Wounded Knee Sacred belongings coming to Cheyenne River Reservation

CHERRY CREEK – Sacred belongings stolen from Lakota who were murdered in 1890 at the Wounded Knee massacre languished for over a century in a museum in Barre, Massachusetts. The belongings included clothing, pipes, and other artifacts. For decades, the museum and the Lakota tribes engaged in negotiations for the return of the items to South Dakota. Discussions about repatriation were fraught with misunderstanding, frustration, confusion, and repeated delays.

Finally, the negotiations bore long-awaited fruit and the belongings returned home to in November 2022. Since then, the items have been stored at the Oglala Lakota College Pine Ridge Center while descendants from the Oglala, Standing Rock, Rosebud, and Cheyenne River Lakota tribes have been in an on-going process of deciding the best way to honor the belongings and the relatives that they represent.

The next public meeting concerning the belongings is scheduled for Tuesday, June 11, 2024, at the Blue Gym – Chanpa Wakpa in Cherry Creek, SD. The sacred belongings will be part of a procession starting 5 miles west of Cherry Creek on Route #6, near the home of the late Rocky Afraid of Hawk. Groups invited to participate in the procession include the Wounded Knee Survivors Runners and the Si Tanka Wokisuye Memorial Riders.

When the procession reaches the Cherry Creek gym, boxes containing the belongings will be opened and those in attendance will have the opportunity to view them. Organizers plan a “Wiping of the Tears” ceremony and a meal to be provided at noon.

Cheyenne River Lakota elder Ivan Looking Horse will offer the opening prayer and CRST Chairman Ryman LeBeau will present a welcoming address. Manny Iron Hawk (Titunwan Okowozu) of Red Scaffold will speak on behalf of the HAWK 1890 Wounded Knee Descendants’ Group centered on the Cheyenne River Reservation.

Other guest speakers scheduled include Oglala Sioux Tribe Fifth Member Justin Pourier, Oglala Sioux Tribe President Frank Star Comes Out, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Chairwoman Janet Akire, Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Council Member and Wounded Knee descendant Virgil Taken Alive.

According to representatives of the descendants’ groups, the goal is to reach a consensus opinion about the final disposition of the belongings. Some say the belongings should be ceremonially burned, some say they should be buried, and some say they should be returned to the individual families so that each family can decide the best way for the belongings to be honored.

“Hopefully we can settle this decision amicably in the ‘wolakota way’ (the way of peace and harmony),” said Iron Hawk. “There will be other items coming home. We need to learn from this experience.”

Some 870,000 Native American artifacts — including nearly 110,000 human remains — that should be returned to tribes under federal law are still in the possession of colleges, museums and other institutions across the country, according to an Associated Press review of data maintained by the National Park Service

For more information about the June 11 event, contact Manny or Renee Iron Hawk at (605) 200-0997 or (605) 538-4330, Ivan Looking Horse (605) 407-6266, or Marlis Afraid of Hawk (605) 200-3770.

SOURCES:

Event flyer provided by Marlis Afraid of Hawk

www.westrivereagle.com/articles/one-year-later-fate-of-wounded-knee-sacred-belongings-still-undecided/

www.westrivereagle.com/articles/wounded-knee-descendants-meeting-july-23-in-kyle/