Intertribal Life Newspaper -

Ah, winter. That season when our mothers draped us in 40 pounds of parka, thick mittens and winter boots so heavy you could barely walk to school.

"You'll catch your death of cold," mom said while she wrapped four or five scarves around my head and pulled them so tight that I could see stars. I had to feel my way to school. If I fell over, I rolled a little, but I couldn't get up. I just stayed in a snowdrift until school was over and someone had mercy on me.

Other than that, I loved winter. Snow meant snow forts, snow men and plunging downhill on rickety toboggans. I often found myself beneat...