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TUESDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2002

"My mother, Dorothy, turned 86 on Monday, and the family gathered in White Shield, N.D., over the weekend to celebrate. She gave birth to 13 children. Those children have produced 45 grandchildren, and so far, those grandchildren have produced about 46 great-grandchildren.

Her family tree stretches out over the edges of the page.

Our family reunions are bigger than a meeting of the North Dakota Legislature. We don't have reunions very often. We are all strong-minded (a polite way of saying compromise can sometime be hard to come by in our family), but when we do call a meeting of the Yellow Birds, no house is big enough.

My mother is getting on in years but had always been in good health until this year, when she suffered bouts of arthritis and experienced some heart problems. They were nothing that caused major surgery, but enough to cause enough "down time" to dry out her bingo dauber."

Get the Story:
DORREEN YELLOW BIRD COLUMN: Going home to an amazing mother (The Grand Forks Herald 12/17)

More Yellow Bird:
Yellow Bird: Grandmother Moon (12/16)
Yellow Bird: Include Natives in plan (12/10)
Yellow Bird: Walking a different path (12/9)
Yellow Bird: An Indian Martha Stewart (11/18)
Yellow Bird: The dangers of smoking (11/12)
Yellow Bird: Worry about GOP control (11/11)
Yellow Bird: It's cold but it's home (11/5)
Yellow Bird: Gangs in Indian Country (11/4)
Yellow Bird: Wellstone will be missed (10/29)
Yellow Bird: Making the final journey (10/22)
Yellow Bird: No McDonald's in Mongolia (10/21)
Yellow Bird: Next stop, ESPN Sportszone (10/18)
Yellow Bird: Keeping traditions alive (10/08)
Yellow Bird: Burgers, chips and fries oh my (10/1)
Yellow Bird: The smallpox threat (9/30)
Yellow Bird: Oops, I did it again... (9/24)
Yellow Bird: Reservation elections (9/17)
Yellow Bird: Learning from 9-11 (9/16)
Yellow Bird: Remembering 9-11 (9/10)
Yellow Bird: Protecting the Badlands (9/9)
Yellow Bird: My secret nickname (9/2)
Yellow Bird: Appreciating art (8/28)
Yellow Bird: An unsung hero (8/26)
Yellow Bird: I say Sakakawea (8/20)
Yellow Bird: Changing views on rape (8/19)