Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00:00Let's all pray. We came this far. We told some beautiful people and they prayed. So let's all pray together as a family.
00:00:28Let's all pray together.
00:00:31These riders, they come from all over Canada, Montana, Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota,
00:01:01it's from all over the world, these riders come. And that's the point. That's what we're trying to do here is we're trying to reconcile, unite, make peace with everyone.
00:01:13Because that's what it means to be Dakota. To be Dakota means to walk in peace and harmony with every living thing. That is our way.
00:01:23This ride came through a vision of a man by the name of Jim Miller. And in that vision, he saw riders going east. We're going home. That's what we're doing. We're going home.
00:01:37In 2005, when I received this dream as any recovered alcoholic, I made believe that I didn't get it.
00:01:51I tried to put it out of my mind, but it's one of them dreams that bothers you night and day.
00:01:56I tried to put it out of my mind.
00:02:26I tried to put it out of my mind.
00:02:30I tried to put it out of the rain just like this.
00:02:40I tried to put it out of something.
00:02:47I tried to put it out of my mind.
00:02:50Make it out of my mind.
00:02:53St. Paul Pioneer Press, 1863
00:03:01Good news for Indian hunters
00:03:04The Indian hunting trade, if the game be at all plenty
00:03:08is likely to prove a profitable investment
00:03:11during the present fall and winter
00:03:13for our hunters and scouts in the big woods
00:03:15having increased the bounty for each topknot
00:03:18of a bloody heathen to $200
00:03:20There is likely to be considerable competition
00:03:23in the trade and the best shots
00:03:25will carry off the most prizes
00:03:35Christmas is here
00:03:37I am here
00:03:41I am here
00:03:43I am here
00:03:45I am here
00:03:47I am here
00:03:49I am here
00:03:50I am here
00:03:51I am here
00:03:52I am here
00:03:53I am here
00:03:53I am here
00:03:53I am here
00:04:15All of our people were put there and we're not allowed to leave or hunt.
00:04:19The Indians could not leave the reservation.
00:04:24If they left without permission, they would be considered hostile
00:04:31and could be shot on sight.
00:04:34They were supposed to be given rations, given the treaty,
00:04:38but people get greedy. That's how they call them washichut.
00:04:41They started skimming off the rations and pretty soon they were starving them.
00:04:45When they were starving them, that's when this traitor said,
00:04:48well, let them eat grass. And so they revolted.
00:04:52When the fight occurred and many were killed.
00:04:55It was a very short war. It only lasted a few months.
00:04:59When it was over, President Abraham Lincoln
00:05:06hung 38 of our leaders at one time, one pull of the lever,
00:05:11which is today the largest max execution the government's ever carried out.
00:05:32My great-great-grandfather, who walks with owl tail, was hung that day.
00:05:35Those of us that are on this ride descend from them 38 that were hanged.
00:05:42I think it's a good thing to do with the people of the country.
00:05:52I think it's a good thing to do with the people of the country.
00:06:12You know, we'll never be able to feel what he felt, but we understand he was a spiritual
00:06:26man and he cared a lot about his people and I think if he was alive he would have did
00:06:32the same thing.
00:06:33To remember, he would have wanted to acknowledge the ancestors in a spiritual way.
00:06:41And when I heard about this dream, Uncle Sheldon Wolfchild, he told me this dream that Jim
00:06:46had and I wanted to be a part of it.
00:06:50There's something about that ride that pulls you to it and you want to get on a horse and
00:06:53help out.
00:06:55You feel pain in your ribs, your back, your legs.
00:06:59You get cold, we've been through blizzards.
00:07:01A lot of times if you don't own a horse you end up on the horse that nobody wants to ride
00:07:06so that's a sacrifice in itself.
00:07:11I just want to tell everybody here that I love you very much.
00:07:36We don't have to blame the washichos anymore.
00:07:40We're doing it to ourselves, we're selling drugs.
00:07:46We're killing our own people and that's what this rides about, it's healing.
00:07:51much better.
00:07:53We'll be playing well.
00:07:57We'll be playing well.
00:07:59We're killing our own people, safe vị.
00:08:03Whew!
00:08:06Kimi crisis.
00:08:12What are you doing?
00:08:14We were exiled from Minnesota by an order of the government
00:08:44which stated to annihilate the Indian race or forever push us from the borders of Minnesota.
00:08:50And that's what happened.
00:08:53Thousands and thousands of our people were slaughtered, froze to death, starved to death.
00:08:58Disease took a lot of our people also.
00:09:02A lot of them were marched on foot, some were brought on cattle trains.
00:09:07Got down to St. Louis, they put us on riverboats.
00:09:10And they were brought up the river to where we presently are now.
00:09:14We brought Crow Creek, which was at that time a prisoner of war camp.
00:09:18From there, our people scattered to the four directions.
00:09:24Some of them, you know, would jump off their boats and just drown themselves.
00:09:29And they couldn't deal with the hardships.
00:09:31And so it was a horrible thing.
00:09:33They thought it was the end of their world coming here.
00:09:36They had no more hope.
00:09:37And so for us, this journey back, this ride back, is taking their spirits back, taking it home to the homeland.
00:09:45And we're going to show up in Mankato at the hanging site on December 26th at 10 a.m., which is the anniversary of them 38 that were hanged.
00:09:54When you have dreams, you know when they come from the creator.
00:10:07You just know it.
00:10:09And I always know when it's a significant dream because he says, I've got to tell you this, you know.
00:10:16And so he gets up and he says, I've got to tell you this.
00:10:19And I don't know what it means.
00:10:20And he started telling me he was being directed to make these offerings around the horse.
00:10:30The horse would carry these offerings and that these offerings were for all of the men that were hung in Mankato.
00:10:41Didn't know about Mankato until I had this dream in 2005.
00:10:45In his dream, he'd seen all these, the 38 basically, being hung at the same time.
00:10:55And they were all reaching out, holding each other's arms.
00:10:57Our ancestry starts over there in Mankato.
00:11:16So keep that in your hearts.
00:11:18Keep that in your minds as we travel.
00:11:23So I love you guys very much.
00:11:25I'm a real easy man to talk to.
00:11:29I'm kind of a quiet guy.
00:11:32I pretty much keep to myself.
00:11:37But any atrocity that happened to you, any of you, it happened to me.
00:11:44I was sexually abused, physically abused, spiritually abused, emotionally abused.
00:11:51I have blood on my hands.
00:11:54I'm a Vietnam veteran.
00:11:57I spent time in Leavenworth.
00:11:59So, I've been through the course.
00:12:08Any of you need to talk to me, call me inside.
00:12:12We're all equal in this room.
00:12:15Nobody's higher or better than anybody.
00:12:19We're all equal.
00:12:20So, let's have a real beautiful ride.
00:12:26We've got a long haul ahead of us.
00:12:28I never did this before.
00:12:30I don't know what I have to expect in the next 16 days.
00:12:34But you do.
00:12:36You're my family.
00:12:37I don't know what I'm saying.
00:12:38You're my family.
00:12:41I'm a young man.
00:12:46This horse has the six directions that we use in our ceremonies.
00:12:54The two front legs represent the west and the north.
00:12:57The two back legs represent the east and the south.
00:13:00The head points up, the ears point up, represents wākātākia.
00:13:05Up above, the tail points downwards towards Mother Earth.
00:13:11When you put those six directions together, it creates a sacred center to bring wākā in.
00:13:18It's a sacredness that you can only have with these six directions,
00:13:22and you can pray while you're on your horse.
00:13:25You can think about a lot of things.
00:13:26Some people can remember things that ancestors went through.
00:13:30It's the horse leading the way because of its healing power.
00:13:34We chōnei, we chōnei, we chōnei, we chōnei.
00:13:40We chōnei, we chōnei, we chōnei, we chōnei, we chōnei, we chōnei, we chōnei, we chōnei, we chōnei, we chōnei, we chōnei, we chōnei, we chōnei, we chōnei, we chōnei, we chōnei, we chōnei, we chōnei, we chōnei, we chōnei, we chōnei, we chōnei, we chōnei, we chōnei, we chōnei, we chōnei, we chōnei, we chōnei, we chōnei, we chōnei, we chōnei, we chōnei, we chōnei, we chōnei, we chōnei, we chōnei, we chōnei, we
00:14:10they were. Just a completely different energy around here. I feel it. I feel like a different
00:14:22person now that I came here.
00:14:29Today we're riding because of the healing that we need to continue.
00:14:40The reservation where I'm from is the poorest county in the United States with an average
00:14:44household income of $5,000 per year. We also have one of the highest suicide rates in the
00:14:51world. There is something that we suffer from.
00:15:01So basically I'm riding for my family because they need help. I already lost my oldest brother.
00:15:13He passed away four years ago. And two of my other brothers are sitting in jail. My family
00:15:21is slowly falling apart. And this is why I'm doing this for them. And now my little brother,
00:15:28he's getting sent away. I wanted to go see him before he gets sent away next year. But
00:15:41I came here and I don't regret coming here. So all I can say is I'm honored to be on this
00:15:48ride. And I thank you for listening to me.
00:15:54It's just not for our Dakota people but everybody involved. So if you have horses or you want
00:16:09to be a part of the ride, I mean, come join us. This is our family and we want you guys
00:16:14to be a part of it. So thank you.
00:16:21I didn't know Mankato, like 38 Native Americans were hung there. I had no idea about that.
00:16:26Like, I'm not Native American but my mom's like Native Canadian and up there. And so like
00:16:31just having a little bit of that in me and hearing this, it's like really means a lot.
00:16:37Thank you. Thank you.
00:16:42It was pretty good though, talking to them, you know, letting them know our side of the
00:16:47story. And not what just came out of some book that some dude wrote. You know, coming
00:16:53from the real thing and from the people that are experiencing it. Yeah, it's pretty good.
00:17:00It's a pretty good ride right now. In spite of the burnt burger and the doughy pizza.
00:17:07No, that's just a joke.
00:17:10And I really don't associate with Caucasian people. I don't know why, it's just, I don't
00:17:18know, I never really, I used to like when I was little, I had like different races of
00:17:22friends when I was little. Like, we might as well just put it on the table too because
00:17:27it's the truth and it's the only way that we're going to be able to come together. You
00:17:31know, like my people and me, and we've talked about this, there's a lot of racism, you know?
00:17:37So I think, and I'm willing to say, yeah, you know, I have some racist moments where I
00:17:42think, oh, okay, you know, like they just did that because they're a white guy. Or they're
00:17:46not going to get it because they're white. They're just not.
00:17:49I was like feeling like I didn't want to be a part of this anymore because I was feeling
00:17:55like everybody was talking to me as like Dakota Sarah. Like, oh, well, like, you know,
00:18:01like you're Dakota first. So I'm going to ask everything, all my questions based on your race.
00:18:08You have to understand there's a certain amount of curiosity coming into a situation. I mean,
00:18:13if someone from Africa came to me, they would have a million questions, I'm sure about Adam
00:18:18the white guy, the Italian kid from Long Island. So the fact that the questions are getting,
00:18:23you know, directed at me makes me feel like, oh, Adam was the only one who was asking questions,
00:18:28the only one who didn't come from the heart.
00:18:48Is that okay?
00:18:49Is that okay?
00:18:57Is that okay?
00:19:03So this is the last cycle.
00:19:06I like the last cycle.
00:19:07I have to be in full possession because I was here now.
00:19:10Can you seeydian girls?
00:19:12It's supposed to be getting a storm here in the next couple days, it'll be real cold.
00:19:26Real cold.
00:19:28Forecast this morning said Saturday, Sunday, Monday, blizzard warnings.
00:19:35Not much to say.
00:19:41Yeah.
00:19:43I think some of the things that they're doing like this ride are important for their heritage.
00:19:50I think all people should be proud of who they are and their ancestry and their heritage.
00:19:56I'm proud I'm Norwegian.
00:19:59Golden rims.
00:20:03I got pinched out here.
00:20:06Does she know the price in there?
00:20:08How much the tire was?
00:20:10Yeah.
00:20:11Just pay.
00:20:12Just don't worry about it.
00:20:14Oh, come on now.
00:20:15I got to give you something.
00:20:17Don't worry about it.
00:20:18Are you sure?
00:20:19Yeah.
00:20:20Appreciate it.
00:20:21You betcha.
00:20:22I really appreciate it.
00:20:23I wouldn't be so generous but I just watched that movie Pay It Forward.
00:20:30I wish more of this country was that way.
00:20:35Yeah.
00:20:36Needs to go back to that.
00:20:37Yeah.
00:20:38Yeah, definitely.
00:20:39We've got too many people that are worried about the dollar instead of helping the human
00:20:44being.
00:20:45Exactly.
00:20:46Exactly.
00:20:47I'm getting Beckham.
00:20:48I better go.
00:20:49Yeah.
00:20:50We're yelling at you.
00:20:51Just fill that up and I'll come back out and shut that water off.
00:20:54Yeah, I'll be like, right?
00:20:56Yeah.
00:20:57Yeah.
00:20:58Yeah.
00:20:59Yeah.
00:21:02Yeah.
00:21:03Yeah.
00:21:04Yeah.
00:21:07Yeah.
00:21:15Yeah.
00:21:21Extreme conditions for much of the West as we go through the next several days.
00:21:40Let's get into this bitterly cold Arctic air.
00:21:42Don't forget there'll be a windchill factor up and through here.
00:21:45I'm running in behind you.
00:21:51Some people have loaded their horses here already.
00:22:01This isn't where the horses are supposed to be today.
00:22:04We didn't get permission to do that.
00:22:06They accept us.
00:22:08This Jim... Jim...
00:22:12Prince is his name.
00:22:14He's the county extension agent that I've been talking to.
00:22:17So he's here?
00:22:18He was here. He gave me this key.
00:22:20Okay, that's good enough.
00:22:21To water and good enough water.
00:22:33Go on.
00:22:34Go on.
00:22:35Okay, I'll get some snacks together and stuff.
00:22:38Oh, that would be so awesome.
00:22:40Yeah.
00:22:41Oh, they would love that.
00:22:42Okay, sure.
00:22:43And it made me feel uncomfortable because like in the back of my head, I always, you know,
00:22:48look at them.
00:22:49I was like, they're probably uncomfortable with all of us in here.
00:22:52Don't trust us too much or something.
00:22:54You know, I don't know.
00:22:56It's just how I always grew up.
00:22:57How much did you ride today, man?
00:22:58About...
00:22:59I don't know.
00:23:0030, 40 miles?
00:23:01How you feeling?
00:23:02Sore.
00:23:03What do you guys think of the horses?
00:23:04They're nice, but they hurt your butts.
00:23:05They hurt your butts.
00:23:06Yeah?
00:23:07Are you recording it?
00:23:08Yeah, man.
00:23:09You're on tape.
00:23:10Hi.
00:23:11Hi.
00:23:12Hi.
00:23:13Hi, Will.
00:23:14Can I ride it?
00:23:17How can you get up there?
00:23:18How can you get up?
00:23:19I sure can.
00:23:20Sorry.
00:23:21I'm not big enough to go.
00:23:23Here, jump on the chair.
00:23:25You're on the chair.
00:23:27Let's go.
00:23:29It's super cool.
00:23:30You're on the chair.
00:23:31Actually, yes.
00:23:32Good.
00:23:33What?
00:23:34How do you guys think of the horse?
00:23:35Go on.
00:23:36Do you guys think of the horse?
00:23:37What?
00:23:38What?
00:23:39for me i love each of you these little guys here we're doing that for them
00:23:59our culture is one of oral everything's passed down to us
00:24:12riding across there today i was crying coming
00:24:17i wonder what my relatives endured when they came down on the boat
00:24:23when we were taken off the boat our first homeland in 1863 our first home was a
00:24:29stockade sitting bull heard about that as a young man he came on horseback to see how the people
00:24:38were being treated and they were being treated worse than animals i said and that's why he
00:24:44stood his ground like that these people call me today there was two ceremonies that were going
00:24:51on back home called you weepies they said that crazy horse and sitting bull is riding with us
00:24:59that means a lot to me
00:25:19i went out with a regular pair of gloves and was out there about 15 minutes and my hands started to get
00:25:25frostbite i saw the weather report and it said 45 below 50 mile an hour winds and said you're taking
00:25:32your life in your own hands if you're on the road so
00:25:38the last time i walked with uh people men and women like this i wasn't a marine corps
00:26:02yesterday you know that bad blizzard these riders wanted to go they saddled up they warmed their
00:26:10horses up we couldn't even see 50 yards cold and uh they uh they still wanted to ride to make this trip
00:26:23that's how important this is to us so if you don't mind we're going to just kind of wait this out yeah
00:26:32and then you know if it gets really bad we got that quonset you know we can put the horses in there
00:26:36there's quite a bit of room in there can we take a look yeah okay let's go do that so uh let's let's get
00:26:44some panels and panel this off okay
00:26:58you
00:27:14get the horses in the quonset and so i came back home and then i'd say it was like uh four o'clock
00:27:20or something yeah it was late afternoon yep when jerry called and said you know where can we go to buy
00:27:26hay because the horses need hay you know i don't know where i'd send you i know a lot of guys have
00:27:30got hay but i don't think you can get there but i said you know why don't i'll try when he came back
00:27:36to the door and he was all full of snow and i said what happened so we've got it we got to get the
00:27:41tractor going because i'm stuck up here in the ditch he said i didn't even make the corner i thought
00:27:47oh my god if it's that bad why are you even out she gets me out and i tell her you know you just need
00:27:55to take the tractor go home then i take off west and uh it's terrible you know i again i can't see
00:28:02anything there's drifts on the road and all of a sudden i'm right in a ditch again and this is over a
00:28:08mile from home and and he called me and he said how are you doing and i said not very good right now
00:28:16i said i'm in a ditch he said what i said yep i ran in a ditch trying to get to town it's crazy man
00:28:24it's like holy i never really thought of those people doing something like that you know she went
00:28:31out in the tractor and found him somehow in that blizzard you almost can't top that as far as support
00:28:41or commitment to what we're doing
00:28:53all the way from marty south dakota we have any chaktas in the house follow me mark follow me run
00:28:58all my brothers
00:29:28we come with the message of forgiveness and healing
00:29:58and we all got to share this planet together well that's the purpose of your ride is to you know
00:30:04have some reconciliation you think that's already happening maybe in some ways oh no doubt i had an
00:30:11warning of support and love westington springs they end at howard so i give my blessings to them and we
00:30:18pray for them thank you very much appreciate it thank you that was wonderful
00:30:23uh-huh we'll get that mic down we'll let you thanks a lot that was good do everything else
00:30:30you did a good job thank you
00:30:31i love you guys and you guys have a good day and oh you as well and we'll be we'll be around we
00:30:39got lots of good pictures to get here today okay thank you you bet have a safe ride you bet
00:30:44yeah yeah this is awesome to hear someone who's you know not angry at all and says you know this is
00:30:52about forgiveness wow not what i expected there's a lot of racism in this state there are a lot of
00:30:59people that are against it kind of kind of don't make any bones about it it's okay to be who you are
00:31:08you're native and you should be proud of it no matter what tribe you're from get to know your history
00:31:13country because we are an awesome people and you guys should be so proud of that
00:31:27and i was in that eight by five cell it was hard it was really hard and i shed some tears in there
00:31:34they said men don't cry but we do it takes a real man to cry and
00:31:41uh thank you the reason why i'm doing this this journey is so i could maybe help one of you in
00:31:49this room today because our people are lost and it's up to us to keep our language and our culture
00:31:55alive we have to be the leaders because we're the next generation and it's up to us if not our culture
00:32:02is gone our language is gone and the wakija the youth the next generation they won't they'll be lost
00:32:08they'll have nothing to turn to november 26th i celebrated a year drugs and alcohol you know
00:32:14and it's just uh i ain't gonna lie sometimes i feel like using you know i get it on my old
00:32:18buddies back home and say oh come on have a beer with us now let's go let's go get high and i got
00:32:23this joint you know but uh i choose to pray and go to sweat lodges during the summer time we attend sun
00:32:30dances and um it's uh it's hard growing up where i'm from you know pine ridge is a hard place to live they
00:32:36call it poverty plains you know but we choose to live like that you know now me riding is to make
00:32:42hopefully make a change for our youth so that they won't have to grow up in the society that we grew
00:32:46up in today
00:32:56i got caught speeding and he left me behind
00:33:06they turned the lights on him so i drove around with the trees parked
00:33:14any suggestions from life here bush uh my main concern is like
00:33:26hey
00:33:36again for my family from here you know this is good to see everybody in and my main thing was to see you
00:33:42guys laughing fed and all that stuff like that so you know i extend my thanks you know you guys are
00:33:50coming over this hill down here this little town eden that was that was what i got afraid of man these
00:33:56semis on 34 you know they're gonna come flying over and as cold as icy so i just stayed up there
00:34:03and i see the vehicle trying to slow them down
00:34:14this is a lady right here this is a step she has been really great and uh doing the uh uh coordinating
00:34:22so much of the food the help the whole works she's been fantastic i had food coming all morning to my
00:34:28house so my truck was loaded yeah there was not even a question as soon as we heard about we got
00:34:40the email we responded back right away and said yeah count us in we'll help out so when they marched
00:34:46the 38 to be hung you know they marched them to manikato and then after they hung them they buried
00:34:51them in a mass grave and the doctors from the local area they dug up the bodies and used them for science
00:35:02so when we learn that history then then it's really hard
00:35:10so i own all the land back here i'm just curious what is going on i've seen all the trailers here
00:35:26and i grew up minnesota and i had no idea that there had been a hanging of 38 warriors
00:35:32and then the boarding schools of course to try to turn all the indians into white people and their
00:35:41spiritual ceremonies were illegal until 1978. maybe u.s white america will reach or maybe is reaching
00:35:53the point where they can start acknowledging what really happened in this country they can acknowledge
00:36:00the massive land theft three billion acres within the continental united states maybe they cannot
00:36:08acknowledge the broken treaties over 400 of them broken and violated by the united states of america and
00:36:15its u.s euro american citizenry maybe they can acknowledge the genocide that occurred 16 million native
00:36:24people within the continental united states around 1500 and by four centuries later 1900 the u.s bureau of
00:36:33census said there's 237 000 left in the u.s what happened
00:36:40i can feel that there's nothing left to be concealed
00:36:48moving on
00:36:50and there's a reason i'll be
00:37:04i'll keep there's a wisdom in my flesh
00:37:08i'll leave for believing more than i had
00:37:13and there's a reason and there's a reason i'll be
00:37:16a reason i'll be
00:37:18bad
00:37:20as i walk through the hemisphere
00:37:28i got my wish to up and disappear
00:37:32oh i've been wounded i've been healed
00:37:37it's like my brother and i we grew up shaking hands with everybody whether you've seen them last
00:37:52night or you know stick that old black pot there let somebody shake that thing for you you shake it
00:38:00back and when you got love in your heart they feel that love it could be the most bitter
00:38:05and so be there but you know he'll he'll cool off and slow down and like i said we don't discriminate
00:38:14against anybody on this ride anybody's welcome i was always scared to tell people that i loved them
00:38:22and i'm not anymore so um i just want to tell you guys i love you and thank you for being here i know
00:38:33it's hard but um let me know if you need anything i'm more than willing to help the doc yes and
00:38:42something's in there no it's her ankle that one guy said he saw her step in a crack
00:38:48yeah it's her ankle
00:38:50well she ain't gonna make this ride
00:39:06i am you may not know it
00:39:08but because i don't tell very many people but i'm 100 combat related disabled 100
00:39:22jim knows what i'm talking about
00:39:36as a vietnam combat veteran my ptsd really kicked in today it's a post-traumatic stress disorder
00:39:54i'm a hundred percent disabled and the doctors tell me not to be on the horse
00:40:03today it was really kicking in
00:40:19which
00:40:23I'm glad you guys let me be part of this.
00:40:37Oh, let me talk to you.
00:40:53With that wo waka inside those six directions, you place a man or a woman on a horse, you
00:40:59give it the seventh direction, which is the chokata, the center of all things.
00:41:05It represents mitakoyawas, everything is related and balanced, and you put that all together
00:41:13and you move forward, you're able to create power as you go.
00:41:17So that was their justification for going to war.
00:41:25That it was either to defend themselves rather than starve to death.
00:41:33I learned a lot about the 38 plus two because while I was on that ride I could really look
00:41:40into the past while you're sitting on that horse and it makes you realize you have a lot
00:41:45of time to think.
00:41:52...
00:41:52...
00:41:54...
00:41:58Let's do it again.
00:42:00.
00:42:06For I know that he was 20 year old, and when the girl icon believes in well adulterously
00:42:21, those who will not lose their meaning.
00:42:24When woman comes to glory, she comes to me under the roof of a law.
00:42:30My house the woman thinks she took her life.
00:42:35They say that the spirits are the ones that lead the people there in front of that staff.
00:42:58They're the ones taking us through this cold weather.
00:43:02These elements, they say these elements are a part of life.
00:43:05We didn't realize how inspirational this was going to be.
00:43:17If they would bless us by coming back again some year, we would really welcome them.
00:43:23We hope it's an annual event, but we hope the weather's a little bit more cooperative.
00:43:27We will see in the future.
00:43:28Woo hoo.
00:43:59We wanted to put welcome to our farm on it, but we didn't know how to spell it or how
00:44:14to say it.
00:44:15So he came up with the word for thank you.
00:44:19We thought we can park all the vehicles, we have lots of land and we have pasture for
00:44:23the horses and a shop to feed everybody and we just thought it was just a really neat
00:44:28thing you're doing and a good message for the season and something we wanted our kids
00:44:32to experience with all of you and we thought it would be more personal here.
00:44:37So I'm going to sing the song on behalf of my relatives here to honor you today for the
00:44:44grateful thing that you have done for us.
00:44:46I'm going to sing the song.
00:44:55I'm going to go forward.
00:45:02I'm going to go for it.
00:45:32We couldn't even see like I mean the cars couldn't even see the horses were like doing this like faces the winds coming from this way and everybody's going this Julian stops gets out we're shutting it down we're shutting it down everybody gets off their horses they're not room enough in the car I look over there Gus's like truck is and trailer is in a ditch over like things going terribly
00:46:02wrong and it didn't need to happen man it's like it just have a conversation talk about it we have two days of rest the 21st and 22nd today is the 20th right you don't ride today you wait for the storm to pass Saturday and Sunday like you know the weather report said it was going to be horrible and then you ride on the days of rest he hit the ditch back there there's no room for horses yeah you got to make arrangements you're going to haul horses there you know he's going to stop it you got to haul them back
00:46:32I don't know I got to have my horse safe not out in the middle of the road makes complete sense to me but since I'm not involved in this I'm not a leader I can't you are a leader Adam we are all leaders yeah we're all leaders come on that's what that's a great saying and I'd like to believe
00:46:52is that all we're doing here is a lack of communication that's all we have I told you guys when we first started I'm not only the person that had the dream so I try to step back and I try to let these leaders step up
00:47:11and I saw that she got kicked this morning let's see the old girl got kicked by uh chrysosaurus right in the hand right across the knuckles
00:47:41where I come from everybody's mostly still mad and what would happen and you know that's probably another reason why I don't really get along with
00:47:54the Caucasian people
00:47:56it's because of the 38 yeah
00:48:11they rose up to defend themselves starving to death to protect their land their way of life and their people
00:48:33was it wrong to defend ourselves that's the question within weeks 500 whites settlers soldiers and government
00:48:51agents were dead along with a smaller but unknown number of Indians there were pretty horrendous deeds done
00:48:59on both parts I mean some immigrant from Germany who wasn't privy to signing a Traverse to Sioux treaty was probably pretty shocked
00:49:08to see his wife's you know womb cut open a baby taken out and brained against a tree just as later when new owned people
00:49:14attacked the Indians and killed a woman's child in front of her you know there's no heroes here it was just it was an ugly situation
00:49:23when I think about Abraham Lincoln that that's hard to swallow because he freed the slaves but yet really succumbed to pressure from
00:49:36from the people to hang you know there were supposed to be 300 over 300 that were supposed to be executed but he reduced it to 38 you know
00:49:50we say this is a spiritual ride we're gonna be the first ones to ask for forgiveness
00:50:03we want to say our apologies as the natives we want to step up and say hey we apologize
00:50:12so we're gonna be the first ones to forgive what happened when they hung our ancestors in 1862 we're gonna be the first ones to forgive
00:50:23We're gonna be the first ones to forgive
00:50:25we've been picturing a lot of people's childhood
00:50:26we're gonna bevakia
00:50:27we're trying to fix people's Sleep is going to Congress
00:50:29we're gonna be the first ones to be thinking
00:50:42that means the relationship was basically the Žiara
00:50:48the beginning
00:50:51You know, I have anger in my heart, too, and I took care of it the best I can.
00:50:58And I feel like I've done pretty good in the last 10 years, moved forward pretty good,
00:51:03and it's time to let those things go and press forward, you know, in a positive way.
00:51:09You know, Poncho and I are the ones who were
00:51:20interacting with the family, talking with Eli, talking with Taylor, the daughter, she
00:51:24just Facebooked me, talking with Brady, you know, because if we're not talking with them,
00:51:31everybody else, you know, within my opinion of the Native community is doing their own
00:51:36little thing in the corners.
00:51:37Dave said he's never been into a white person's home and he's from Sistan, you know, and that's
00:51:43where all those guys are from, so it's probably hard for them.
00:51:48I know it's hard for them, but those people could not have made it easier, and I'm not
00:51:51saying what they were feeling, but this family, like, they had Wopita for Peace on their shirts
00:51:58with a horse in rainbow letters.
00:52:01It could not have said, like, welcome with their names on the back.
00:52:03I mean, they went to a lot of trouble for this.
00:52:05Yeah.
00:52:06I don't know if they normally walk around with that or they did it for this ride, but they
00:52:09had, you know, the whole thing going.
00:52:12I feel like we let them down a little bit, actually.
00:52:14Yeah.
00:52:15As a community.
00:52:16I don't know, it's just how I always grew up, not having them trust us or thinking we're
00:52:22going to steal something or, you know, something was going to go missing and they were going
00:52:26to blame us, so I didn't really feel comfortable stopping at all those houses.
00:52:31I mean, it's cool that they did that, man.
00:52:34I like that a lot.
00:52:37It's pretty crazy how it all worked out for the horses and for us.
00:52:43What are you doing?
00:52:49Recording.
00:52:50What's your name?
00:52:51Amber.
00:52:52Amber?
00:52:53Are you going to ride Amber?
00:52:55Are you?
00:52:56Are you excited?
00:52:57Yeah.
00:52:58I'm in this group now, so don't be afraid to tell them how you feel because they don't
00:53:03know that, you know?
00:53:04Well, to do it publicly is a big thing.
00:53:07Yeah, but...
00:53:08But now you're part of the group, so...
00:53:11But am I?
00:53:12Do you know what I'm saying?
00:53:13Yeah.
00:53:14I feel like I am, but then it's kind of like, you know, am I?
00:53:28A lot of us are getting sore throats and headaches and stuff.
00:53:38And it's kind of hard to be in this climate if we're not used to it.
00:53:43And I know the Canadians, they don't care.
00:53:44They go around naked.
00:53:45I've seen...
00:53:47I've seen Carl walking down the creek with just a blanket on this morning.
00:53:53He was going to chop a hole in the ice and take a bath, he said.
00:54:00But I think one of our leaders here made some medicine in that container over there.
00:54:06Feel free to get some, especially now when it's really warm.
00:54:11Us guys take medicine as long as we can take it.
00:54:14I mean, I don't want this ride to end.
00:54:28I want to keep this ride going because this is the only time I ever felt happy.
00:54:35Because back home it's really hard and it makes me feel good riding for my people.
00:54:50Our people suffer from something.
00:54:57An elderly woman, a full-blood Dakota from where I'm from in Crow Creek.
00:55:04I was with her one time and a lot of bad things were going on.
00:55:08A lot of bad things.
00:55:10And I had asked her, why does this always happen to us?
00:55:14Why do we do these things to each other?
00:55:16Why does it always happen?
00:55:20And she didn't say nothing.
00:55:21She was driving a car for a while.
00:55:25I looked over at her and she was crying.
00:55:28And she said in her language,
00:55:30Ioki Shicha.
00:55:32A deep embedded genetic depression.
00:55:37See our people at one time, the Dakota people are all Native Americans.
00:55:43Had a very strong connection with the Creator.
00:55:48A very strong connection with Mother Earth.
00:55:52A very strong connection with nature, the forces of nature.
00:55:55All living things on this planet.
00:55:58And all this was taken from us.
00:56:00Like that.
00:56:06And we lost this connection with everything that we had.
00:56:09That's where this depression comes from.
00:56:12A lot of our people are severely depressed.
00:56:15They don't even know it.
00:56:16This depression is just now clinically diagnosed as the same thing soldiers suffer from when they return from combat.
00:56:25Like that, the Imagination Ghosts is a long way to the body and the intelligence.
00:56:31Chapin Street is stillORT-FULLY.
00:56:35It is equally true.
00:56:37You're not alone.
00:56:38Do you have any direct force for this?
00:56:39Look at this!
00:56:40You're not alone.
00:56:41A lot of people do this.
00:56:42You're not alone.
00:56:43You're not alone.
00:56:44It is.
00:56:45You're not alone.
00:56:46You're alone.
00:56:47You're alone.
00:56:48You're alone.
00:56:49You're alone!
00:56:50You're alone.
00:56:51You're alone.
00:56:52You're alone.
00:56:53You're alone.
00:56:54You're alone.
00:56:55In 1967 and 1968 I served in a place called
00:57:25Vietnam.
00:57:26Why you young people don't know where that's at?
00:57:31And at that time I took 38 lives, had no connection, didn't make no connection with Mankato, didn't
00:57:48know about Mankato until I had this dream in 2005.
00:57:55There was 38 that were hung and how does that all tie in?
00:58:03I can't say that I know, I mean I really don't, but he had an experience around the fire,
00:58:12which I'm not going to go into deeply because it's his experience, which clearly showed him
00:58:20some things that he needed to do to release the 38 Vietnamese men that had been killed,
00:58:27you know, killed by him.
00:58:32And all of this was told to him by his mother and his mother passed away when he was 10,
00:58:39but she came out of the fire and told him he needed to do this.
00:58:43I'm kind of an emotional guy.
00:59:08I'm kind of an emotional guy.
00:59:11Those coming down the road, my boarding school days kicked in.
00:59:17My days in Vietnam kicked in, riding into the city.
00:59:23So all of my abandonment issues, the hurts and the pains that I went through coming down
00:59:31the highway this morning, I was wondering what our people went through the day before the
00:59:41hanging.
00:59:42What were their thoughts, their feelings?
00:59:48In the early hours of Friday, the 26th, as the time of the execution approached, some
00:59:57of the Dakota men lay sleeping on the floor.
01:00:01At dawn, many of the condemned men said goodbye to their captors in a display that fascinated
01:00:07the reporters.
01:00:09They shook hands with the officers who came in among them, bidding them goodbye as if they
01:00:14were going on a long and pleasant journey.
01:00:33And they all wanted their medicine man to speak on their behalf.
01:00:37The words are, don't let your heart be sad.
01:00:40We're going to see each other again.
01:00:42And when we see each other again, your heart and my heart's going to be so happy it's going
01:00:46to cry when we come together again.
01:00:48That's what the song says.
01:00:50ALTHOUGH IT'S BEEN SAID MANY TIMES MANY WAYS
01:00:53Although it's been said many times, many ways, Merry Christmas to you.
01:01:24Merry Christmas, guys.
01:01:29It was the day after Christmas when they hung them.
01:01:33You know, that's terrible.
01:01:34That's something very terrible to do during such a sacred time.
01:01:39You know, and those are things that we're slowly trying to wipe away, and it's working.
01:01:45And so the ceremony continues as we eat tonight,
01:01:50get up in the morning and get our horses and have our ceremonies
01:01:56and start our final ride to the hanging site.
01:02:00Start it, okay?
01:02:02Yeah, go ahead.
01:02:03Don't worry about it.
01:02:04For this event, for the memory of the 38 Dakota,
01:02:18not only do we have a horse, a ride, we also have a run.
01:02:24Not only are we remembering, we're honoring our ancestors
01:02:26and those that have passed and struggled before us.
01:02:37It means a lot to me.
01:02:39We're kind of tracing through the footsteps of the 38 Dakota,
01:02:44plus two that had to go through this.
01:02:46So we're kind of, I don't know how to explain it,
01:02:48but we're kind of going back through that experience again.
01:02:51I've always believed in, you know, that they're watching over us,
01:03:02you know, like, you know, it's not just us out there running.
01:03:05So that's just kind of the way I see it.
01:03:08We know our history and it hurts,
01:03:10but we're no longer in that prison no more.
01:03:14Reconciliation means something to everybody.
01:03:16I think it's a collective.
01:03:18And we actually also had the opportunity to catch the run.
01:03:22We ran for two miles at about 3 a.m.,
01:03:25so it's been quite an adventure for the five of us
01:03:28who were there last night.
01:03:29So thank you to the riders, thank you to the runners.
01:03:36Thank you, sister.
01:03:48On that fateful day,
01:03:54they were let out of the prison compound.
01:03:58They were shackled and chained together.
01:04:02They had hoods on them.
01:04:04The women
01:04:07began wailing and weeping.
01:04:10One of the prisoners in a loud voice said,
01:04:12Hear me, my people.
01:04:17Today is not a day
01:04:19of defeat.
01:04:23It is a day of victory.
01:04:25For we have made our peace with our Creator
01:04:27and now go to be with Him forever.
01:04:32Remember this day to tell our children
01:04:33so they can tell their children
01:04:35that we are people who die an old death.
01:04:41Do not mourn for us.
01:04:43Rejoice with us.
01:04:44It's a good day to God.
01:04:45And then he lifted up his voice
01:04:57and began singing.
01:04:59This is a good day.
01:05:21Oh, my God!
01:05:51Amen.
01:06:21I just want to tell all of you that I love you.
01:06:32We're doing this for our children, our grandchildren.
01:06:38And I want to thank all of you that helped me fulfill this dream.
01:06:46It's been a blessing for our people.
01:06:54Fifty-three years ago, I entered first grade,
01:06:59and I was taught nothing but misinformation about the people that preceded me on this land.
01:07:06And it wasn't until the 1980s, when I walked into my first powwow at the Land of Memories,
01:07:12when I realized that I didn't know anything except lies, for the most part.
01:07:19And so I started that day to listen.
01:07:22Whereas the Dakota people lived in unity with the land for many years long before the European people came,
01:07:28and whereas the Dakota people have suffered unimaginable hardship over a long period of time,
01:07:34as the land and riches they once had were gradually removed from their control.
01:07:40And whereas the Dakota people have many times been forcibly relocated at the whim of the United States government,
01:07:46and whereas one outcome of their trials was the largest mass execution ever recorded in U.S. history,
01:07:52during which 38 Dakota were hanged.
01:07:55And whereas the Dakota people have put forth tremendous effort in an attempt to continue to heal from their suffering over all these years.
01:08:04And whereas the people of this community welcome the Dakota people to be part of our community today and always.
01:08:13And whereas the people of this community recognize the responsibility we must bear in this healing process.
01:08:20And whereas the people of this community wish to be part of the healing process as the wounds begin to close.
01:08:28Now therefore, in recognition of the tremendous contribution made by the Dakota people toward that healing process to our community and communities in the region,
01:08:36I, John D. Brady, mayor of the city of Mankato, Minnesota, do hereby proclaim December 26, 2008,
01:08:41to be Dakota Reconciliation Day.
01:08:47And in the sense of true reconciliation, I just want to say, welcome back to your home.
01:08:55I have just one little thing and then I'll let you go.
01:09:11Just a little symbolism of that welcoming.
01:09:14I'm going to also offer Jim a key to the city of Mankato.
01:09:18It's a key that opens no locks, it only opens hearts.
01:09:32Thank you very much.
01:09:36I thank each and every one of you here in this room.
01:09:40I thank the city of Mankato.
01:09:44I hope this opens a jail cell or two.
01:09:47I'm going to pass this staff on.
01:10:05I have two extra feathers for the two Dakota that were hung two years later.
01:10:11And I want to present them to him also.
01:10:16We are going to keep this going.
01:10:19From here, forever.
01:10:22We're going to keep this ride going.
01:10:24There was a bald eagle just after he started singing.
01:10:30It was soaring just above us there.
01:10:33To see that, to see something like that would make you cry.
01:10:45Make any man cry to see something like that happening.
01:10:48Because this is real.
01:10:52It's not going to end for me.
01:10:53I'm just going to keep the happiness with me.
01:10:56You know, I'm not going to like, once this ride ends, I ain't going to leave my emotions right there and just go back home to what I was doing.
01:11:04You know, I'm going to take it with me.
01:11:06It's going to come home with me.
01:11:08We've got to strive for that reconciliation.
01:11:13Let's go home and reconcile our families, our differences.
01:11:19Let's go home and hug our children.
01:11:22Tell them that we love them.
01:11:24we'll Hana for a while
01:11:26And they keep that duper.
01:11:27Let's go home and veoies.
01:11:29We also have our friends.
01:11:32We also haveiviakanencure.
01:11:33We actually have showndest New Vang nation in pulses.
01:11:36Let's go home and see Economic Son.
01:11:38We wish their sister to join us.
01:11:39There are people, suppliers and уб Ils Dawn Chelsea rich.
01:11:43This is secure.
01:11:44We just do formats for black girls.
01:11:48Here we will be with the dollar.