The Diocese of East Tennessee

Grace Point Vicar Bo Lewis launched pontoon-boat tours of Watts Bar Lake from a small stepladder on Diocesan Day. The camp's boathouse and dock were underwater after recent heavy rains swelled the lake beyond its banks.

at Grace Point Camp and Retreat Center

Featuring Ike Swan, director of Thunderhead Episcopal Center
in our Companion Diocese of South Dakota

Saturday, May 10, 2003

By Sharon Rasmussen, communication director
An expanded report from the East Tennessee Episcopalian

Grace Point echoed the setting of a familiar biblical story as clouds rolled away and floodwaters began to recede on May 10.

The Diocesan Day guest of honor, Ike Swan, director of Thunderhead Episcopal Center in our Companion Diocese of South Dakota, and hosts Chris and Elizabeth Cairns of Thankful Memorial, Chattanooga, had stayed onsite the night before along with the Rev. Jack Wilcox, rector of St. James, Greeneville, and his family.

Morning check-in was brisk, and Companion Diocese Committee members welcomed those who came to hear Swan talk about his Lakota roots and culture, watch grass dancing, make an Episcopal rosary, see a brand-new “Godly Play,” tour Grace Point with members of Board of Managers, shop the Cathedral Bookshop store, walk a nature trail, fish, canoe, kayak or simply relax on the first breezy, sunny day in some time.

As Swan talked informally mid-morning, he told listeners of “Anglo” and Lakota cultural differences. “We all wouldn’t be sitting here like this,” he said in one illustration, motioning to the listeners seated in store-bought casual clothing before him. “We would sit in a circle with me as part of that circle.” All would be wearing their most ornate clothing, made from cherished materials from ancestors, “people who have loved ... and built the family around” them.

Late in the afternoon, Swan donned his grass-dance costume, constructed in pinks and purples to honor his grandmothers, and he blessed the site by tossing to the four compass points mingled South Dakota sage, sweet Canadian grass and Grace Point turf clippings. He taught watchers a basic step, then summoned them into the Spirit of the Circle to dance to the drumbeat of Lakota music.

Those gathered followed Swan’s lead in Lakota hymns and the four-direction prayer, and he distributed gifts: handmade dreamcatchers, sage and T-shirts and ball caps, from his home to ours.

Swan also talked about the Niobrara Convocation, a time-honored gathering of native peoples that will take place this year at Thunderhead Episcopal Center, and he extended a warm invitation to the event to the people of East Tennessee.

Ike Swan, a Lakota from East Tennessee’s Companion Diocese of South Dakota and director of Thunderhead Episcopal Center, leads attendees at Diocesan Day in a dance to the strong drumbeat of Lakota music. Swan shared stories of his culture throughout the day and performed and led several dances dressed in his grass-dance costume.

Gail Wilcox, standing at left, of St. James, Greeneville, and Ann Backus, standing right, of Good Samaritan, Knoxville guide youth in making Episcopal rosaries and other beaded items.

From left, Dick Updegraff of St. Raphael, Crossville, a physician who once worked on the Cheyenne River Reservation, scans materials on our Companion Diocese of South Dakota with friends Ray and Shirley Barry.

The high temperature and humidity on May 10 reminded Diocesan Day attendees that summer was just around the corner as many chose to simply sit and chat in the shade of a welcoming tree.

Diocesan Day attendees paddled at their leisure around the cove in canoes and kayaks throughout the day at Grace Point Camp and Retreat Center.

From front left, Marita and Bill Pratt of St. Clare, LaFollette, relax in a shady patch after lunch with son Isaac, rear, daughter-in-law Shiela and grandson Isaiah. Days of rain gave way to sun for Diocesan Day.

From right, Rudie Mears and Pat Cross of Ascension, Knoxville, shop in the satellite Cathedral Bookshop at Diocesan Day.

Dale Jordan of St. Peter, Chattanooga, teaches his son, John, 5, the finer points of fishing on the shore of Watts Bar Lake during Diocesan Day at Grace Point.

Copyright © 2003 The Episcopal Diocese of East Tennessee