Descendants share history at C-EB school assembly

EAGLE BUTTE, SD – On Friday, December 6, 2024, all students from the Cheyenne-Eagle Butte Middle School and High School gathered in an assembly to hear respected Lakota elders tell the story of the Wounded Knee Massacre and how the tragic event continues to reverberate in Lakota hearts and spirits today.

Wounded Knee Creek, SD, is the site of an infamous massacre on December 29, 1890, the deadliest mass shooting in American history. More than 250 unarmed Lakota men, women, and children were slaughtered by U.S. Army Calvary. Members of the Oglala Sioux, Standing Rock Sioux, Rosebud Sioux and Cheyenne River Sioux tribes were all murdered at Wounded Knee. Only a few escaped and survived.

Intensifying the horrific atrocity, government leaders decided to award the nation’s highest military commendation, the Medal of Honor, to approximately 20 of the soldiers implicated in the massacre. The awards are currently in review.

Those who spoke at the December 6 assembly included Jim Garrett, John Afraid of Hawk, Joe Brings Plenty, Manny Iron Hawk, Renee Iron Hawk, Ivan Looking Horse, Violet Catches, and Marlis Afraid of Hawk (all Cheyenne River Lakota) and Melvin Under Baggage and Gloria Under Baggage (Oglala Lakota).

Stevie Moran (Cheyenne River Lakota), who teaches the eighth grade Lakota language and culture class, was instrumental in scheduling and arranging the assembly. She noted that the students sat quietly and listened attentively to everything the panel of speakers told them. “These speakers made history REAL for my students!” she said.

Ivan Looking Horse, known as a spiritual leader among local Lakota, opened and closed the assembly with a song and a prayer. He noted that the students seemed to sincerely appreciate the elders who came to teach them about Wounded Knee history.

Speakers also said young people today can learn from their history (even the dark history), form a strong positive identity as descendants of strong resilient survivors, and bring lessons forward from the past to create a better world for everyone now and in the future.

Moran said, “When I was a teen, we were still coming out of the boarding school era. Older people didn’t talk about our history (because they were punished in the boarding schools for talking about Lakota culture). They tried to bury our history (as they were taught) …There was no Native American history or language taught in our schools.”

Moran refers to an era lasting over a century during which U.S. policy forcibly removed thousands of Native American children, including Lakota children, from their families and placed them in residential boarding schools to be assimilated into European models of “civilization.”

The dark legacy of the boarding schools continues in Native communities where survivors struggle with intergenerational trauma from the abuse they endured. On Friday, October 25, 2024, President Joe Biden made history when he formally apologized to Native Americans for atrocities committed during the federally funded boarding school era.

Moran wants wants today’s students to have an education which honors Lakota history and culture. “…We cannot go into the future without knowing where we came from,” she said. “…It was so wonderful to hear the relatives tell their stories.”

Austin Sunka Luta, a Lakota Language Advocate, attended the December 6 assembly in order to videotape it. He commented, “The attempts to erase our existence and identities by the federal government are a painful chapter of our history. However, by giving the Wounded Knee descendants a platform to speak, we reclaim our narratives and our strength.

“It’s essential for our youth and tribal members to understand that the power lies in embracing who we are as Lakota people. By reclaiming our languages, our land, and our self-identity, we not only honor our past but also are paving a way forward for the next seven generations.”

Manny Iron Hawk, of Red Scaffold, SD, spokesperson for the HAWK (Heart of Wounded Knee) 1890 Descendants Group, served as the moderator for the panel of speakers. His great-grandmother, Alice Ghost Horse-War Bonnet, was a 10-year-old survivor of the attack at Wounded Knee. Alice’s father, Ghost Horse, and her teenage brother died there.

As a child, Iron Hawk learned from his own mother about his great-grandmother Alice, Alice’s father Ghost Horse, and Alice’s brother. Whenever his mother told him and other children about their family’s losses at Wounded Knee, his mother would cry. This in turn would cause him and his siblings to cry. He states emphatically, “(Wounded Knee) is a trauma, a historical trauma, that we still carry today.”

Marlis Afraid of Hawk was also instrumental in planning the December 6 assembly. Her grandfather, Richard Afraid of Hawk, survived the massacre as a 13-year-old. At home, she carries on the oral tradition by telling her grandchildren how Richard survived Wounded Knee by fleeing through a ravine after a calvary officer’s rifle pointed at him failed to fire.

Afraid of Hawk is active in the HAWK 1890 Wounded Knee Descendants Group, carrying on the work of her father and grandfather advocating for a measure of justice for Wounded Knee survivors and their descendants. She said that she and other descendants would be very willing to come again to the schools to share their knowledge and wisdom with the students.

At the end of the assembly, the descendants presented appreciation blankets to Moran and Principal Leslie Logg for hosting the assembly. Moran said that she was deeply touched and humbled by the gift. She also said that the comments she heard from the students indicated that the descendants made a lasting impact and she has ideas for future activities involving the Wounded Knee descendants.

When the assembly concluded, many students spontaneously came forward to shake hands and express appreciation and respect for the descendants. Looking Horse commented, “Our relatives from way back went through hardship and suffering so today’s generation could be here.”

(Contact Grace Terry at graceterrywilliams@gmail.com)

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