Drug Court Conference - Biloxi, Mississippi

In late May, seven Standing Rock Sioux Tribe employees attended a drug court conference in Biloxi, Mississippi.  It was the second of the three-part training series designed to help tribes set up drug courts in their jurisdictions. Upon arrival Tuesday night, we had an orientation session at the President's Casino and Hotel (separate buildings).  Part of the welcome include singing by a "sober drum."  This is reference to a drum group in which all of the members abstain from alcohol or other drugs.

On the far right is George Ironshield, a traditional healer from Standing Rock.. The others are members of the sober drum and live in New Orleans.

Our hotel
The casinos in Biloxi and Gulfport on built over the water of the Gulf of Mexico.  Evidently state law prohibited casinos from being built on land.  I'm not sure why.  Food at the casino was good and inexpensive.  An immense lunch buffet was $4.00.  It featured some foods not typically found on menus in Bismarck: turnip greens, grouper, crab cakes, grits, black-eyed peas, corn bread, and oysters.

Another hotel-casino, Treasure Bay was across the street from our hotel.  In the background are other casinos.


George Ironshield opened the session with a prayer/song.


In the evenings, some gambled, some stayed in and some, like Verna Bailey and Marcella Buckley, shopped.

On Friday, after two days of "classroom" work, we hopped on buses and visited the Porch Creek Indian Reservation's Drug Court.  One of the first in the country, it is a collaborative effort by the judge, police chief, defense advocate, prosecutor, treatment professional, social worker, probation officer and others to rehabilitate chemically-dependent offenders.

After watching the drug court in action, we toured the reservation, then were treated to lunch.  The Porch Creek tribal chairman helped serve the meal to us.

We returned from Porch Creek and had a few hours of sunlight left so I wandered down the coast line and happened upon an old cemetery.  Headstones revealed burial dates back to 1817.


Several vaults were scattered throughout the cemetary in Biloxi.

I was taken with the moss hanging from trees everywhere.
If I had a nickname like "FOFO" I sure wouldn't broadcast it.  On the other hand, if name recognition is the goal, FOFO probably does the trick better than "Andy."

There were several miles of white sand along the coast, some of it set aside for the birds.

Ick! One of the local tourist shops featured this live, though somnolent, 14-foot albino boa contrictor.

Same shop--somehow, I didn't think Pam would want to hang one of these on the wall in our house.  Different strokes, I guess.

Biloxi is the home of Jefferson Davis (this isn't it) and Mississippi voters recently decided to retain the Stars and Bars (Confederate Flag) as their state flag.  The vote was not close.

On Saturday, the Standing Rock group and their courterparts from Three Affiliated Tribes in New Town, ND packed, and I do mean packed, into a van for the shuttle back to the airport.

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