Post by blackcrowheart on Mar 11, 2007 19:29:35 GMT -5
Sitting Bull site changing hands
By TONY SPILDE
Bismarck Tribune
Where Sitting Bull slumbers is anyone's guess, though at the moment it's certainly under a blanket of snow.
The mystery of where the famous Sioux chief's remains are buried and a renewed interest in Indian history have led to a pair of major projects at two sites that straddle the border between the Dakotas. Both have claimed to be the final resting place of Chief Sitting Bull, who was shot and killed in 1890.
It's probably impossible to know which grave site is the real one, and maybe they both are. What is known is that, until recently, the grave in Fort Yates and the one near Mobridge, S.D., have been sorely neglected. Both sites, on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, were poorly marked and covered in debris, tribal officials said. Graduating high school seniors regularly held keg parties at the Mobridge site.
The graves were hardly fitting markers for such a respected and feared leader, known for uniting the Lakota and defeating the Seventh Cavalry at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.
And that is about to change.
There are new owners of the Mobridge site and, on Friday, the State Historical Society of North Dakota likely will transfer the rights to the 5-acre plot in Fort Yates back to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. The area around the grave was designated a State Historic Site in 1956, when the tribe deeded it to the state.
But last month, the tribe requested the return of the property, and the state is likely to oblige. The historical society's directors will vote on it Friday morning at the state Heritage Center. A signing of the agreement is already planned to take place near the center's Sitting Bull exhibit at 9:30 a.m.
"The tribe feels they can maintain it and develop it, and they're right on the money," said Merl Paaverud, director of the State Historical Society. "We have had it for a number of years, but haven't developed it because of the sensitivity of the site. Right now, the tribe is best suited to deal with that site."
And the tribe already has plans to do so.
LaDonna Brave Bull Allard, tourism director for Standing Rock, said plans for a remodeling of the site have begun to fall into place. In addition to better markings - obtained through a federal grant for scenic byways - the site will be landscaped to better accommodate tourists. There will be more and better parking, along with a shelter and interpretive panels that tell of Sitting Bull's life and death. Allard's partner in the project, Pam Ternes, said a celebratory event will be held at the site in September, and all of the renovations could be completed by the summer of 2008.
"Right now, the site does not look very nice," said Allard, who estimated that tourist interest in the grave marker has gone from almost nothing to thousands of visitors each summer. "We would like to fix it up. People from all over the world come here to go to the site. They have a fascination with Sitting Bull. You can stand in the middle of China and say 'Sitting Bull,' and they know his name. It's something that we as tribal people really need to take care of."
Fort Yates is home to Sitting Bull College, and the tribal chairman, Ron His Horse Is Thunder, is a descendant of the famous chief.
Sitting Bull was made chief of the Lakota nation in 1868, and famously held his ground in South Dakota's Black Hills in 1874, after the U.S. government tried to force the Lakota out upon discovery of gold in the hills. The tensions that developed eventually led to Little Bighorn in 1876, when Lt. Col. George Custer's troops attacked Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and the Lakota. The Seventh Cavalry was roundly defeated in what became the most famous battle of the so-called Indian Wars.
After exile to Canada and his subsequent return to his birthplace at Standing Rock, Sitting Bull was killed in a gunfight between his supporters and Lakota policemen on Dec. 15, 1890. He was buried at the site in Fort Yates.
But in 1953, Sitting Bull's remains were moved in the middle of the night to the new site, close to where the Grand River enters the Missouri near Mobridge. It's unclear exactly who took the remains or if they even got the right ones. Since then, both states have claimed to be home to "the" burial site.
What once was a rivalry, though, has now become a partnership.
In 2005, Rhett Albers and Bryan Defender bought the 40-acre Mobridge site and began to clean it up. Ternes, who works in Fort Yates, has helped to secure funding for new signage for the South Dakota site. Both sides hope their collaborative efforts lead to more tourism and a better understanding of the Sioux spiritual leader.
"We sat down with Pam and LaDonna, and everybody seems to be on the same page," Albers said. "The objective is to impact the community in a positive way by providing a learning experience at each of the sites. It's been a positive relationship so far. There's definitely going to be enough visitors to be able to support both sites. We can't believe the interest since we've been involved."
Albers and Defender have plans to build a visitor's center and interpretive trail at the Mobridge site, which already features a bust of Sitting Bull created by sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski, who also designed the Crazy Horse monument that's under construction in the Black Hills.
When they bought the site, it was in near total disrepair.
"It was disgusting,"Albers said. "People were disappointed in seeing beer bottles and trash everywhere. Senior keggers were held out there. It just didn't seem right for such a great location and a great man."
So the pair cleaned it up - Defender operates Standing Rock Sanitation - and have had electricity run out there. The next steps are finishing the design plans and getting security at the site. When those things are completed, Albers said, the site will finally be worthy of the man it's supposed to honor.
"What we thought from the start was that it should be a proper tribute to one of the greatest leaders of all time - not just a Native American leader, but a leader, period,"Albers said. "It was just a disgrace to see both sites in such disrepair for all these years."
As for which site can claim to be the proper burial location, Albers isn't interested.
"That's one thing we've made clear from the start," he said. "We're not making any claims of any kind. What happened happened, and we can't change that. It's for everyone to determine for themselves, and along the way we hope they learn Sitting Bull's story."
www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2007/01/04/news/local/126482.txt
In peace & solidarity,
Tamra
www.NDNnews.com
www.protectsacredsites.org
"Providing news and information about Native American Issues & Causes"
"Helping to make a difference for our people in Indian Country, one day at a time. What will you do today to help make a difference?"
"Life is a learning place. Existence is forever. Challenges are only challenges because life has given you an opportunity to grow in an area of your fear or weakness."
Leonard Peltier, Sept. 2006
By TONY SPILDE
Bismarck Tribune
Where Sitting Bull slumbers is anyone's guess, though at the moment it's certainly under a blanket of snow.
The mystery of where the famous Sioux chief's remains are buried and a renewed interest in Indian history have led to a pair of major projects at two sites that straddle the border between the Dakotas. Both have claimed to be the final resting place of Chief Sitting Bull, who was shot and killed in 1890.
It's probably impossible to know which grave site is the real one, and maybe they both are. What is known is that, until recently, the grave in Fort Yates and the one near Mobridge, S.D., have been sorely neglected. Both sites, on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, were poorly marked and covered in debris, tribal officials said. Graduating high school seniors regularly held keg parties at the Mobridge site.
The graves were hardly fitting markers for such a respected and feared leader, known for uniting the Lakota and defeating the Seventh Cavalry at the Battle of the Little Bighorn.
And that is about to change.
There are new owners of the Mobridge site and, on Friday, the State Historical Society of North Dakota likely will transfer the rights to the 5-acre plot in Fort Yates back to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. The area around the grave was designated a State Historic Site in 1956, when the tribe deeded it to the state.
But last month, the tribe requested the return of the property, and the state is likely to oblige. The historical society's directors will vote on it Friday morning at the state Heritage Center. A signing of the agreement is already planned to take place near the center's Sitting Bull exhibit at 9:30 a.m.
"The tribe feels they can maintain it and develop it, and they're right on the money," said Merl Paaverud, director of the State Historical Society. "We have had it for a number of years, but haven't developed it because of the sensitivity of the site. Right now, the tribe is best suited to deal with that site."
And the tribe already has plans to do so.
LaDonna Brave Bull Allard, tourism director for Standing Rock, said plans for a remodeling of the site have begun to fall into place. In addition to better markings - obtained through a federal grant for scenic byways - the site will be landscaped to better accommodate tourists. There will be more and better parking, along with a shelter and interpretive panels that tell of Sitting Bull's life and death. Allard's partner in the project, Pam Ternes, said a celebratory event will be held at the site in September, and all of the renovations could be completed by the summer of 2008.
"Right now, the site does not look very nice," said Allard, who estimated that tourist interest in the grave marker has gone from almost nothing to thousands of visitors each summer. "We would like to fix it up. People from all over the world come here to go to the site. They have a fascination with Sitting Bull. You can stand in the middle of China and say 'Sitting Bull,' and they know his name. It's something that we as tribal people really need to take care of."
Fort Yates is home to Sitting Bull College, and the tribal chairman, Ron His Horse Is Thunder, is a descendant of the famous chief.
Sitting Bull was made chief of the Lakota nation in 1868, and famously held his ground in South Dakota's Black Hills in 1874, after the U.S. government tried to force the Lakota out upon discovery of gold in the hills. The tensions that developed eventually led to Little Bighorn in 1876, when Lt. Col. George Custer's troops attacked Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and the Lakota. The Seventh Cavalry was roundly defeated in what became the most famous battle of the so-called Indian Wars.
After exile to Canada and his subsequent return to his birthplace at Standing Rock, Sitting Bull was killed in a gunfight between his supporters and Lakota policemen on Dec. 15, 1890. He was buried at the site in Fort Yates.
But in 1953, Sitting Bull's remains were moved in the middle of the night to the new site, close to where the Grand River enters the Missouri near Mobridge. It's unclear exactly who took the remains or if they even got the right ones. Since then, both states have claimed to be home to "the" burial site.
What once was a rivalry, though, has now become a partnership.
In 2005, Rhett Albers and Bryan Defender bought the 40-acre Mobridge site and began to clean it up. Ternes, who works in Fort Yates, has helped to secure funding for new signage for the South Dakota site. Both sides hope their collaborative efforts lead to more tourism and a better understanding of the Sioux spiritual leader.
"We sat down with Pam and LaDonna, and everybody seems to be on the same page," Albers said. "The objective is to impact the community in a positive way by providing a learning experience at each of the sites. It's been a positive relationship so far. There's definitely going to be enough visitors to be able to support both sites. We can't believe the interest since we've been involved."
Albers and Defender have plans to build a visitor's center and interpretive trail at the Mobridge site, which already features a bust of Sitting Bull created by sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski, who also designed the Crazy Horse monument that's under construction in the Black Hills.
When they bought the site, it was in near total disrepair.
"It was disgusting,"Albers said. "People were disappointed in seeing beer bottles and trash everywhere. Senior keggers were held out there. It just didn't seem right for such a great location and a great man."
So the pair cleaned it up - Defender operates Standing Rock Sanitation - and have had electricity run out there. The next steps are finishing the design plans and getting security at the site. When those things are completed, Albers said, the site will finally be worthy of the man it's supposed to honor.
"What we thought from the start was that it should be a proper tribute to one of the greatest leaders of all time - not just a Native American leader, but a leader, period,"Albers said. "It was just a disgrace to see both sites in such disrepair for all these years."
As for which site can claim to be the proper burial location, Albers isn't interested.
"That's one thing we've made clear from the start," he said. "We're not making any claims of any kind. What happened happened, and we can't change that. It's for everyone to determine for themselves, and along the way we hope they learn Sitting Bull's story."
www.bismarcktribune.com/articles/2007/01/04/news/local/126482.txt
In peace & solidarity,
Tamra
www.NDNnews.com
www.protectsacredsites.org
"Providing news and information about Native American Issues & Causes"
"Helping to make a difference for our people in Indian Country, one day at a time. What will you do today to help make a difference?"
"Life is a learning place. Existence is forever. Challenges are only challenges because life has given you an opportunity to grow in an area of your fear or weakness."
Leonard Peltier, Sept. 2006