Riders spend holiday away from home as memorial trip nears end
BADLANDS NATIONAL PARK — Dean Ruillard gave up a Christmas morning at home to be with his extended family in the mighty Mako Sica, the spiritual place known to non-Lakotans as the Badlands.
Ruillard, 17, and about 200 other riders spent Christmas Day continuing their holy journey toward Wounded Knee on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. They came through Big Foot Pass about 10 a.m. Tuesday, leading their horses in single-file down the treacherous terrain.
Their goal Tuesday was to reach a remote camp on Red Water Creek, about 25 miles southwest, where they were to camp for two days. A sacred Ghost Dance was scheduled for Tuesday night. Today is a rest day.
Ruillard, who lives in Kyle, said he had no misgivings about sacrificing a Christmas celebration in a warm house for a horseback ride in the frozen chill of a South Dakota winter.
“This ride is too important to my people, the Lakota of the past, present and future,” he said.
“My grandmother said the ride was a good idea. She said I had some relatives who were massacred at Wounded Knee. They were all shot down.” said Ruillard, who is participating in the ride for the fourth time.
The ride, in its fifth and final year, commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Wounded Knee Massacre. Chief Big Foot and his band of Minniconjou Sioux were slain at Wounded Knee Creek on the morning of Dec. 29, 1890, by U.S. 7th Cavalry troops.
Many of the riders are descendants of Big Foot’s band. Many simply share the Lakota culture, while others are sympathetic to the Indians and their quest for sovereign rights.
At a Monday night campfire just north of the Badlands on the Buffalo Gap National Grassland, former American Indian Movement leader Dennis Banks lauded the participants for sacrificing Christmas with their families.
“We are all family here, brothers and sisters,” Banks said. “And we ride for something greater.”
Early Tuesday, spectators lined the highway to view the crossing at Big Foot Pass. One by one, the riders and their horses descended the snow-capped ravines, crossed the highway and then rode onto grassy plains area where they galloped off toward camp.
It’s been a long and cold journey for the riders and their support team of more than 100 people.
They began this leg of the ride Sunday in Bridger, on the Cheyenne River Sioux Indian Reservation. After staying Sunday night at the McDaniel Ranch on the north fork of the Bad River, they set out for the Badlands early Monday morning. They reached the northern fringe of the Badlands by late afternoon and camped under a half-moon about two miles from Big Foot Pass.
Huddled around a campfire that raged in strong winds, the riders and their supporters spoke of their sacrifice and their pain.
“I could have been with my family tonight, but I chose to be with you people and to pray for you.” said Tibbs Ridley, a Northern Ute from Utah.
Ridley, his brother and a friend came to South Dakota two weeks ago for the ride. They and nearly three dozen others began the ride near Bullhead, where the Sioux leader Chief Sitting Bull was killed Dec. 15, 1890, by police on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation. Sitting Bull’s death caused Big Foot to flee his camp on the Cheyenne River Reservation and head for Pine Ridge.
Another 150 participants joined the ride in Bridger, and close to 200 left camp on Tuesday. As many as 300 people are expected to ride Friday night into Wounded Knee.
Alex White Plume, a principal organizer of the ride, said as many as 10,000 people may attend ceremonies marketing the massacre's centennial on Saturday.