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Our journey to Wounded Knee, South Dakota took us through a variety of terrains; beautiful, pastoral landscapes dotted by bales of fresh hay; fantastic formations of volcanic ash and an occasional congregation of cattle huddled together like clumps of clay.
Wounded Knee is located in a remote corner of South Dakota on the Pine Ridge Reservation and is the site of the 1890 massacre by U.S. forces of more than 300 Lakota Sioux. More recently, in 1973, (while I was a student at Sioux Falls College), a 71-day siege took place in Wounded Knee in a stand-off between the American Indian Movement (AIM) and the U.S. government that left more than a dozen Native Americans dead and led to hundreds of arrests.*
The National Historical Landmark and mass grave is located on a steep hill accessible by a rugged, dirt road. We parked the Peace Bubble Cafe at the entrance located at the top of the hill.
As we entered the small graveyard populated with simple graves I wondered about the lives of those buried here? What was their experience of living here? What does peace look like through the eyes of the Lakota Sioux still living here on the plains of South Dakota?
As we departed the cemetery we were met by a rainbow ... shining over this sacred place and the community of Wounded Knee. In a way, it seemed out-of-sync with the reality of this place and the history it represents. Is peace possible ... given everything? And what does peace mean for those who seek justice, reparations and self-determination?
You see more images of our journey to Wounded Knee on this website (under Media/Photos) or watch our youtube video at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PxSkMn38DCg
Peace from Wounded Knee, South Dakota,
Jerry, Patsy and the Peace Bubble Cafe
*The 2007 film "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee" by Yves Simoneau portrays this powerful story.
Suggested Reading
- "Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee" by Dee Brown, ISBN-13: 978-0-8050-6669-2
- "The Wounded Knew Massacre - From The Viewpoint of the Sioux" by James H. McGregor, Library of Congress Catalog Card No. A146806
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