RIVERTON - "Keep pushing, Margo."

Dr. Maryanne Hannaney's voice carries into the hallway of the maternity ward at Riverton Memorial Hospital, joining the soft cadence of nurses counting Margo Williams through the seconds of her final contraction.

"7, 6, 5."

In the hallway, Margo's mother-in-law, Teresa Williams, holds her breath, fiddling with the flowers she's brought the expectant mother.

"4, 3, 2, 1."

There's a prolonged moment of silence, then a tiny voice screeches through the air.

At 10:18 a.m. July 21, Camryn Michelle Williams becomes the seventh child in Margo and Brian Williams' blended family. Margo knew early on that this one would be a screamer, and Camryn is quick to prove her right, challenging Margo with preeclampsia throughout the pregnancy, suffering a near-miss with the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck during delivery and immediately - and unceasingly - testing her newly air-filled lungs.

"She's a stubborn one," Margo's mother, Caroline Bauer, predicted a week before the birth.

Young Camryn may have to be stubborn. Born into an Arapaho clan on the Wind River Indian Reservation in central Wyoming, she's joining a community fighting a torrent of social plagues.

"Alcohol, drugs, divorce - that's what assaults our families," Grandma Teresa says.

But Camryn is starting off lucky: She'll be raised by a family determined to offer their children a chance at safe, healthy and successful lives - a family that turns to its Arapaho heritage to navigate the surrounding storm.

'My mom had a baby'

A half-hour after Camryn's birth, Margo's dim hospital room is packed with well-wishers. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, brothers and sisters have driven into town to welcome young Camryn to the world.

For most of her life, these are the people who will be at the center of her universe. In Arapaho tradition, extended families are the norm. Cousins are as likely to be called "brother" and "sister" as biological siblings. Grandparents aren't just the parents' parents; they're also the great-aunts and uncles, and sometimes even unrelated elders.

Grandma Teresa - sometimes called "Mom" - is one of the first to hold little Camryn.

"I'm gonna be holding you forever," she coos. "You're gonna get used to Grandma. You're gonna be Grandma's baby."

Grandma Caroline, a soft-spoken and reserved woman, perches near the bed of her daughter, Margo. She, too, looks forward to a chance to hold her first granddaughter.

Exhausted after a long night at his wife's side, father Brian glows with awe. Camryn is his sixth biological child, and he has welcomed each to the world.

"I was there when you were born. I was there when all your brothers and sisters were born," Brian told his oldest daughter, Stacey, now 17, a week earlier. "I'm going to be there for this one, too."

As the nurses wager on the new child's weight, someone asks Brian's guess.

"I think she's mine," is all he says, looking dazed at the sight of his youngest daughter.

The newborn's siblings also crowd into the room, greeting their new little sister. There are Brian's oldest four children from a previous marriage, Brandon, 18, Stacey, 17, Shanel, 12, and Kristin, 8. Margo's son, Derrick, 7, hangs at his mother's bedside. And Brian and Margo's 4-year-old son, Brian Jr., who has dubbed himself Bob, peers intently at the youngster.

Margo says she worries most about Bob's reaction to the new addition to the family. Through her final homebound months of pregnancy, the precocious boy has slowly realized that his place as the baby is fading. He's insisted that the crib be placed in Derrick's room so he won't lose his spot with Mom and Dad. And, a few weeks earlier, as he lay across Margo's expanding lap, he scolded her: "Stop sitting like that! I have to fit somewhere!"

When the time comes, though, Bob is thoroughly enraptured by his new sister, stretching out tiny arms in an attempt to hold her and gently patting her head.

"What do you think, Bob, shall we keep her?" Teresa teases.

"Mmhmm," he nods, unblinking eyes still fixed on the newborn.

"You gotta help your mom while I'm at work," Brian says, passing his son a bubblegum cigar and the new title of Big Brother.

Working together

Bob, and all the other children, will be integral in taking care of little Camryn and in keeping the home functioning as the family adjusts to her addition.

"Everybody works together to make it work," said Brian, who explained that he has raised his children to look after one another, especially now that he spends a week at a time away from home working on oil rigs throughout the region.

The tight-knit family structure, he said, is a key component in warding off the temptations and pitfalls that have hit so many other families.

In particular, Margo and Brian worry about their children's education - they send the kids to Riverton schools so that the transition from small reservation elementary schools to the larger city high schools won't leave them lost.

They fear the influence of drugs and alcohol, which has robbed many families of youth lost in car accidents, jail and the throes of addiction.

Margo knows that Brian's previous divorce has been hard on his four oldest children, and she hopes that her children never have to know such grief. It's hard, though, she said, especially with Brian's new seven-on, seven-off schedule.

Brian looks around at other families who have been ravaged by a multitude of social and economic woes.

"A lot of women around here are raising kids on their own and working. A lot of young men are supposed to be bad-ass, but they can't even keep a job. The rigs are hard, but not that hard. It just takes a little motivation," he said. "(My generation) is too into partying. They drop their kids off. It's kind of f--- up. The respect for the family is just gone. Family comes first - that's what I was always taught. You don't just abandon your own kids."

Mostly, though, Margo and Brian hope their children will grow up strong, centered in family, respect and tradition, and able to face down any temptation that comes their way.

'Life is a prayer'

A day after Camryn was born, Margo and the infant are settling into the family's trailer home outside the town of Arapahoe. The home, which sits on Brian's inherited property along with the original family house where Teresa still lives, is comfortable and lived-in. Toys litter the floor. Puppies are carried in and out of the house, often with a scolding from Margo, who has deemed the dogs outdoor pets.

The TV is constantly on, though on this day, no one has time to watch. The family, just back from several days camping at the annual sun dance celebration, is preparing for a peyote meeting and sweat to celebrate Brandon's high school graduation and pray for his future success. Aunts, uncles and cousins have stayed in town for the meeting, milling about the houses and a huge teepee erected in the front yard for the event.

The Williams' children have been baptized in the Catholic Church, but Margo says the family's mixture of Arapaho tradition and Christianity often hinges more on the former.

"We have a lot of traditional things that the kids are around," Margo said.

Some traditions are overt, such as the sun dance, an Arapaho New Year ceremony in July when the family constructed a "shade," teepees and tents, gathering on sacred ground to watch dancers and pray with their community.

Behind the house, there's a domed sweat lodge, where the family often hosts sweats for physical and spiritual cleansing, and sometimes just relaxation.

The peyote meeting for Brandon's graduation is a rarer event, one filled with symbolism and tradition, from the grinding of peyote to smoke in cornhusk cigarettes to the preparation of traditional foods, such as pemmican and chokecherry gravy.

Teresa's brother, Paul Hanway, or Paul Joe as he's called by most, guides the preparations, such as the drawing of a symbolic road and moon with sand on the teepee floor.

He says the family's children aren't forced into the Arapaho ways, but they are constantly exposed to the beliefs and the importance of prayer.

"We believe if you push kids, they're going to rebel," he said.

But, he added, "Kids today have a rough time. There are other influences, TV. There are lots of temptations. We try to teach kids early: Drugs and alcohol are not a way of life for the Arapaho.

"My grandma said … from your first breath to your last breath is a covenant with God to live this life in a way of beauty. What you do in between is trust in God, the Creator, Jesus.

"Life is a prayer. That's the Arapaho way."

'We believe in discipline'

In addition to the ceremonies and religion, the Williamses say the deeper lessons of Arapaho tradition are simpler: family, respect, discipline.

With seven children, two working parents just aren't enough. Margo and Brian have to depend on the extended family to make it all come together.

Grandma Caroline and Margo's siblings, Rhonda and Malcolm, are often around. Caroline offers comforting hugs and soft-spoken instruction for the children. She is especially close to Derrick - the only child in the family who isn't Brian's - who turns to her for personal attention and sometimes a way out of trouble.

Grandma Teresa, living next door, is always nearby, driving the kids to school or to the health clinic and providing supervision when Margo and Brian are at work.

"I let her take control," Margo said. "The older kids listen to her. Sometimes, I feel like it's not my place. My parents didn't get divorced, so I don't know the emotions. She's there to give them the love and cuddling. All the kids listen to her."

She's also there to provide discipline for the kids, quick to shout instructions and corrections when the children get rowdy.

"Our family, we believe in discipline. You've got to have it," Teresa said. "Brian and Margo run a tight ship. Sure, the kids get away with things. But they do good."

As the family prepared for the peyote meeting, for example, adults barked orders at the kids, asking them to carry food between the houses, help with dishes and run supplies out to the teepee.

"It's just really gross to see kids who don't do a thing, while the grandpas and uncles are working hard," Margo said.

Brian, too, believes in raising children who know the boundaries - though his lessons, and even occasional spankings, end with a "Do you understand?" and a hug.

At the sun dance, Bob got in trouble for swatting his mother with a stick during a rambunctious moment. Brian, who later returned from working in Wamsutter to spend the night with his family, was quickly told about the indiscretion.

He gave Bob a swift smack on the butt, hard enough to get the boy's attention without eliciting much other reaction from the 4-year-old.

Then, looking deep into the child's eyes, he explained: "You never hit your mother. You never hit any woman in the family. Do you understand?"

Bob looked at his father, properly scolded, then gave the man a sweeping hug, all forgiven.

'To grow up healthy and have a good life'

Though there's plenty of time for play - family fishing and camping trips, frolics in the front yard kiddie pool, trips to the county fair - there are just too many dangers in the world to be lax with the kids, the Williamses say. They want too much for their children.

Education, for example, is a high priority. "Grandpa" Paul Joe has a master's degree. Teresa has a bachelor's, and at 63, still craves more. Brian didn't go to college, but his sisters did. Margo went for a while before Derrick was born and still considers returning to school.

Margo says she wants the kids to go as far as they can, and both she and Teresa have been pushing for Brandon to go on to college.

"I don't want him working out there (on the oil rigs)," she said. "He's going to see that money and not want to go to school, and he really needs to go to college.

"We really push education. They know school comes before anything."

For Camryn, it will be the same, she said.

"I want her to stay in school.

"I want to chase every guy away from her: no boyfriend until she's 21," Margo says, only half-joking.

"I want the same thing for her as for any of them: to grow up healthy and have a good life."

Heritage and Hope

Arapaho families turn to tradition to combat modern problems

* Today: Margo and Brian Williams use cultural activities, respect and discipline to protect their seven children from outside temptation.

* Monday: Billy and Darrell Hanway help raise their grandchildren, hoping to produce a stronger generation.

* Tuesday: The Northern Arapaho tribe struggles to bring back language and culture to repel poverty and drug and alcohol abuse on the Wind River Indian Reservation.

On the Web at http://www.casperstartribune.net:

* An Arapaho elder tells his history of the tribe.

* A Star-Tribune writer and photographer share their experiences producing "Heritage and Hope."

Families on the Wind River Indian Reservation are fighting a number of social plagues, from poverty to a lack of health care and education. The 2000 U.S. Census provides a glimpse at the conditions facing Northern Arapaho families compared to the population of the Wind River Indian Reservation and off-reservation trust lands, including the city of Riverton, as a whole.

Total reservation area population: 23,237

* American Indian: 6,394

* Northern Arapaho alone: 3,423

Median age: 35

* Northern Arapaho: 20

Average family size: 3.22

* Northern Arapaho: 4.53

High school graduates (age 25 and up): 83.1 percent

* Northern Arapaho: 74 percent

Bachelor's degrees (age 25 and up): 14.6 percent

* Northern Arapaho: 4.5 percent

Children (ages 5-20) with disabilities: 5 percent

* Northern Arapaho: 4.9 percent

Average home size: 5.4 rooms

* Northern Arapaho: 4.9 rooms

Homes lacking plumbing: 1.7 percent

* Northern Arapaho: 6.2 percent

Homes lacking telephone service: 8.3 percent

* Northern Arapaho: 25.5 percent

The 2004 Wyoming KIDS COUNT data book also offers insight into economic and health care conditions for Fremont County, where the reservation is located, compared to the rest of the state.

Infant mortality

* Wyoming: 6.6 percent

* Fremont County: 9.1 percent

Low-weight births

* Wyoming: 8.4 percent

* Fremont County: 9.3 percent

Mothers who smoked during pregnancy

* Wyoming: 20.7 percent

* Fremont County: 22.2 percent

Teen dropouts

* Wyoming: 4.6 percent

* Fremont County: 6.5 percent

Child deaths

* Wyoming: 148

* Fremont County: 16 (10.8 percent of state total)

Staff writer Jenni Dillon can be reached at (307) 266-0619 or Jenni.Dillon@casperstartribune.net.

Related Stories in this series can be found here:

http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2005/08/28/news/wyoming/091d300f9d70f2978725706a0020fc12.txt

http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2005/08/28/news/wyoming/263f922a082439228725706a0020fcc1.txt

http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2005/08/28/news/wyoming/a4fb8c018de5f6768725706a0020fd18.txt