenne Sisters Mission

About ten years ago, a couple in Rentz, GA felt the need to adopt a Native American child.  After spending a day at a “match”, they were heading out the door, disappointed, when an agent rushed to them and announced that there were two Cheyenne sisters available. Thus, Amber and Ashley Wolfchief came to be a part of the Hartwell family. 

The sisters have grown up in middle Georgia in a comfortable, loving home. In family discussions they learned about the work of Chief George B. “White Antelope” Dodge, Sr., founder of First Nations Intertribal Association.  Like most Americans, they had no idea about the poor living conditions of Native Americans. The girls learned that on average, 50 people share one washing machine, that the average life expectancy of Native Americans living on reservations is 37 years, and that it is not uncommon for scores of people freeze to death in winter.  A visit to the website www.FirstNationsIntertribal.com gave them more information about the plight of Native American families.  They put their heads together and came up with the plan to collect items in their community and take them to their native Cheyenne homeland.  Parents, Kirk and Julie Hartwell have encouraged the girls’ efforts.  As alter servers at the Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, Amber and Ashley grew up learning about service to others.  Now they were ready to put those lessons into practice.

They began speaking at local churches and at the Knights of Columbus.  The Allentown United Methodist Women outreach program “Agape Stitchers” learned about Amber and Ashley’s project. They contributed dresses, short sets, baby blankets and heavy-duty handmade book bags. 

The word spread rapidly and soon the Hartwell family had a garage full of items with people calling everyday.  Howard Sheppard Trucking, www.HowardSheppardTrucking.com,  has contributed a tractor-trailer rig for the trip.  Lots of hours later, the items have been sorted, boxed and labeled and the trailer is FULL!  

Billie and Robert Nicholson from Pensacola, FL, representatives from First Nations Intertribal Association will be traveling with the Hartwells to document this event in photographs and video.  In addition, they will be transporting school supplies donated by Florossa Elementary School in Florida. 

The trip is scheduled for the week of June 9^th and the Cheyenne Territory Tribal Leaders are planning to work with them to distribute items to the most needy.  The Wolfchief family has members in residence in the Territory who been invited for a long over-due reunion of brothers and sisters. 

The Lakota have a saying, “Mitakuye Oyasin”, meaning, we are all related. If you would like tohelp with this effort, you can make a 501 (c)3 deductible contribution at  www.FirstNationsIntertribal.com.  Be a part of delivering help and hope to Native Americans.

Billie and Robert Nicholson are business mentors helping small businesses increase public awareness of their services.  They can be reached at billieandrobert@gmail.com.; www.RustyBuggy.com.