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WE were
extremely blessed several years ago to make the acquaintance of
Chris Leith, a spiritual advisor for the Prairie Island Dakota
Community. He has
taught us much of what was missing in our knowledge of Dakota
culture. Chris
taught us the sacred Dakota language for months until the grant
for the class
was expended. He invited us to our first Sundance in 1997 at the
sacred
quarries in Pipestone. We have attended this ceremony every year
since then.
We have attended many pow wows, including the past three at the
Lower Sioux
Reservation in Morton, Minnesota. We have also gone to pow wows
at Prairie
Island, Shakopee and Mankato. Several of our members are
dancing.
We were co-sponsors of the First Annual Veterans Pow Wow at the
Minnesota
State Veterans Home in Hastings and are working on it again for
the second
one. We are also involved in the Gathering of Kinship Pow Wow
at Birch
Coulee, honoring the 38 Grandfathers hung at Mankato on December
26, 1862.
Jim Anderson and Michael Scott, our cultural co-chairmen, are
on the pow wow
committee, as well as LaRockzana Hop, a former Deputy Mayor here
at Mendota.
We were in charge of the kitchen at World Peace and Prayer Day
held on June
21, 1998 at the sacred quarries at Pipestone. This was truly a
moving
experience. We started with virtually nothing and thanks to members
of many
tribes, we had all the equipment and food we could use. Every
time we were
in need of something such as fruit juice for the children, someone
would
bring in cases. The caring and sharing at the gathering was an
incredible
religious experience. At the end of the weekend, we sent extra
food home
with many elders. Aho Wasteste!!
Chief Arvol Looking Horse (Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo
Calf Pipe) and
his family led a unity ride along with some of our people from
Birch Coulee
to our encampment at the Four Sacred Grandfather Oaks. Ceremonies
were also held on Pilot Knob (Oheyawahe- Much Visited Hill) our
sacred burial place and where the treaties of 1841 (unratified)
and 1851 Treaty of Mendota were
signed. Ceremonies were also held at the Sacred Spring (Mnihdoka
Wakan) that
we have so long struggled to protect.
The Reverend Gary Cavender, spiritual advisor to the Shakopee
Dakota, and
Bain Wilson, Tribal elder from the Lower Sioux have supported
us. Elders and
spiritual advisors from many nations have been in support of our
efforts to
protect these sacred places for our ancestors to rest in peace.
We held a ceremony for World Peace and Prayer Day at Coldwater
Spring on June 21, 1999 that was attended by several nations.
We had a feast afterward at
the site of the Four Sacred Oaks Spiritual Encampment
We have received a resolution from the National Congress of American
Indians
supporting our position to protect our sacred sites. The National
Congress
is the oldest and largest national organization established in
1944,
comprised of representatives of and advocates for national, regional
and
local Tribal concerns. A resolution was also received from the
Iowa Tribe of
Oklahoma, a tribe that was historically in the area.
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