Remembering & Honoring 38 + 2
Dakota Ancestors more than
150 years ago on
December 26,
1862.
In the spring of
2005,
Jim Miller, a
Native spiritual leader and
Vietnam veteran, found himself in a dream riding on horseback across the great plains of
South Dakota. Just before he awoke, he arrived at a riverbank in
Minnesota and saw 38 of his Dakota ancestors hanged. At the time, Jim knew nothing of the largest mass execution in
United States history, ordered by
Abraham Lincoln on December 26, 1862. "When you have dreams, you know when they come from the creator
... As any recovered alcoholic, I made believe that I didn't get it. I tried to put it out of my mind, yet it's one of those dreams that bothers you night and day."
Now, four years later, embracing the message of the dream, Jim and a group of riders retrace the 330-mile route of his dream on horseback from
Lower Brule, South Dakota to
Mankato, Minnesota to arrive at the hanging site on the anniversary of the execution. "
We can't blame the wasichus anymore. We're doing it to ourselves. We're selling drugs. We're killing our own people. That's what this ride is about, is healing." This is the story of their journey- the blizzards they endure, the Native and Non-Native communities that house and feed them along the way, and the dark history they are beginning to wipe away.
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The day after Christmas is somber for
Dakota Indians marking a travesty of justice over 150 years ago, when 38 of their ancestors were executed in the biggest mass hanging in
U.S. history. Overshadowed by the
Civil War raging in the
East, the hangings in Mankato, Minnesota, on December 26, 1862, followed the often overlooked six-week
U.S.-Dakota war earlier that year -- a war that marked the start of three decades of fighting between
American Indians and the
U.S. government across the
Plains.
"I watched only half because my tears kept me from seeing. This is one of the most important films ever made. It should be required viewing for every
American citizen from middle school through old age. These brave, courageous people and those who helped them on their journey and those who made this film are the most honorable human beings I have witnessed in a long time.
Words cannot possibly express my gratitude and humility, so accept my deepest bows for this inspiration." --Thomas
Hodges,
Opelika, AL
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- published: 18 Oct 2013
- views: 4957