July 2013: Lakota Circle Brings Creekside Singers to Welcome Amma
On July 3, 2013, Oglala Lakota drum group the Creekside Singers traveled over 800 miles from Pine Ridge, South Dakota to Chicago, Illinois. They came to welcome “the hugging saint,” known as Amma, to the Midwest portion of her North American tour. Thanks to generous donors and volunteers, Lakota Circle was able to provide transportation, food and lodging for the singers during their visit. It was a unique opportunity for cultural exchange and connection between these two communities.
The Creekside Singers honor their language, culture and the Lakota way of life. The singers in attendance were Emmanuel Black Bear, Tim Black Bear, Charlie Eagle Hawk, Robert Watters and John Mesteth.
To contact Creekside Singers, please call Emmanuel Black Bear at: 605-407-9069.
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January 2012: Lakota Circle Donates Sweatshirts to Big Foot Riders
Lakota Circle community members designed and donated 50 sweatshirts for youth participants of the 2012 Big Foot Memorial Ride (also known as Oomaka Tokatakiy or Future Generations Ride). It is a horseback journey, more than 300 miles long, from Standing Rock, North Dakota to Wounded Knee, South Dakota. It’s an honoring of ancestors and something to give strength to community and culture.
The ride is from about December 16 through the 29th. This is the same time of year that Big Foot’s clan traveled the route before the massacre at Wounded Knee. Along the way, communities support these riders by cooking for them and housing the people and their horses. Each year Kyle hosts people in the Little Wound gymnasium on Christmas. It’s pretty easy to see that this is a sweatshirt these young riders are proud to wear. The young boy in the photo below rode the whole trip from Standing Rock to Wounded Knee…he’s only 7 years old!
The ride ended with a ceremony at Wounded Knee Cemetery:
