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Short filmTranscript
00:00:00Let's all pray. We came this far. Some beautiful people and they prayed. So let's all pray
00:00:25together as a family.
00:00:51These writers they come from all over
00:00:53Canada, Montana, Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota. There's even a guy here
00:00:59from Austria. It's from all over the world. These writers come. And that's the point.
00:01:06That's what we're trying to do here is we're trying to reconcile, unite, make peace with
00:01:11everyone. Because that's what it means to be Dakota. To be Dakota means to walk in peace
00:01:19and harmony with every living thing. That is our way. This ride came through a vision
00:01:28of a man by the name of Jim Miller. And in that vision, he saw writers going east. We're
00:01:34going home. That's what we're doing. We're going home.
00:01:38In 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.
00:02:38I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do.
00:02:46I don't know what to do. I don't know what to do.
00:02:58St. Paul Pioneer Press, 1863.
00:03:02Good news for Indian hunters. The Indian hunting trade, if the game be at all plenty, is likely
00:03:08to prove a profitable investment during the present fall and winter for our hunters and
00:03:13scouts in the big woods. Having increased the bounty for each top knot of a bloody heathen
00:03:18to $200, there is likely to be considerable competition in the trade, and the best shots
00:03:24will carry off the most prizes.
00:03:32Christmas is coming.
00:03:40I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
00:03:49May God bless you all.
00:04:02May God bless you all.
00:04:08With settlers encroaching on us, they push us onto a little bitty strip of land along
00:04:13the river. All of our people were put there and were not allowed to leave or hunt.
00:04:18The Indians could not leave the reservation. If they left without permission, they would
00:04:28be considered hostile and could be shot on sight.
00:04:34They were supposed to be given rations, given the treaty, but people get greedy. That's
00:04:39how they call them, washichu. They started skimming off the rations and pretty soon they
00:04:44were starving them. When they were starving them, that's when this trader said, well,
00:04:48let them eat grass. And so they revolted. And the fight occurred and many were killed.
00:04:55It was a very short war. It only lasted a few months. When it was over, President Abraham
00:05:03Lincoln hung 38 of our leaders at one time, one pull of the lever, which is today the
00:05:11largest mass execution the government has ever carried out.
00:05:25My great-great-grandfather's waxwolf owl tail was hung that day. Those of us that are
00:05:38on this ride descend from them 38 that were hanged.
00:05:54My great-great-grandfather's waxwolf owl tail was hung that day.
00:05:58We'll never be able to feel what he felt, but we understand he was a spiritual man and
00:06:27he cared a lot about his people. And I think if he was alive, he would have did the same
00:06:32thing. To remember, he would have wanted to acknowledge the ancestors in a spiritual way.
00:06:39And 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. There's something about that ride that pulls you to
00:06:51it. You want to get on a horse and help out. You feel pain in your ribs, your back, your
00:06:57legs. You get cold. We've been through blizzards. A lot of times, if you don't own a horse,
00:07:03you end up on the horse that nobody wants to ride, so that's a sacrifice in itself.
00:07:21I just want to tell everybody here that I love you very much. We don't have to blame
00:07:36the Washichos anymore. We're doing it to ourselves. We're selling drugs. We're killing our own
00:07:46people. And that's what this ride's about. It's healing.
00:08:16We were exiled from Minnesota by an order of the government which stated to annihilate
00:08:46the Indian race or forever push us from the borders of Minnesota. And that's what happened.
00:08:52Thousands and thousands of our people were slaughtered, froze to death, starved to death.
00:08:57Disease took a lot of our people also. A lot of them were marched on foot. Some were brought
00:09:04on cattle trains. Got down to St. Louis, they put us on riverboats and they were brought
00:09:11up the river to where we presently are now at Crow Creek, which was at that time a prisoner
00:09:16of war camp. From there, our people scattered to the four directions.
00:09:23Some of them, you know, would jump off their boats and just drown themselves and they couldn't
00:09:29deal with the hardships. And so it was a horrible thing. They thought it was the end of the
00:09:34world coming here. They had no more hope. And so for us, this journey back, this ride
00:09:40back is taking their spirits back, taking it home to the homeland.
00:09:46We're going to show up in Mankato at the hanging site on December 26th at 10 a.m., which is
00:09:51the anniversary of them 38 that were hanged.
00:09:57When you have dreams, you know when they come from the creator. You just know it.
00:10:10And I always know when it's a significant dream because he says, I've got to tell you
00:10:14this, you know. And so he gets up and he says, I got to tell you this. And I don't know what
00:10:19it means, but and he started telling, telling me he was being directed to make these offerings
00:10:28around the horse. The horse would carry these offerings and that these offerings were for
00:10:36all of the men that were hung in Mankato.
00:10:41Didn't know about Mankato till I had this dream in 2005.
00:10:48In his dream, he's seen all these, the 38 basically being hung at the same time and
00:10:54they were all reaching out, holding each other's arms.
00:10:58Our ancestry starts over there in Mankato. So keep that in your hearts. Keep that in
00:11:17your minds as we travel.
00:11:23So I love you guys very much. I'm a real easy man to talk to. I'm kind of a quiet guy. I
00:11:33pretty much keep to myself. But any atrocity that happened to you, any of you, it happened
00:11:42to me. I was sexually abused, physically abused, spiritually abused, emotionally abused. I
00:11:52have blood on my hands. I'm a Vietnam veteran. I spent time in Leavenworth. So I've been,
00:12:03I've been through the course. Any of you need to talk to me, call me a sign. We're all equal
00:12:12in this room. Nobody's higher or better than anybody. We're all equal. So let's have a real
00:12:23beautiful ride. We got a long haul ahead of us. I never did this before. I don't know what I
00:12:31like to expect in the next 16 days. But you do. You're my family.
00:12:49This horse has the six directions that we use in our ceremonies. The two front legs represent the
00:12:55west and the north. The two back legs represent the east and the south. The head points up. The
00:13:01ears point up. Represents Wakatake. Up above, the tail points downwards towards Mother Earth.
00:13:10When you put those six directions together, it creates a sacred center to bring Wowakan in. It's
00:13:18a sacredness that you can only have with these six directions. And you can pray while you're on
00:13:23your horse. You can think about a lot of things. Some people can remember things that ancestors
00:13:29went through. It's the horse leading the way because of its healing power.
00:13:53It feels good to walk in their steps and be on the land where they were. It's a completely
00:14:14different energy around here. I feel it. I feel like a different person now that I came here.
00:14:23Today, we're riding because of a healing that we need to continue.
00:14:38The reservation where I'm from is the poorest county in the United States with an average household
00:14:44income of $5,000 per year. We also have one of the highest suicide rates in the world. There is
00:14:52something that we suffer from.
00:15:00So basically, I'm riding for my family because they need help. I already lost my oldest brother.
00:15:12He passed away four years ago. And two of my other brothers are sitting in jail. My family is
00:15:20slowly falling apart and this is why I'm doing this for them. And now my little brother, he's getting
00:15:28sent away. I wanted to go see him before he gets sent away next year. But I came here and I don't
00:15:42regret coming here. So all I can say is I'm honored to be on this ride. And I thank you for listening to me.
00:16:04It's just not for our Dakota people, but everybody involved. So if you have horses or you want to be a
00:16:09part of the ride, I mean, come join us. This is our family and we want you guys to be a part of it. So thank you.
00:16:20I didn't know Mankato, like 38 Native Americans were hung here. I had no idea about that. I'm not Native American,
00:16:27but my mom's like Native Canadian and up there. So just having a little bit of that in me and hearing this,
00:16:35really means a lot. So, thank you.
00:16:42It was pretty good talking to them, letting them know our side of the story. And not what just came out of some book
00:16:49that some dude wrote. Coming from the real thing and from the people that are experiencing it. Yeah, it was pretty good.
00:17:00It was a pretty good ride.
00:17:04That's probably the burnt burger and the doughy pizza.
00:17:08No, that's just a joke.
00:17:11And I really don't associate with Caucasian people. I don't know why, it's just, I don't know, I never really.
00:17:19I used to, like when I was little, I had different races of friends when I was little.
00:17:24Like, we might as well just put it on the table, too, because it's the truth and it's the only way that we're going to be able to come together.
00:17:32My people and me, and we've talked about this, there's a lot of racism.
00:17:37And I'm willing to say, yeah, I have some racist moments where I think, oh, okay, they just did that because they're a white guy.
00:17:45Or they're not going to get it because they're white. They're just not.
00:17:49I was feeling like I didn't want to be a part of this anymore.
00:17:53Because I was feeling like everybody was talking to me as, like, Dakota Sarah.
00:17:58Like, oh, well, like, you know, like, you're Dakota first.
00:18:01So I'm going to ask everything, all my questions based on your race.
00:18:07You have to understand there's a certain amount of curiosity coming into a situation.
00:18:11I mean, if someone from Africa came to me, they would have a million questions, I'm sure, about Adam the white guy, the Italian kid from Long Island.
00:18:20So the fact that the questions are getting directed at me makes me feel like, oh, Adam was the only one who was asking questions, the only one who didn't come from the heart.
00:19:20It's going to be warm here in the next couple of days. It's going to be real cold.
00:19:25Real cold.
00:19:28The forecast this morning said Saturday, Sunday, Monday, blizzard warnings.
00:19:39Not much to say.
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, golden rims.
00:20:03I got pinched out here.
00:20:06Does she know the price in there? How much a tire was?
00:20:10Just, hey, just don't worry about it.
00:20:13Oh, come on now. I got to give you something.
00:20:17Don't worry about it.
00:20:18You sure?
00:20:19Yeah.
00:20:20Appreciate it. I really appreciate it.
00:20:22Yeah.
00:20:23I wouldn't be so generous, but I just watched that movie Pay It Forward, so.
00:20:27Oh.
00:20:32I wish more of this country was that way.
00:20:34Yeah.
00:20:35Needs to go back to that.
00:20:36Yeah.
00:20:37Yeah, definitely.
00:20:39We've got too many people that are worried about the dollar instead of helping the human being.
00:20:44Exactly. Exactly.
00:20:46I'm getting back in there. I better go.
00:20:48Yeah.
00:20:49I'll just fill that up and I'll come back out and shut that water off.
00:20:53Okay.
00:21:09Okay.
00:21:35Extreme conditions for much of the West
00:21:38as we go through the next several days.
00:21:39Let's get into this bitterly cold Arctic air.
00:21:41Don't forget there'll be a wind chill factor up and through here.
00:21:44I'm running behind you.
00:21:58Some people have loaded their horses here already.
00:22:00Yeah.
00:22:01This isn't where the horses are supposed to be today.
00:22:03Yeah.
00:22:04We didn't get permission to do that.
00:22:06Well, they accept us.
00:22:08This Jim.
00:22:10Jim.
00:22:12I think it's his name.
00:22:13Jim.
00:22:14Yeah, he's the county extension agent that I've been talking to.
00:22:17So he's here?
00:22:18He was here.
00:22:19He gave me this key.
00:22:20Okay, that's good enough.
00:22:21To water.
00:22:22Good enough.
00:22:33Go on.
00:22:34Go on.
00:22:36Okay, 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.
00:22:44And it made me feel uncomfortable because, like, in the back of my head,
00:22:47I always, you know, look 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 was growing up.
00:22:58How much did you ride today, man?
00:23:00About, I don't know, 30, 40 miles.
00:23:05How are you feeling?
00:23:06Sore.
00:23:08What do you guys think of the horses?
00:23:10They're nice, but they hurt your butts.
00:23:12They hurt your butts.
00:23:14Yeah?
00:23:15Are you recording it?
00:23:17Yeah, man, you're on tape.
00:23:19Hi.
00:23:24Can I ride it?
00:23:27How can you get up there?
00:23:28How can you get up?
00:23:32I sure can't.
00:23:34Sorry.
00:23:35I'm not big enough to.
00:23:54For me, I love each of you.
00:23:56These little guys here, we're doing that for them.
00:24:00Our culture is one of...
00:24:06Oral.
00:24:07Everything's passed down to us.
00:24:11Riding across there today, I was crying coming.
00:24:16I wonder what my relatives endured when they came down on the boat.
00:24:22When we were taken off the boat, our first homeland in 1863,
00:24:26our first home was the Stockade.
00:24:30When Sitting Bull heard about that as a young man,
00:24:33he came on horseback to see how the people were being treated.
00:24:37And they were being treated worse than animals, I said,
00:24:40and that's why he stood his ground like that.
00:24:45These people call me today.
00:24:47There was two ceremonies that were going on back home
00:24:50called the Uipis.
00:24:53They said that crazy horse in Sitting Bull is riding with us.
00:24:59That means a lot to me.
00:25:17I went out with a regular pair of gloves
00:25:19and was out there about 15 minutes,
00:25:21and my hands started to get frostbite.
00:25:24I saw the weather report.
00:25:26It said 45 below, 50 mile-an-hour winds.
00:25:28It said you're taking your life in your own hands if you're on the road.
00:25:32The last time I walked with people, men and women like this,
00:25:39I was in a Marine Corps.
00:25:41When they came down on the boat,
00:25:43they were being treated worse than animals.
00:25:45When Sitting Bull heard about that as a young man,
00:25:47he came on horseback to see how the people are being treated worse than animals.
00:25:50That means a lot to me.
00:25:52The last time I walked with people, men and women like this, I was in a Marine Corps.
00:26:03Yesterday, you know that bad blizzard?
00:26:07These riders wanted to go.
00:26:09They saddled up, they warmed their horses up, we couldn't even see 50 yards, cold.
00:26:17And they still wanted to ride to make this trip.
00:26:25That's how important this is to us.
00:26:29So if you don't mind, we're going to just kind of wait this out.
00:26:32Yeah.
00:26:33And then, you know, if it gets really bad, we got that Quonset, you know, we can put
00:26:35the horses in there.
00:26:36There's quite a bit of room in there.
00:26:37Can we take a look?
00:26:38Yeah.
00:26:39Okay.
00:26:40Let's go do that.
00:26:41Okay.
00:26:42So let's get some panels and panel this off, okay?
00:26:43Okay.
00:26:44It's a little bit flawed.
00:26:45Yeah.
00:26:46Yeah.
00:26:47Yeah.
00:26:48Yeah.
00:26:49Yeah.
00:26:50Yeah.
00:26:51Yeah.
00:26:52We got the horses in the Quonset, and so I came back home.
00:27:17And then I'd say it was like 4 o'clock or something.
00:27:20Yeah.
00:27:21It was late afternoon.
00:27:23And Jerry called and said, you know, where can we go to buy hay because the horses need
00:27:28hay?
00:27:29You know, I don't know where I'd send you.
00:27:30I know a lot of guys have got hay, but I don't think you can get there.
00:27:33But I said, you know, why don't I'll try.
00:27:36When he came back to the door and he was all full of snow, and I said, what happened?
00:27:40He said, we've got to get the tractor going because I'm stuck up here in the ditch.
00:27:45He said, I didn't even make the corner.
00:27:46I thought, oh my God, if it's that bad, why are you even out?
00:27:51She gets me out, and I tell her, you know, you just need to take the tractor, go home.
00:27:57Then I take off west, and it's terrible.
00:28:00You know, again, I can't see anything.
00:28:03There's drifts on the road, and all of a sudden, I'm right in a ditch again.
00:28:07And this is over a mile from home.
00:28:10And he called me, and he said, how are you doing?
00:28:13And I said, not very good right now.
00:28:16I said, I'm in a ditch.
00:28:18He said, what?
00:28:19I said, yep, I ran in a ditch trying to get to town.
00:28:23It's crazy, man.
00:28:24It's like, holy, I never really thought of those people doing something like that, you know?
00:28:31She went out in the tractor and found him somehow in that blizzard.
00:28:37You almost can't top that as far as support or commitment to what we're doing.
00:28:50All the way from Marty, South Dakota.
00:28:55Do we have any Choctaws in the house?
00:28:57Follow me, Mark.
00:28:58Follow me, Ron.
00:29:00Whenever I'm away from you, I always get these lovesick blues.
00:29:06Never ever leave me, but I always want you.
00:29:11Woo!
00:29:12Woo!
00:29:13Woo!
00:29:14Woo!
00:29:15Look it, they're taking off!
00:29:18Wow!
00:29:19Holy!
00:29:20All my brothers.
00:29:22Holy!
00:29:23All my brothers.
00:29:52We come with a message of forgiveness and healing.
00:29:58And we all got to share this planet together.
00:30:01Well, that's the purpose of your ride, is to have some reconciliation.
00:30:06You think that's already happening, maybe, in some ways.
00:30:09Oh, no doubt.
00:30:10I had an outpouring of support and love.
00:30:13Westington Springs, they end that holiday.
00:30:16So I give my blessings to them and we pray for them.
00:30:19Thank you very much.
00:30:20Appreciate it.
00:30:22That was wonderful.
00:30:23We'll get that microphone if you do, and we'll let you.
00:30:27Thanks a lot.
00:30:28That was good.
00:30:29You did a good job.
00:30:32I love you guys, and you guys have a good day.
00:30:36Oh, you as well.
00:30:38We'll be around.
00:30:39We've got lots of good pictures to get here today.
00:30:41Okay, thank you.
00:30:42You bet.
00:30:43Have a safe ride.
00:30:44You bet, I will.
00:30:45Yeah, this is awesome.
00:30:48To hear someone who's not angry at all and says, you know, this is about forgiveness.
00:30:53Wow, not what I expected.
00:30:56There's a lot of racism in this state.
00:30:58There are a lot of people that are against it and kind of don't make any bones about it.
00:31:06It'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.
00:31:12Get to know your history because we are an awesome people, and you guys should be so proud of that.
00:31:27And I was in an eight-by-five cell, and it was hard.
00:31:31It was really hard.
00:31:33I shed some tears in there.
00:31:34They say men don't cry, but we do.
00:31:38It takes a real man to cry.
00:31:44The reason why I'm doing this journey is so I can maybe help one of you in this room today.
00:31:50Because our people are lost, and it's up to us to keep our language and our culture alive.
00:31:55We have to be the leaders because we're the next generation, and it's up to us.
00:32:01If not, our culture is gone.
00:32:02Our language is gone.
00:32:04And the wakaija, the youth, the next generation, they'll be lost.
00:32:08They'll have nothing to turn to.
00:32:10On November 26th, I celebrated a year of drugs and alcohol.
00:32:14I ain't going to lie, sometimes I feel like using.
00:32:17I get all my old buddies back home and say,
00:32:20Oh, come on, have a beer with us.
00:32:22Let's go get high.
00:32:23I got this joint.
00:32:26But I choose to pray and go to sweat lodges.
00:32:29During the summertime, we attend sun dances.
00:32:32It's hard growing up where I'm from.
00:32:34Pine Ridge is a hard place to live.
00:32:36It's a poverty plains, but we choose to live like that.
00:32:40Now, me riding is to hopefully make a change for our youth
00:32:44so that they won't have to grow up in a society that we grew up in today.
00:32:47♪♪♪
00:32:57Knock, knock.
00:32:58I got caught speeding, and he left me behind.
00:33:06They turned the lights on him, so I drove around.
00:33:13Went in the trees and barked.
00:33:19Any suggestions from life here, boss?
00:33:25My main concern is, like, hey.
00:33:31What's next in Canada?
00:33:36Again, for my family from here, you know, it's good to see everybody in.
00:33:41My main thing was to see you guys laughing, fed, and all that stuff like that.
00:33:46So, you know, I extend my thanks.
00:33:50You guys are coming over this hill down here, but it's a little town easy.
00:33:53That was what I got afraid of.
00:33:56Man, these semis on 34, you know, they're going to come flying over,
00:34:00and it's cold and icy.
00:34:02So I just stayed up there, and I see vehicles, try to slow them down.
00:34:08Hello.
00:34:10This is a lady right here.
00:34:11This is a Steph.
00:34:12She has been really great in doing the coordinating so much of the food,
00:34:19the help, the whole works.
00:34:21She's been fantastic.
00:34:22I had food coming all morning to my house, so my truck was loaded.
00:34:28Yeah, there was not even a question.
00:34:30As soon as we heard about it, we got the e-mail, and we responded back right away
00:34:33and said, yeah, count us in.
00:34:35We'll help out.
00:34:37When they marched the 38 to be hung, you know, they marched them to Manikato,
00:34:41and then after they hung them, they buried them in a mass grave,
00:34:44and the doctors from the local area, they dug up the bodies and used them for science.
00:34:50So when we learn that history, then it's really hard.
00:34:54I own all the land back here.
00:34:56I'm just curious what is going on, and it seems like a lot of people live there.
00:35:00And then, sometimes, there's a lot of people in the city,
00:35:02and they come in and they dig up the bodies after the mass grave there,
00:35:07and then they bury them in Manikato.
00:35:09That's a really big problem, and I'm sure a lot of us have seen that happen,
00:35:14and it's really scary.
00:35:15It's really hard to imagine.
00:35:17The biggest problem with food, the food is very small.
00:35:20I own all the land back here. I'm just curious what is going on. I've seen all the trailers here.
00:35:25I grew up in 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.
00:35:40Their spiritual ceremonies were illegal until 1978.
00:35:45Maybe U.S. white America will reach, or maybe is reaching,
00:35:52the point where they can start acknowledging what really happened in this country.
00:35:59They can acknowledge the massive land theft, 3 billion acres within the continental United States.
00:36:06Maybe they can acknowledge the broken treaties, over 400 of them broken and violated
00:36:13by the United States of America and its U.S. Euro-American citizenry.
00:36:18Maybe they can acknowledge the genocide that occurred,
00:36:2316 million Native people within the continental United States around 1500.
00:36:29And by four centuries later, 1900, the U.S. Bureau of Census said there was 237,000 left in the U.S.
00:36:39What happened?
00:36:42I can feel that there's nothing left to be concealed
00:36:48Moving on, I seem surreal
00:36:53No, my heart will never, will never be far from here
00:36:59Sure as I am breathing, sure as I'm sad
00:37:04I'll keep this wisdom in my flesh
00:37:08I'll leave here believing more than I had
00:37:12And there's a reason I'll be, a reason I'll be back
00:37:24As I walk the hemisphere
00:37:28I got my wish to up and disappear
00:37:33I've been wounded, I've been healed
00:37:38Now for landing I've been, landing I've been feelin'
00:37:44Sure as I am breathing, sure as I'm sad
00:37:48It's like my brother and I, we grew up shaking hands with everybody.
00:37:51Whether you seen them last night or, you know, stick that old black paw out there.
00:37:56Let somebody shake that thing for you, you shake it back.
00:38:01And when you got love in your heart, they feel that love.
00:38:04It could be the most bitter S.O.B. there, but you know, he'll cool off and slow down.
00:38:12Like I said, we don't discriminate against anybody on this ride.
00:38:16Anybody's welcome.
00:38:18I was always scared to tell people that I loved them, and I'm not anymore.
00:38:26So, I just want to tell you guys I love you, and thank you for being here.
00:38:33I know it's hard, but let me know if you need anything.
00:38:36I'm more than willing to help.
00:38:38Mdakia Asin
00:38:42There's something in there.
00:38:43No, it's her ankle.
00:38:45That one guy said he saw her step in a crack.
00:38:48Yeah.
00:38:49It's her ankle.
00:38:57Well, she ain't gonna make this ride.
00:39:04I am, you may not know it, because I don't tell very many people,
00:39:12but I'm 100% combat-related disabled.
00:39:18100%.
00:39:29Jim knows what I'm talking about.
00:39:34Come on!
00:39:46As a Vietnam combat veteran, my PTSD really kicked in today.
00:39:52It's a post-traumatic stress disorder.
00:39:56I'm 100% disabled,
00:40:00and the doctors tell me not to be on the horse.
00:40:05Today, it's really kicking in.
00:40:31I'm glad you guys let me be part of this.
00:40:36Mdakia Asin
00:40:40Mdakia Asin
00:40:53With that wowa coming inside those six directions,
00:40:56you place a man or a woman on a horse,
00:40:59you give it the seventh direction,
00:41:01which is the chokata, the center of all things.
00:41:05It represents Mdakia Asin.
00:41:08Everything is related and balanced,
00:41:11and you put that all together, and you move forward.
00:41:14You're able to create power as you go.
00:41:19So 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 2
00:41:37because while I was on that ride, I could really look into the past.
00:41:42While you're sitting on that horse,
00:41:44it makes you realize you have a lot of time to think.
00:42:03Mdakia Asin
00:42:06Mdakia Asin
00:42:33Mdakia Asin
00:42:53They say that the spirits are the ones that lead the people.
00:42:56They are in front of that staff.
00:42:58They're the ones taking us through this cold weather.
00:43:02They say these elements are a part of life.
00:43:13We didn't realize how inspirational this was going to be.
00:43:17If they would bless us by coming back again some year,
00:43:20we would really welcome them.
00:43:22We hope it's an annual event,
00:43:24but we hope the weather is a little bit more cooperative.
00:43:32Mdakia Asin
00:43:35Mdakia Asin
00:43:38Mdakia Asin
00:43:41Mdakia Asin
00:43:44Mdakia Asin
00:43:47Mdakia Asin
00:43:50Mdakia Asin
00:43:53Mdakia Asin
00:44:02Mdakia Asin
00:44:05Mdakia Asin
00:44:08We wanted to put Welcome to Our Farm on it,
00:44:11but we didn't know how to spell it or how to say it.
00:44:14So he came up with the word for thank you.
00:44:17We thought we can park all the vehicles.
00:44:20We have lots of land, and we have pasture for the horses
00:44:23and a shop to feed everybody.
00:44:25We just thought it was just a really neat thing you're doing
00:44:28and a good message for the season
00:44:30and something we wanted our kids to experience with all of you,
00:44:34and we thought it would be more personal here.
00:44:37I'm going to sing this song on behalf of my relative here
00:44:41to honor you today for this grateful thing that you have done for us.
00:44:46Ya-hey-oh-hey-oh-hey-hey
00:44:51Ya-hey-oh-hey-oh-hey-hey
00:44:55Ya-hey-oh-hey-oh-hey-hey
00:44:59Ya-hey-oh-hey-oh-hey-hey
00:45:02Ya-hey-oh-hey-oh-hey-hey
00:45:05Ya-hey-oh-hey-oh-hey-hey
00:45:08Ya-hey-oh-hey-oh-hey-hey
00:45:11Ya-hey-oh-hey-oh-hey-hey
00:45:14Ya-hey-oh-hey-oh-hey-hey
00:45:17Ya-hey-oh-hey-oh-hey-hey
00:45:20Ya-hey-oh-hey-oh-hey-hey
00:45:23Ya-hey-oh-hey-oh-hey-hey
00:45:26Ya-hey-oh-hey-oh-hey-hey
00:45:29Ya-hey-oh-hey-oh-hey-hey
00:45:32Ya-hey-oh-hey-oh-hey-hey
00:45:35Ya-hey-oh-hey-oh-hey-hey
00:45:39CrankGus
00:45:42We couldn't even see.
00:45:44I mean, the cars couldn't even see.
00:45:45The horses were, like, doing this.
00:45:47The wind's coming from this way
00:45:49and everybody's going this.
00:45:50Julian stops, gets out.
00:45:51We're shutting it down.
00:45:52Everybody gets off their horses.
00:45:53There's not room enough in the car.
00:45:55I look over.
00:45:56Gus's truck and trailer is in a ditch, over.
00:46:00Things going terribly wrong.
00:46:02And it didn't need to happen, man.
00:46:05It's just...
00:46:06You have to have a conversation, talk about it.
00:46:08We have two days of rest, the 21st and the 22nd.
00:46:10Today is the 20th, right?
00:46:13You don't ride today.
00:46:14You wait for the storm to pass, Saturday and Sunday,
00:46:16like, you know, the weather report said
00:46:18it was gonna be horrible,
00:46:19and then you ride on the days of rest.
00:46:21He hit the ditch back there.
00:46:23There's no room for horses.
00:46:25Yeah, you gotta make arrangements.
00:46:26You cannot haul horses there.
00:46:28You know, he's gonna stop it.
00:46:29You gotta haul him back.
00:46:31Shit, man.
00:46:32You just stop, stop.
00:46:33We keep on riding. Jesse, what are you gonna do?
00:46:35I don't know.
00:46:36I gotta have my horse safe.
00:46:38Not out in the middle of the road.
00:46:40Makes complete sense to me,
00:46:41but since I'm not involved in this,
00:46:43I'm not a leader, I can't-
00:46:44You are a leader, Adam.
00:46:46We are all leaders.
00:46:47Yeah, we're all leaders.
00:46:48Come on, that's a great saying,
00:46:50and I'd like to believe that.
00:46:53All we're doing here is a lack of communication.
00:46:56That's all we have.
00:46:59I told you guys when we first started,
00:47:01I'm not only the person that had the dream,
00:47:05so I try to step back,
00:47:07and I try to let these leaders step up.
00:47:18Could've made it easier.
00:47:19He's pretty much taken on Nathan.
00:47:21Yeah, they knew this.
00:47:22I've seen some lines, too.
00:47:26This girl got kicked.
00:47:28I saw that.
00:47:29She got kicked this morning.
00:47:31The little girl got kicked by Chris's wife.
00:47:36Right in the hand, right across the knuckles.
00:47:42Where I come from, everybody's mostly still mad
00:47:45about what happened, and that's probably another reason
00:47:51why I don't really get along with the Caucasian people.
00:47:56It's because of the 38?
00:47:58Yeah.
00:48:01Yeah.
00:48:22They rose up to defend themselves,
00:48:26starving to death, to protect their land,
00:48:31their way of life, and their people.
00:48:36Was it wrong to defend ourselves?
00:48:43That's the question.
00:48:46Within weeks, 500 whites, settlers, soldiers,
00:48:50and government agents were dead,
00:48:53along with a smaller but unknown number of Indians.
00:48:57There were pretty horrendous deeds done on both parts.
00:49:00I mean, some immigrant from Germany
00:49:04who wasn't privy to the signing of Traverse to Sioux Treaty
00:49:07was probably pretty shocked to see his wife's womb
00:49:10cut open, a baby taken out, and brained against a tree,
00:49:13just as later when New Ulm people attacked the Indians
00:49:16and killed a woman's child in front of her.
00:49:19You know, there's no heroes here.
00:49:21It was just, it was an ugly situation.
00:49:24When I think about Abraham Lincoln,
00:49:27that's hard to swallow, because he freed the slaves,
00:49:32but yet really succumbed to pressure
00:49:35from the people to hang, you know.
00:49:39There were supposed to be 300,
00:49:41over 300 that were supposed to be executed,
00:49:46but he reduced it to 38, you know.
00:49:50We say this is a spiritual ride.
00:49:52We're going to be the first ones to ask for forgiveness.
00:50:00We want to say our apologies as the Natives.
00:50:04We want to step up and say, hey, we apologize.
00:50:09So we're going to be the first ones to forgive what happened
00:50:13when they hung our ancestors in 1862.
00:50:17We're going to be the first ones to forgive.
00:50:20♪♪♪
00:50:30♪♪♪
00:50:41♪♪♪
00:50:47♪♪♪
00:50:54You know, I have anger in my heart, too,
00:50:56and 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,
00:51:02moved forward pretty good,
00:51:04and it's time to let those things go
00:51:07and press forward, you know, in a positive way.
00:51:11♪♪♪
00:51:19You know, Poncho and I are the ones
00:51:21who are interacting with the family,
00:51:23talking with Eli, talking with Taylor,
00:51:25the daughter she just Facebooked me,
00:51:27talking with Brady, you know,
00:51:29because if we're not talking with them,
00:51:31everybody else, you know, within my opinion
00:51:33of the Native community,
00:51:35is doing their own little thing in the corners.
00:51:38Dave said he's never been into a white person's home,
00:51:40and he's from Sistin, you know?
00:51:42And that's where all those guys are from.
00:51:44I...
00:51:46So it's probably hard for them.
00:51:48I know it's hard for them, but those people
00:51:50could not have made it easier.
00:51:52And I'm not saying what they were feeling,
00:51:54but this family, like, they had
00:51:56Wopita for Peace on their shirts
00:51:58with a horse in rainbow letters.
00:52:00It could not have said, like,
00:52:02welcome with their names on the back.
00:52:04I mean, they went to a lot of trouble for this.
00:52:06They didn't normally walk around with that,
00:52:08or they did it for this ride,
00:52:10but they had, you know, the whole...
00:52:12they had the whole thing going.
00:52:14I feel like we let them down a little bit, actually,
00:52:16as a community.
00:52:18I don't know, it's just how I grew up.
00:52:20Not having them trust us,
00:52:22or thinking we were going to steal something,
00:52:24or, you know, something was going to go missing
00:52:26and they were going to blame us.
00:52:28So I didn't really feel comfortable
00:52:30stopping at all those houses.
00:52:32I mean, it's cool that they did that, man.
00:52:35It's pretty crazy how it all worked out
00:52:37for the horses and for us.
00:52:45What are you doing?
00:52:47Recording.
00:52:49What's your name?
00:52:51Amber.
00:52:53Are you going to ride, Amber?
00:52:55Are you? Are you excited?
00:52:57Yeah.
00:52:59You're a part of this group now,
00:53:01so, like, don't be afraid to tell them how you feel,
00:53:03to, like, do it publicly
00:53:05is a big...
00:53:07is a big thing.
00:53:09But now you're part of the group, so...
00:53:11But am I?
00:53:13Do you know what I'm saying?
00:53:15I feel like I am, but then...
00:53:17it's kind of like,
00:53:19you know,
00:53:21am I?
00:53:33A lot of us
00:53:35are getting sore throats
00:53:37and headaches and stuff
00:53:39and it's kind of hard
00:53:41to be in this climate
00:53:43if we're not used to it.
00:53:45And I know the Canadians,
00:53:47they don't care.
00:53:49They go around naked.
00:53:51I seen Carl walking down the creek
00:53:53with just a blanket on this morning.
00:53:55He was going to chop a hole in the ice
00:53:57and take a bath, he said.
00:53:59But I think
00:54:01one of our leaders here made
00:54:03some medicine in that container over there.
00:54:05Feel free to
00:54:07get some, especially now when it's really warm.
00:54:09That's...
00:54:11Us guys take medicine as high as we can
00:54:13take it.
00:54:17Get some more in.
00:54:26I mean, I don't want this ride to end.
00:54:28I want to keep this ride going
00:54:31because this is the only time I ever felt
00:54:33happy
00:54:35because back home
00:54:37it's really hard
00:54:39and it makes me feel good riding
00:54:41for my people.
00:54:49Our people
00:54:53suffer from something.
00:54:57An elderly woman
00:54:59of full-blood Dakota
00:55:01from where I'm from in Crow Creek
00:55:03I was with her one time
00:55:05and a lot of bad things
00:55:07were going on.
00:55:09A lot of bad things.
00:55:11And I had asked her,
00:55:13why does this always happen to us?
00:55:15Why do we do these things to each other?
00:55:17Why does it always happen?
00:55:19And she didn't say nothing.
00:55:21She was driving a car
00:55:23for a while.
00:55:25I looked over at her
00:55:28and she said in her language
00:55:30Ioki Shicha
00:55:34A deep, embedded
00:55:36genetic depression.
00:55:38See, our people
00:55:40at one time, the Dakota people
00:55:42all Native Americans
00:55:44had a very strong connection
00:55:46with the Creator.
00:55:48A very strong connection with
00:55:50Mother Earth.
00:55:52A very strong connection with
00:55:54nature, the forces of nature.
00:55:56All 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
00:56:08with everything that we had.
00:56:10That's where this depression comes from.
00:56:12A lot of our people
00:56:14are severely depressed and they don't even know it.
00:56:16This depression
00:56:18is just now
00:56:20clinically diagnosed as the same thing
00:56:22soldiers suffer from when they return
00:56:24from combat.
00:56:54In
00:57:181967
00:57:20in 1968
00:57:22I served in a place called Vietnam.
00:57:26A lot of young people don't know where that's at.
00:57:30And at that time,
00:57:34I took 38 lives.
00:57:38I had no
00:57:42connection, didn't make no connection with
00:57:46Mankato, didn't know about Mankato until I had
00:57:50this dream in 2005.
00:57:54There's 38
00:57:58that were hung, and how does that all tie in?
00:58:02I can't say that I know, I mean I really don't.
00:58:06But he had an experience
00:58:10around the fire, which I'm not going to go
00:58:14into deeply because it's his experience,
00:58:18which clearly showed him some things that he needed to do
00:58:22to release the 38 Vietnamese men
00:58:26that had been killed by him.
00:58:30And all of this was told to him
00:58:34by his mother, and his mother passed away when he was 10.
00:58:38But she came out of the fire and told him he needed to do this.
00:58:48I'm kind of an emotional guy.
00:59:10Those coming down the road,
00:59:14my boarding school days kicked in,
00:59:18my days in Vietnam kicked in, riding into the city.
00:59:22So all my abandonment issues,
00:59:26the hurts and the pains that I went through,
00:59:30coming down the highway this morning,
00:59:34I was wondering
00:59:38what our people went through the day before the hanging.
00:59:42What were their thoughts?
00:59:46Their feelings?
00:59:50In the early hours of Friday the 26th,
00:59:54as the time of the execution approached,
00:59:58some of the Dakota men lay sleeping on the floor.
01:00:02At dawn, many of the condemned men said goodbye to their captors
01:00:06in a display that fascinated the reporters.
01:00:10They shook hands with the officers who came in among them,
01:00:14bidding them goodbye as if they were going on a long and pleasant journey.
01:00:34And they all wanted their medicine men to speak on their behalf.
01:00:38Don't let your heart be sad. We're going to see each other again.
01:00:42And when we see each other again, your heart and my heart is going to be so happy
01:00:46it's going to cry when we come together again. That's what the song says.
01:01:09Although it's been said
01:01:13Many times, many ways
01:01:17Merry Christmas to you
01:01:21Merry Christmas, guys.
01:01:25applause
01:01:29It was the day after Christmas when they hung them.
01:01:33You know, that's terrible. That's something very terrible to do
01:01:37at such a sacred time.
01:01:41Those 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,
01:01:49get up in the morning and get our horses,
01:01:53have our ceremonies,
01:01:57and start our final ride to the hanging site.
01:02:01Yeah, go ahead.
01:02:05whoo-hoo!
01:02:14For 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.
01:02:22Not only are we remembering, we're honoring our ancestors
01:02:26and those that have passed and struggled before us.
01:02:31horse hooves clop
01:02:35It means a lot to me.
01:02:39We're kind of tracing through the footsteps of the 38 Dakota
01:02:43plus 2 that had to go through this, so we're kind of,
01:02:47I don't know how to explain it, but we're kind of going back through that experience again.
01:02:51drumming
01:02:55drumming
01:02:59I believe that they're watching over us.
01:03:03It's not just us out there running, so that's just kind of the way I see it.
01:03:07We know our history, and it hurts,
01:03:11but we're no longer in that prison no more.
01:03:15Reconciliation means something to everybody, and I think it's a collective.
01:03:19And we actually also had the opportunity to catch the run.
01:03:23We ran for 2 miles at about 3 a.m., so it's been quite an adventure
01:03:27for the 5 of us who were there last night, so thank you to the riders.
01:03:31Thank you to the runners.
01:03:51On that fateful day, they were let out of the
01:03:55prison compound. They were shackled and chained together.
01:03:59They had hoods on them.
01:04:03The women
01:04:07began wailing and weeping. One of the prisoners
01:04:11in a loud voice said,
01:04:15Hear me, my people. Today is not a day
01:04:19of defeat.
01:04:23It is a day of victory. For we have made our peace with our Creator
01:04:27and now go to be with Him forever.
01:04:31Remember this day to tell our children, so they can tell their children
01:04:35that we are people who died
01:04:39and over death. Do not mourn for us.
01:04:43Rejoice with us. It's a good day to die.
01:04:53Then he lifted up his voice
01:04:57and began singing.
01:05:23Hear me, my people. Today is not a day
01:05:27of defeat.
01:05:31It is a day of victory.
01:05:35It is a day of victory.
01:05:39It is a day of victory.
01:05:43It is a day of victory.
01:05:47It is a day of victory.
01:05:51It is a day of victory.
01:05:55It is a day of victory.
01:05:59It is a day of victory.
01:06:03It is a day of victory.
01:06:07It is a day of victory.
01:06:11It is a day of victory.
01:06:15It is a day of victory.
01:06:19It is a day of victory.
01:06:23It is a day of victory.
01:06:27It is a day of victory.
01:06:31I just want to tell all of you that I love you.
01:06:35We're doing this for our children.
01:06:39Our grandchildren.
01:06:43And I want to thank all of you
01:06:47It's been a blessing
01:06:51for our people.
01:06:5553 years ago, I entered first grade
01:06:59and I was taught nothing but
01:07:03misinformation about the people that preceded me on this land.
01:07:07And it wasn't until the 1980s when I walked into my first powwow
01:07:11at the Land of Memories when I realized that I didn't know anything
01:07:15except lies, for the most part.
01:07:19And so I started that day to listen.
01:07:23Whereas the Dakota people lived in unity with the land for many years, long before the European people came
01:07:27and whereas the Dakota people have suffered unimaginable
01:07:31hardship over a long period of time
01:07:35as the land and riches they once had were gradually removed from their control.
01:07:39And whereas the Dakota people have many times been forcibly
01:07:43relocated at the whim of the United States government.
01:07:47And whereas one outcome of their trials was the largest mass execution ever recorded
01:07:51in U.S. history, during which 38 Dakota were hanged.
01:07:55And whereas the Dakota people have put forth tremendous effort in an attempt
01:07:59to continue to heal from their suffering over all these years.
01:08:03And whereas the people of this community welcome
01:08:07the Dakota people to be part of our community
01:08:11today and always. And whereas the people of this community
01:08:15recognize the responsibility we must bear in this healing process.
01:08:19And whereas the people of this community
01:08:23wish to be part of the healing process as the wounds begin to close.
01:08:27Now therefore, in recognition of the tremendous
01:08:31contribution made by the Dakota people toward that healing process to our community
01:08:35and communities in the region, I, John D. Brady, Mayor of the City of Mankato, Minnesota
01:08:39do hereby proclaim December 26, 2008 to be
01:08:43Dakota Reconciliation Okikutsuye Day.
01:08:47And in the sense of true reconciliation,
01:08:51I just want to say, welcome back to your home.
01:08:55Applause
01:08:59Applause
01:09:03Music
01:09:07I have just one little thing and then I'll let you go.
01:09:11Just a little symbolism of that welcoming,
01:09:15I'm going to also offer Jim a key to the City of Mankato.
01:09:19Applause
01:09:23It's a key that opens no locks, it only opens hearts.
01:09:27Laughter
01:09:31Thank you very much.
01:09:35I thank each and every one of you here in this room.
01:09:39I thank the City of
01:09:43Mankato. I hope this opens a jail cell or two.
01:09:47Laughter
01:09:51Music
01:09:55Music
01:09:59Music
01:10:03I'm going to pass this staff on. I have two extra
01:10:07feathers for the two Dakota that were hung two years
01:10:11later and I want to present them to him also.
01:10:15We are going to keep this going.
01:10:19From here, forever.
01:10:23We're going to keep this ride going.
01:10:27There was a bald eagle just after he started singing.
01:10:31It was soaring just above us there.
01:10:35To see that,
01:10:39to see something like that would make you cry.
01:10:43It would make any man cry to see something like that
01:10:47happening because this is real.
01:10:51It's not going to end for me, I'm just going to keep
01:10:55the happiness with me.
01:10:59This ride ends, I ain't going to leave my emotions right there and just go back
01:11:03home to what I was doing. I'm going to take it with me.
01:11:07It's going to come home with me.
01:11:11We've got to strive for that reconciliation.
01:11:15Let's go home and reconcile our families, our differences.
01:11:19Let's go home and hug our children.
01:11:23Tell them that we love them.
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