The trip was amazing to say the least. I am so glad I was able to lead our small little Loyola group to the Rez to make what little difference we could. We met some really great people and made a really good connection with the ABI group from Northern Kentucky University.
Hiking in the Badlands was great. I have never been hiking before and was so happy that I didn't quit, or give up half way to the destination. It was beautiful. We went to this place called "The Sanctuary" which was basically a valley surrounded by towering rocks and gorges. We sat in silence for 15 minutes and a lot of stuff just "hit me" that I didn't realize i had bottled up inside. It was kind of freeing. (At the same time it was 96 degrees and what I thought was an epiphany could actually have been heat exhaustion...)
We went to Wounded Knee cemetery. It was really shabby and uncared for. There was garbage everywhere. It hadn't been mowed in a long time. And the steps leading to the mass grave were broken and not very sturdy. If the story of the massacre didn't make one cry, the condition of the cemetery was enough to bring a tear. It made me so angy that Gettysburg, or other national battlefields are guarded by US Marines, cared for by a crew of landscapers, and funded by tax dollars, but this mass grave that represents the Lakota history and the sadness of the massacre is just left to fade away.
The trailers we were working on were pieces of shit. They would be condemmed by our standards. But the government ships them to the reservations and sells them to Indians for $5,000. I wouldn't pay $500 for one. Plus they don't even come with a furnace, some don't have windows, none have skirting, or appliances. So the organization we were working with called Re-Member works to help families who have just received a "new" trailer fix it to living condition. We put windows in and put insulation and skirting around the bottom. We tar the roofs to help insulate them. And we install stove pipes to ensure proper venthilation for the wood burning stoves they use for heat in the winter. We also build outhouses (and dig the holes) and build bunk beds for the families where kids sleep on the floor. We heard of one house where the family had a piece of ply wood over the bath tub. 4 toddler girls slept on the ply wood at night. That is so sad.
The first site we went to was the Wounded Head family. They had just suffered a bad fire and lost 2 family members and one trailer. Not even bones or teeth remained the fire was so bad. Tangela, the young woman we talked to, has cerebal palsy. She told us so many stories of the double whamy she gets by being both handicapped as well as Indian. They were extremely poor. No running water. No electricity. No phones. No car. 12 people living in one trailer. I played with 2 little girls named Lucy and Toby. They were covered in dirt, peanut butter, and honey. And all they wanted was to be held, hugged, kissed, and have their hair braided. When I left I was covered in peanut butter. I will never wash that shirt. It is a constant reminder of what those girls did for my life.
We also planted a HUGE garden. It was a complete waste of time. Nothing grows there. I was really mad that we weren't building more outhouses or beds. But I couldn't complain; the organization has its reasons I'm sure. I just think our time would have been better served actually helping a family obtain proper living standards.
We toured Red Cloud School, the Jesuit high school on the Rez. It was great, but really white. The education is top-notch. But they can only allow 400 students. There are atleast 15,000 kids on the reservation (according to one source). Darryl Red Cloud, great-grandson to Chief Red Cloud sang us a song at his great grandfather's grave and told us about his days at the school. He couldn't say enough good things about the school. He said they have a waitlist atleast 4,000 kids long. EVERY kid wants to go to the Jesuit school because it is really high-class and they have a better chance of leaving the Rez if they graduate from there. Darryl wasn't an employee of the school. He just really wanted to get the message out that the Rez needs more Red Cloud Schools. He was our bus driver for the whole trip. We got to know him and his family history and stories pretty well.
We had 2 days off between sessions. We went to Custer State Park to see the buffalo herds. That was so nice. WOW was it beautiful. The buffalo were right in the road at one point. We also saw burros, mountain goats, a cyote, and tons of prairie dogs.
We went to Wind Cave National Park. The cave is the place of the Lakota origin story. Kind of like their Garden of Eden. But the tour guide hardly mentioned a word about the Lakota. The book store didn't have any books about the origin story either. It really hit home that the Lakota really are a forgotten people.
We also went to Ft. Robinson. It is the place of the Cheyenne Breakout and where Crazy Horse was killed. But again, little mention of the Indians at the place. it was a monument to the US Soldiers. That place made my blood boil! The museum displays portrayed Indians as evil savages. They often referred to them as a "problem" or as "unmanagable." No wonder SoDak is so racist - the school kids on field trips there are fed nothing but lies and racist ideology.
The racism in the border towns was heart breaking. White Clay, which lies just steps off the Rez, sells millions of dollars worth of beer every year. They exploit the Indians and make huge profits off the Lakota. We wanted to bomb the place. It was just a shabby hole-in-the-wall town with MAYBE 6 buildings. The Lakota who lined up outside the liquor stores were so sad to see. They looked so hopeless and drained of all life. I wanted to reach out the van window and tell them someone cares about them.
We were invited to the home of Evans and Jolene Runningshield. (Just the 5 of us Loyolans.) That was the best night of our whole stay. They invited us to a sweat lodge. But we had to decline because we weren't really prepared. I REALLLLLY wanted to go but I knew Dr. Amick would be disappointed if we smoked opium on a school field trip!!! But anyways, the time we spent with the family was priceless. They had 2 little girls with more energy than any child I have ever met. (Tina and Jade) The family gifted us sage, cedar, and orange Hawaiian Punch! We will never forget them. In fact we have sort of adopted them! We are "pen pals" with the girls now.
We went to Mt. Rushmore to take pictures of us flipping it off, and take video of us yelling obscenities at it. We also went to the Crazy Horse monument. That place was kind of creepy. The museum is more of a monument to the sculptor and his wife. Nothing at all about Crazy Horse. And we saw two white tourists that had us cracking up! They would point to the employees and say out loud, "Is that a real Indian?" Or in the gift store they kept pointing to jewelry and saying, "Ooooh, this one really looks Indian. I want it!" They were carrying their two little terrier dogs with them in the museum. I had to shake my head in disbelief.
There is so much more I could tell you. What do you want to hear? I have so much bottled up inside me. No one really understands why it impacted me so much. I didn't want to leave. If Jamie and the kids could have just picked up and moved out there, I wouldn't have come home. Ever. I woke up every morning and felt more alive than ever before. I didn't want to go to sleep at night for fear that I would be one day closer to leaving. It sounds really cheesey, but I really did feel like I belonged there.
Most of us bonded and became family to eachother right away. We went for hikes and sat in a tipi for hours talking and just sitting in silence thinking of solutions. We have a lot to discuss. I have another year at Loyola. I am going to spend the year in deep thought.
So - - - just ask questions, or tell me what you think. I would love to have someone to talk to about all of this.
Thanks for listening to me. Until later,
Kelly
