Wounded Knee

Storm over the Priarie

Monument at Wounded Knee- Pine Ridge Reservation

Wounded Knee

Actual monument erected by the Lakota and Ogala Sioux to their ancestors killed. This is the mass grave site

Buffalo walking west on Route 16 Taken from my car.

Today began with going through Custer State Park on the way to Hertz Rent a Car in Rapid City and while driving through the park, we encountered this large male buffalo walking along the road in the opposite direction. I snapped this picture hoping he wouldn't turn on me and think we were for breakfast. My heart was racing because it was so close. Thank goodness he kept walking!! That was the highlight of the morning. Once we got to Hertz, it all went down hill. We told them about the light requiring maintenance was lit and they said they couldn't do anything. That we could go and get the oil chcnged and the Hertz company would not authorize us another car but will reimburse us the oil change. I was so frutrated and angry that I wanted to scream. It felt like they couldn't be bothered with us. My dad was yelling, so I interfered and talked with the lady but she insisted she couldn't do anything. Several of the customers began telling the woman that it was ridiculous that she could not issue us another car. So off we went in the same car with the light on to a juffy lube place, where they could not believe the story either but were very nice to us. It took the whole morning, so we did not leave until 12:30 but we did manage to get to the museum to learn more about the massacre. My heart felt so heavy about the way the whites treated them. Worse than how we treat animals. We then drove two hours to the small memorial. It was not erected by the government but by the Sioux. It is very modest but it contains all of the names of those massacred and were placed in a mass grave including Sitting Bull. I really felt ashamed of how the whites acted. The place was so eerie and very windy. The wind is a sign of the spirits moving about. It was very chilling.

We meet a nice young Sioux named Soaring Eagle and he told us all about the Sun ceremony and how they reinact the march by Sitting Bull every year on December 29th. He was an incredibly nice young man.

On the drive back to Custer, we hit a storm and I honestly thought that we were going to be in a tornado. The sky was black grey and the wind was unbelievable. I was praying we would get through safely and thank God we did.
Well that was the excitementfor today. Tomorrow it is Deadwood and maybe Devil's Tower in Wyoming. Good night