A Miraculous Healing With an Arapaho Elder with Lisa Jones

Program Description

Lisa Jones was asked to write an article for Smithsonian magazine about Stanford Addison, an Arapaho elder living in Wyoming on the Wind River Indian Reservation. He is a quadriplegic and a master horse trainer. Although very interested in Native Americans, her track record in interviewing them was not stellar. She went on this assignment with great trepidation. No wonder, because it was as if her soul knew that her life would be changed forever. She says Stan wheeled up to me and “it was like this guy sees right through you and your life is about to change. I didn’t go there seeking – my life is fine: I own a house, have a credit card, and I’m not looking for a spiritual teacher, I just want to write a great story. Honestly, at that moment I thought, ‘Oh, my God, something is about to change’. . . . He just rolled right up to me, and gave me the calmest gaze ever, and a body blow of knowledge went right through me at that moment, that I didn’t expect.” (Hosted by Justine Willis Toms)

Lisa Jones is a journalist, and has written for many publications including, The New York Times Magazine, High Country News, and National Public Radio. She spent many extraordinary years working with a Native American healer (and continues). Her book Broken: A Love Story, Horses, Human, and Redemption on the Wind River Indian Reservation (Simon and Schuster 2009) is an account of those life-changing years.

Topics Explored in this Dialogue:

• How did Stanford Addison, a quadriplegic, Native American healer, train horses
• How is living on the Wind River Indian reservation like living in Post-apocalyptic times
• What are the lessons of community on the reservation that serve all of us
• How happiness is not as important, as it is to be connected to a larger force
• What is the difference between Native American and Buddhist spiritual practices
• How does the warrior culture get played out on the reservation

Program Number: 3360              Host: Justine Willis Toms             Interview Date: 6/10/2010