Indian Time - A Voice from the Eastern Door

When talking with elders, one never knows what to expect. They could talk about their families that are big and small or life growing up on a farm where you worked so you could eat. The changes that their eyes have seen in this community can be astonishing. Judy grew up on Kawehnoke, with nine sisters and one brother. She married Jake Swamp in 1961 and together they raised seven children who in turn gave them 23 grandkids and about 13 great-grandkids. She grew up with memories she is fond of and some that she will never forget.

As many people may know, Jake and Judy traveled to a number of places around the world as part of Jake’s tree planting for the Tree of Peace Society. Colombia, Italy, Switzerland, and Israel are just some of those places. She describes the locations in Israel that she visited as being communal and very remarkable. Everyone in these places had a job to do and a place in society in order for the community to function smoothly. The people went about their business all the while living in what can only be described as a war zone.

“One area, we went by a place where Gypsy’s live on a side of the mountains. That night we were watching TV and they were just bringing bulldozers in and ripping apart their tent like homes. They were not in favor of them at all,” Judy described the smaller groups of people and how they were treated. “I remember it was a very cold place,” she goes on to describe. “We went there with Spring jackets on and ended up having to buy new Winter coats. There wasn’t snow there; it was just cold, probably from the rocks and the mountains. I noticed there were lots of stones. I don’t remember any houses being built of wood but only stone houses. I couldn’t keep warm while I was there.” The climate of the place was formidable to go along with the lives the people had to live.

As they drove into a small town where Jake was scheduled to have a meeting, she noticed there were a lot of men up on the roofs with guns. As they started to pull up the meeting place, the driver told them, “As soon as this car stops, all of you get out and go running into the building.” She thought to herself, “My goodness!” But they made it in ok. When they got inside and sat down at the table, some of the men came in. She didn’t say anything to Jake at the time, but she seen that on the backs of these men were guns. The men came to investigate who the visitors were and what their purpose was and then they left.

As Jake and Judy left the meeting and got in the car, another car sped off ahead of them. They took off fast as well and went up the hill. “When we got to where we were staying, we got locked out of the gate. We were in a car that wasn’t that big and so the guy that was driving went around the building and I thought to myself, ‘Why is he driving so fast?’ The road was real bumpy and we get up the hill and the driver throws his hands up in the air and says something, then drives into the trees and shrubbery. He hid the car. We finally asked him, ‘What do we do?’ He said, ‘We’re gonna watch for lights because they will come looking for us. And if your gonna try to run for it and you see their lights, don’t all run in the same direction. Scatter.’” Judy says they waited and waited, than all of a sudden they hear a car not too far away. She could hear the people looking for them and her stomach dropped. Her heart was racing and she knew that they couldn’t jump out and make a run for it. Judy held onto Jake’s arm as he sat there quietly. She knew he was scared, though, because she could feel him shaking. “It was quite the experience…it’s scary. It is not a place I would ever like to visit again. I was nervous during that time and there are different things that we take for granted and then we realize the seriousness of it.”

Judy told many stories of Israel and of her and Jake’s near death experiences there. There was a small creek Jake was standing near and had he went a little farther, he could have been shot down by a man on the other side. Judy was shopping (one of her favorite things to do) when a man came running around the corner and was attacked at the neck by a huge dog. A shopkeeper came out and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her inside. He warned her that should things escalate outside, she was to use the back door and run back to her hotel.

Jake and Judy traveled to promote peace, and some of the places they went were in dire need of it. She may spend her days enjoying time with her family and gazing out her kitchen window watching her grandkids play outside, but there were times when her peaceful life was almost cut short. “We were crazy!” Judy exclaimed after she tells her story of her trip to Israel.