- Khirstie named and personalized the quilts she made for Lakota Indians. View More Images from this story View and ORDER more photos.

Spotsy teen provides warmth to the Lakotas this winter

Date published: 11/6/2007

by annette jones

Nearly a dozen Lakota Indians in South Dakota will be warmer this winter because of the efforts of a Spotsylvania County teenager.

Khirstie Smith, 13, an eighth-grader at Ni River Middle School, created 11 quilts and is ready to ship them to St. Joseph's Indian School in Chamberlain, S.D.

The project began in May, after her family received a flier from the school seeking donations for the children. It sparked an idea in Khirstie.

"I decided to make quilts. If they don't have money for clothes, they probably don't have warm things," she said. And she wanted the items to go the elderly Lakota because her own grandmother is always cold in the winter.

For Khirstie, it was truly a labor of love. For one thing, she doesn't like to sew. "I was bored by the end of the second one," she said. However, she kept going. "I really enjoyed the fact I was going to be helping people."

Each quilt could be finished in a day, if she worked hard enough. She took off a month during the summer to go to camp. And, although she asked her friends if they wanted to help, they never were able to coordinate their schedules.

However, the Wannabees quilting club in Spotsylvania did lend a hand. "We're not really club, just a group of seniors," said June Lowrie, Khirstie's grandmother. Several members of the group donated fabric and provided guidance. Each of the quilts bears a white dedication tag naming a member of the group. "Aunt Dot" Clear, whose name is on one of the blankets, helped teach Khirstie to quilt and provided a lot of inspiration.

"I couldn't have done it without them," said Khirstie as her eyes swept over the group's recent meeting at the Marshall Center. She had brought the quilts to show the Wannabees.

The cost for Khirstie was more than her time, though. She needed to pay for the batting, the backing and the thread. All her money from chores and allowances went into the project.

"I'm pretty much broke," she said with a smile.

"She was learning how to give freely," said Lowrie.

St. Joseph's Indian School is a residential school for students in grades one through 12. The school itself has grades one through eight. The students attend a public high school but continue to live in the private school's dorms. "Father Steve" Huffstetter has been the school's headmaster for three years. Before that, he spent 14 years on various reservations throughout South Dakota. Two things stand out for him when he thinks of the Lakota, who are part of the Sioux nation. First, they are a very generous people, "even when they don't have much themselves," he said. Second, they offer up their own suffering for the good of others. "They find the courage and hope to keep going," he said. The school has 200 students. Most of them come from single-parent homes. Only 8 percent live with their two parents, Huffstetter said. About a third don't live with either biological parent. The school serves students from the nine reservations across the state, although it is closest to Crow Creek and Lower Brule reservations. which are about 15 miles away. The Sioux were involved in the battles of Little Big Horn and Wounded Knee. They also are depicted in the movie, "Dances With Wolves." The Sioux nation has three language families--Lakota, Dakota and Nakota. Each of the reservations are separately incorporated and have different elected bodies. Sometimes they work together under the umbrella of United Sioux Tribes, especially when it comes to education and health. But much of the politics is local, Huffstetter said. The reservations are separated by many miles. Politics didn't enter into Khirstie Smith's gifts, though. "I like helping people and I like knowing people are benefiting from this," Khirstie said. "It's not charity. People are proud. So I'm giving them as gifts." Each quilt bears the Lakota inscription " Pagan mahetanhan cin cante opeya waohola ," which means "Given from the heart." --Annette Jones AGE: 13 PARENTS: Air Force Col. Tony Smith and Helene Smith OTHER INTERESTS: Piano, which she loves and she's nationally ranked with the American College of Musicians. She has been inducted into the National College of Musicians and Young Composers. Plays trumpet in the school band 'because my dad played trumpet.' Enjoys drawing and writing, and loves to read. Helps mom with her jewelry business. 'WHAT I WANT TO BE WHEN I GROW UP': Forensic anthropologist. 'I'm a rock geek I love puzzles and rocks.' FIRST COMMUNITY PROJECT: A Girl Scout canned-food drive in first grade. 'I got to deliver the food to the people and I saw how happy they were.' NEXT PROJECT: Love blankets for the kids in Hope House

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Date published: 11/6/2007