In the wake of the flooding this past Spring, Second Chief Horace Smoke was presented with tough decisions to help his community rebuild. Chief Smoke had to allow outsiders into his community that enjoys the seclusion of its homeland.

Horace Smoke:  We had a flood here this spring with ice and water, high water, we haven't seen a flood like that in my lifetime.

Willie Stevens:  The water line over here, right here.  The house move about that much that way.

Horace Smoke:  We had water coming up this road, water coming in from back behind the village this way and water coming in both ways so we were hit on both sides of the village here.  The house that probably got most damaged was at the other end of the village, it actually floated off of its foundation and moved about 10 to 15 feet.  I think the Mennonites are a professional group.

Amos Diener:  They like to see the workmanship that we had to offer.

Horace Smoke:  They all know what they're doing, they have their own fields of work, and they're all volunteering to do this and helping people.  That's their goal.

Amos Diener:  Originally the house was down 16 inches, the water came up into the insulation, made it heavy, pulled it down out of the floor.  We're working on a handicapped ramp, the people just had a set of steps, but we raised the house up 16 inches.  

Horace Smoke:  I had to make a decision for the people that needed their homes back before the winter sets in, the ones with children and the elderly.  So that was my goal to help them first to get back in the homes.  I saw this opportunity to get professional help so I took this opportunity to use the Mennonite volunteers.  

Doug Mayne:  I would especially like to make a huge thanks to you folks for volunteering your time and effort to come out and assist the community to recover.

Horace Smoke:  It's going to feel good to be back home again.