Wounded
Knee Reflection at the Sturgis Rally
You'll
continue winding your way south from the Sturgis Rally.
It doesn't really matter which way you go at Chimney
Butte.
You'll eventually end up not far from the town of
Pine Ridge, which is kind of like the capitol of Pine
Ridge of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
In
the land of the Ghost Dance at the Sturgis Rally
This
excursion at the Sturgis Rally will be different than
any other you have had during the week.
One spot on the reservation way back off and far from
anywhere is the site of the last major resistance
of the Lakota against the U.S. Cavalry. Warriors practiced
the Ghost Dance and believed they would be protected
from bullets.
Maybe the ghosts still dance.
A
Visit to Wounded Knee during the Sturgis Rally
Near Pine Ridge is Wounded Knee, site of the famous
massacre in which Custer's Seventh Cavalry exacted
revenge for the Little Big Horn on some Lakota men,
and quite a few women and children.
It's kind of like a sacred site for the Lakota.
Lots has been written about the reservations' history
and culture. People from Europe even come to satisfy
their curiosity or longing, especially the Germans.
A
Different Culture at the Sturgis Rally
As
your bike rolls along the back roads of this subculture
within the United States you will be with a people
who are trying save a culture. In the past several
decades there has been an upsurge in interest to go
back to old ways, or at least to incorporate them
into life.
Previously, especially in some missions and government
activities, the main attempt was to stamp those ways
out.
In the tranquility spreading out across the old lands,
there is an energy. Perhaps it has always been there.
Or, maybe it is growing.
The
End
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