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Heritage Living Center
Rooms
With your generous help, a miracle has taken place on a hill above Ashland, Montana. Construction of the Heritage Living Center began on August 27, 2001 and was completed on August 31, 2002.
Below is a list of the rooms in the Heritage Living Center with their names and functions. See also some of the Native American art decorating the Heritage Living Center and take a tour of our facility.
NOTE: Please click on images for larger view.
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Front Lobby
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The front lobby is a bright and comfortable place to socialize and to pick up mail. The Wall of Living Memories greets visitors and residents in the lobby.
There is an upstairs lobby lounge area with additional seating.
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Meadowlark Room
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In the large dining room, residents enjoy three nutritious meals each day, served family style. From the west wall windows, the elders view sage meadows with meadowlarks, deer and antelope grazing peacefully among the wild flowers and prairie grasses. A large fireplace will provide cozy comfort in the winter.
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Morning Star Chapel
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Church services and traditional prayer ceremonies are offered in the interdenominational Chapel. Folding walls open to expand the area into the Fireplace Family Room, doubling the size of this sacred space.
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Spotted Wolf Room
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Chief Spotted Wolf (on left)
Courtesy of Smithsonian Institution
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This guest room is named after Chief Spotted Wolf, who led 1,000 Northern Cheyenne against General George Crook at the Battle of the Rosebud in 1876. Chief Crazy Horse joined Spotted Wolf in the fight with an equal number of Lakota Sioux warriors. Adjacent to the Chapel, this visitor's guest room offers comfortable overnight lodging for donors and special guests.
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Jimmie Little Coyote Room
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This office honors Chief Jimmie D. Little Coyote, Father Emmett's spiritual younger brother, a beloved and talented artist who shared Cheyenne history and culture with people from around the world.
Jimmie and his wife Juanita developed and designed museum exhibits. Jimmie was the last Northern Cheyenne warbonnet maker of his tribe. He was the son and grandson of Sacred Hat Bundle Keepers. A Sundancer, he was also a member of the Native American Church and the Northern Cheyenne Council of 44. Little Coyote's friendly, diplomatic approach to Indian and non-Indian alike was the reason why over 600 people visited him in the days before his death in 1995. His daughter DeWanda is the Social Services Director at the Heritage Living Center.
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Sitting Man Library
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The Heritage Living Center Library, named after Chief Charles Sitting Man, Jr., Father Emmett's mentor and a special teacher to the young, offers relaxing opportunities for reading and research.
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Chief Charles Sitting Man, Jr.
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The Center features four living rooms, one at the end of each corridor, where elders can visit, share stories and reminisce about their lives. They can also play Indian hand games, cards, checkers, etc.
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Rosebud Room
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Located on the first floor of the Paintbrush Wing.
Pink and red rosebuds are plentiful along the streams, turning into rosehips in the fall. Dried rosehips, which historically were a main food source for the Northern Cheyenne, are a rich source of vitamin C and were used by most of the Plains tribes for food in the winter. If elders were weak or sick, they made tea. One rosehip is equal to three or four oranges in vitamin C.
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Cottonwood Room
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Located on the first floor of the Bitterroot Wing.
Cottonwood trees grow along the rivers on the reservation and provide shade for the people in the summer when they go to the rivers for recreation and fishing.
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Aspen Room
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Located on the second floor of the Paintbrush Wing.
Northern Cheyenne love the aspens for the sound the leaves made in the winds.
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Ponderosa Room
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Located on the second floor of the Bitterroot Wing.
Northern Cheyenne love the ponderosa for its beauty and used the lower branches that were dried out for kindling.
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One Bedroom Apartments
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Each of the 40 apartments, 20 each in the Bitterroot and Paintbrush Wings, is designed for one or two persons and contains a kitchenette, living room, bedroom, bath and patio or deck.
The Bitterroot is the state flower of Montana. Northern Cheyenne and other Plains tribes ate the nutritious root of the plant.
The Paintbrush [shown on right] is the state flower of Wyoming, but there are many varieties. One variety is called the Indian Paintbrush because it looks like the red Indian feathers that are used in dance outfits.
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These recreational areas are reserved for massage, supervised physical therapy, hobbies, crafts, sewing, Indian beadwork, assembling puzzles and many other activities.
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Night Hawk Room
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Located on the first floor between the Paintbrush and Bitterroot Wings.
This nightflying bird is popular with all Plains Indians because of its speed and stealth in hunting.
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Red-tail Hawk Room
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Located on the second floor between the Paintbrush and Bitterroot Wings.
The red-tail feathers of Red-tail hawks are used in ceremonial dance costumes and fans. The hawks mate for life and they protect their nest by divebombing interlopers with loud screeching cries.
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Supervised Physical Therapy Room
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Features a hot tub, massage table, and physical therapy equipment.
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Barber Shop/Beauty Salon
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A two-chair salon.
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The Buffalo Nutrition Center is the food service hub for the residents of the Heritage Living Center. Ample dry storage, refrigerators, and freezers will assure a steady supply of food if highways are closed by snowstorms. The food preparation area provides a fully equipped main kitchen, food serving area and special diet preparation table.
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Kitchen
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Judith Ann Little Bird in the Buffalo Nutrition Center Kitchen
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Buffalo formed the basis of Plains Indian economy; their main source of food clothing and shelter. Every part of the buffalo was used. Buffalo numbers began to decrease in the 1870s when railroad owners hired hunters like Buffalo Bill Cody to kill as many buffalo as possible. That is how Buffalo Bill Cody got his name. Buffalo horns were sent to eastern factories where they were made into porcelain dishes. The last wild buffalo was killed in 1885. Nowadays, most tribes have their own buffalo herd, including the Northern Cheyenne.
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