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The Women's March Today I am going to introduce you to some women who decided to take the same treck that their female ancestors took, and show the respect these women didn't get the first time around. In 2002 I was asked if I would be on the Committee and I offered to make their website, which I did. Chuck was asked if he could make a Ceremonial Pipe for them, which he did. The report of the eye witness account that I added the past three days came from that Committee and website I made up for them. It was very touching to work with these wonderfully dedicated women.
Reports of Experiences of the 2002 Commemorative March 'Gabrielle Tateyuskanskan (co-coordinator for the march) with her mother, Yvonne Wynde, arrived at Lower Sioux the night before the march began with a large bundle of wooden lathes, each one tied with a red strip of cloth and inscribed with two names, one on each side. The names represented the heads of families on the march and then imprisoned at Fort Snelling. Because the march to Fort Snelling was primarily composed of women, most of the names were those of women. In all there were about 300 such names, so two were written on each stake and a stake would be placed about every mile for the 150 miles between Lower Sioux and Fort Snelling. Yvonne had donated the stakes and cloth and Gaby worked with the children at Tiospa Zina Tribal School in Sisseton to tie the cloth and write the names on the stakes. Gaby commented later about the experience of watching these innocent children taking on the morose task of writing the names of those who suffered tremendous hardship and cruelty in 1862, but doing so happily, bringing a lightness and innocence to the project. Gaby and Yvonne brought half of the stakes to us that night at Lower Sioux and said they'd bring the other half as soon as they were ready and they could get them to us... Each mile offered a focused opportunity for us to collectively stop and remember those who suffered through the forced march in 1862. When the lead car stopped, either Deksi Leo or Ic'esi Gerald would pull out one of the stakes from the bundle in their car and all of us would gather around. A speaker of our language would read aloud the name to everyone present. Then one of the women present would hold the stake as it was pounded into the ground and offer the first prayer with tobacco. Everyone else could then come forward to offer their tobacco and prayers. In many ways this pounding of each stake into the ground was also about reclamation. Mile by mile we were physically reclaiming our memory, our history, and our land. We were also leaving a visible symbol of this reclamation. Some of the stakes lasted for months, marking our route of suffering and hardship, and a few are still standing today. The red strips of cloth on the stakes, waving in the wind, were important signifiers of the blood that was shed in 1862, but also the blood in the life that still breathes, our breath as descendants of those who made this original painful journey. The planting of the stakes was always a moving experience, but it was particularly moving those times when descendants were there to recognize their family names. I had originally learned about this march through my grandmother's oral historical account provided earlier in this volume. Her grandmother, Maza Okiye Win (Woman Who Talks to Iron), whom I have written about elsewhere was ten years old on the journey and carried vivid memories of the experience. Because I had so frequently heard her name and her stories, I fully expected at some time on the march to see her name on one of the stakes. I was not prepared for what I did see. Just a few miles outside of New Ulm, my uncle pulled out a stake from the car with the name Haza Win (Blueberry Woman) and I was startled as I realized this was my relative, this was Maza Okiye Win's mother. My sister, Audrey Fuller, had just formally had this family name passed on to her in a name-giving ceremony the previous summer. My uncle and I put the stake in and said the first prayers, but as I stood up with my hands still on the stake a flood of grief washed over me and I began to sob. I had walked in the path of these ancestors, my feet had retraced the path of their suffering, and in that moment I felt their grief and the grief of all the subsequent generations. Later when I gave it more thought, it made perfect sense that I would see Haza Win's name instead of Mazo Okiye Win's, as Haza Win would have been the head of the household at that time, especially after losing her own mother on the journey. That was one of the lucid moments on the journey when I felt the significance of our undertaking personally and powerfully. That was the second day of the march. ' Angela Cavender Wilson Copyright of this report belongs to Angela Cavender Wilson
More reports like this tomorrow and Tuesday
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Day 6. December 15th 2019 Prayer for Today: Blessings to all Ease the hearts of our brothers
and sisters that they are carrying during this journey. Let them know
we are all with them, they are not alone in this journey.
Route for Today
From Madison to Flandreau, the final
stop in South Dakota, a distance of 28 miles, where they will stay the
night in the Royal River Casino The horses will be at the Flandreau Indian School Corral. The Ride will have a 2 day rest here in Flandreau
From our Members:
Photos from the Ride
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Dakota 38 + 2 Memorial Ride Supporters group on Facebook Historic photographs courtesy of the Minnesota Historical Society Website mostly written and Created by Gloria Hazell Derby Dragonfly Dezignz © 2019 to date |
