We started our day with a bus ride from Rapid City to Cheyenne River Reservation. En route we passed Bear Butte, a place of great importance to the Lakota people, where significant ceremonies are held, such as vision quests. The site is directly adjacent to Sturgis, and recent protests and confrontations have resulted due to the proposed construction of the world’s largest motorcycle bar at the base of the butte.
Our first stop in Cheyenne River was Takini School. Takini, which means “survivor,” is the village where survivors of the Wounded Knee Massacre returned, after having being attacked en rout to Pine Ridge, where they were headed to participate in the Ghost Dance.
We toured the school where we saw five high school girls perform the hoop dance and five high school boys present their “winter count” drawings—a modern day equivalent to ledger drawings that graphically depict their achievements and experiences over the past year. Due to the remote location of the school, students must travel 1 to 1.5 hours each way on a school bus to get to school each day. Parents typically are not able to visit the school given the distance and lack of reliable transportation.
We also talked with Eileen Briggs who runs Tribal Ventures, an organization whose mission is poverty reduction. Tribal Ventures received a 10-year, $9.5 million grant from Northwest Area Foundation (NWAF) for that purpose, and Takini is home to the Lakota Cultural Consortium component of the grant initiative, which focuses on cultural learning, healing, and day care cultural immersion.
Next we went to the town of Eagle Butte, which is the Cheyenne River tribal headquarters. Here we had a session at the HV Johnston Lakota Cultural Center that focused on entrepreneurship efforts on Cheyenne River, also funded in large part by NWAF. Tribal Ventures and Four Bands Community Fund led the discussion, which included presentations from six entrepreneurs who have received start-up funds from Tribal Ventures and Four Bands.
In the evening we had the huge honor of a visit with Arvol Looking Horse—the keeper of the White Buffalo Calf Woman sacred bundle and sacred pipe. The White Buffalo prophecy was made untold years ago, foretelling that when a white buffalo calf is born, it is a wake-up call for peace, sustainability, and balance in life.
Looking Horse is the keeper of this belief, and has dedicated his life’s work to religious freedom, cultural survival, and revival. His work includes founding the Bigfoot Riders, who reenact the Wounded Knee Ride from Cheyenne River to Pine Ridge every December, and acting as a leader for World Peace Day efforts and talking with a United Nations Special Reporter and the Dalai Lama. It was a privilege to close the day spending time with him.
About Greg