LINCOLN, Neb. (RNS) — In the days following major midwestern floods this spring, people of faith prayed for their neighbors and got busy lending a hand.
They also turned to their beliefs to make sense of a disaster that washed away homes and roads, leaving more than a billion dollars of damage in its wake.
For members of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska, the floods came at a sacred time, when the Ponca people celebrate the arrival of spring and the new year with the first thunderclap.
Some took to Facebook to celebrate: “First thunder!”
Some gathered quietly or said quick prayers of thanks to Wakonda, or God, that winter was ending and the earth was coming back to life, according to Dwight Howe, culture director for the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska.
The Ponca Tribe of Nebraska is one of four federally recognized tribes with headquarters in the state of Nebraska, according to Howe. About a third of Ponca members live in Nebraska — many of them in service areas affected by the flooding.
“It’s a holy time. It’s a powerful time. And this on top of it just sort of made it even almost supernatural,” he said.
That sacredness was underscored last month when, not long after the first thunder of the season, heavy rains fell and snow melted across the Midwest. Something called a “bomb cyclone” struck and dams broke, washing away bridges and…
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