Last year the 2014-2015 Miss Blackfeet title was awarded to Lynn Mad Plume at the North American Indian Days in Browning, Montana. The title goes to the worthy candidate who will of course represent the Blackfeet Nation with honor, pride and dignity at pow wows and other gatherings throughout the year.
Here she is in a clip from the 2014 North American Indian Days performing a sign language prayer that was handed down from her great-great grandfather, John Running Fisher.
Lynn Mad Plume is currently a senior at Montana State University majoring in community health. According to the Golden Triangle News, she was recently chosen as one of 12 Montana State University students to study abroad in Lusaka, Zambia.
The International Service Learning program provides students with an opportunity to increase their cultural competency, learn about key components of sustainable community development and engage in service learning. Specifically, students in this program will have the opportunity to participate in health project planning, program implementation and management, and development and maintenance of disease surveillance frameworks in Zambia, a country located in sub-Saharan Africa. The main focus of the program is to help students gain cultural competency, community health and development with service learning.
She is spending a month in Africa and will return mid June. She recently shared with message with family and friends about her journey:
“Today was such a blessing because we got to visit Mercy Ministries International. The lady who started the school began after she was preaching the Gospel in her local community. She opened her door to students in 1996 and said “we thought what little we had we could share”. She said it is by the grace of the Lord and she continues to minister in her community. She truly is an angel! The kids were glad to see us, we got braids and learned some new games. There were some interesting selfies and poses. I also was taught netball which is similar to basketball, the girls at the school sure can play.”
It sounds like she is having a wonderful time helping in this community and she will have a lot of knowledge to share when she returns home. Her mother told us that Lynn encourages any student to take the opportunity to study abroad if they can.
The 64th Annual North American Indian Days will be held July 9-12 2015 on the Blackfeet reservation in Browning, Montana. Miss Blackfeet will be hosting a Team dance special and would like to invite dancers to participate in that.
Please visit http://www.blackfeetcountry.com/naid.html for more information on the event.
