White River Cheyenne Mennonite Church
Busby, Montana is a town of fewer than 800 people on the Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservation. The reservation was established in 1884, and the town in 1904; also in 1904, Mennonite missionaries from Nebraska arrived to plant a church. White River Cheyenne Mennonite Church still stands today, with attendance in 2017 ranging from 30 to 50 people. In addition to weekly church services, White River members meet for other social occasions such as youth group activities, beading events, and community meals and fundraisers. The congregation also supports a thrift shop in a nearby town, a project of the Northern Cheyenne Ministerial Association that includes two other Mennonite churches on this reservation (Lame Deer Mennonite Church and Ashland Christian Fellowship).
Behind the White River church building is a log cabin that houses photos, books, and other items from the community’s history. Current pastor Willis Busenitz knows much of this history, as he worked in this congregation for decades. He and his wife Nadine grew up in Euro-American Mennonite congregations in Kansas and Texas, respectively, and were sent by the General Conference Mennonite Church to work at a Southern Cheyenne Mennonite church in Oklahoma in 1965. The next year they were invited to a Northern Cheyenne church in Lame Deer, Montana, and in 1971 the White River congregation invited them to Busby. They have lived there since, with some of their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren living nearby. Willis and his granddaughter Keshia Littlebear-Cetrone (who grew up attending White River) tell engaging stories about a sewing machine, a horse saddle, a peace pipe, and many more pieces in their White River church museum. When Keshia says “tell them about the organ,” Willis describes how an early white Mennonite missionary drove to town to buy an instrument for the new church.
Willis’s comment that “he should have gotten a drum” refers to early Christian missionaries’ explicit or implicit assumptions that Western European hymns and instruments were the most proper music for Christian worship. Christian missions were intertwined with other colonial structures; White River still sits on 60 acres of tribal land that was allocated to the Mennonite Church for religious and educational assimilation because, as Keshia wryly put it, the U.S. government gladly handed out land to organizations that wanted to “save the poor Indians.” If at some point the Mennonite Church were no longer using the land, it would return to the tribe.
In contrast to the expectations about musical instruments, the early missionaries and church members were clearly interested in preserving and propagating Cheyenne language and songs. Beginning soon after 1904, people who worked at and attended White River began writing down Cheyenne language. The log cabin museum contains an extensive dictionary from 1913, books and recordings of stories and Bible readings, and a series of songbooks that began in 1909. At the time, this was one of the main Cheyenne language and music preservation projects. Today, there are few native speakers, but there are strong efforts to teach a new generation through websites, apps, and immersion programs.
The most recent edition of the Cheyenne songbook (published in 1982, pictured here with the accompanying CD) is still used by the White River congregation, along with an English language hymnbook and contemporary English songs. Tsese-Ma’heone-Nemeotȯtse: Cheyenne Spiritual Songs is a combination of translations and adaptations of Western European and American hymns, and indigenous texts and tunes. Cheyenne people do not refer to the latter songs as composed, but rather as received. These indigenous texts use Cheyenne language, and the tunes share musical characteristics with other Plains Indian music, including a capella unison singing, use of vocables, descending melodic structure, and ranges that exceed an octave. During a Sunday morning worship service, the congregation sings a combination of indigenous and English songs, and reads scripture in both English and Cheyenne.
In this audio clip, Nadine Busenitz plays the traditional hymn “Great is thy faithfulness” on the piano, followed by the congregation singing the indigenous song “Jesus A, Nahetotaetanome.” The congregation sings this same opening song each week. Later in the service, the congregation sang a contemporary worship song, “Come as you are” by Crowder, along with a YouTube recording. While ushers gathered an offering, Nadine played the African-American gospel song “Lead me, guide me” by Doris Akers. The offertory was followed by the Cheyenne scripture reading.
Children learn these songs during a singing time prior to the main Sunday service; below, Pastor Willis Busenitz leads the singing lesson. A couple of children volunteered to hold the posterboards of the text from the music. These are the same songs the adults sing from the Cheyenne songbook.