The Silent "I"

Michelle Obama Guest Posted on MOMocrats

The future First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama, did a guest post on MOMocrats today.  Go read it by clicking here.

I haven't been posting here lately because I've been sick since our trip, trying to get back to work, and working hard on election-related things.  I promise to come back and fill you all in soon.

Next week, I'm going to Chicago for the Obama Women's Leadership Conference and will be blogging my adventures there.  Oprah Winfrey is kicking off the event, which features appearances by Michelle & Barack Obama, Madeline Albright, and other luminaries.  I can't wait!

South Dakota: Burying My Heart at Wounded Knee

After our stop at Badlands National Park, we drove through the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation to Wounded Knee.  The Reservation sits in a vast plain, with few houses dotting the landscape.  We took a wrong turn down an unpaved road as we were looking for the Wounded Knee Memorial, and passed a lone trailer.  Outside, two Native American kids, a little older than Alex, were playing.  One of them looked up and flipped us off.

"Why did he do that, Mom?  He showed us his middle finger! That is sooo not nice!"  Alex was outraged by this gesture.

To be honest, I didn't know exactly why he did it, but we clearly didn't belong there.

We finally found the Wounded Knee Visitors Center and Memorial.  It was a round, dark building that looked like a giant chocolate cake.  Inside, it was dark and windowless.  Three women sat behind a desk, selling jewelry and mementos of Wounded Knee. The walls were decorated with photos and descriptions of what had happened there.  There was a sense of outrage about the place.  In big letters on the wall, someone had written:  "The Indian Wars Are Not Over."

The following words were written on the wall:

During the 1970's terror once again filled the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.  The traditional LAKOTA People were being terrorized and murdered.  The corrupt Chairman and his Goons along with the F.B.I. carried out the reign of terror.  The Chiefs and Headsmen had meetings and called A.I.M. to come and assist.  On February 27, 1973 the siege began and the War was on for 71 days.  Two LAKOTAS were killed in action, Buddy Lamont and Frank Clearwater who gave the ultimate sacrifice.  LAKOTA War leader Pedro Bissonette was gunned down by the B.I.A. Police 6 months after the Takeover.  The American Indian Movement was instrumental in alot of the postive changes that affect us today.  indian Pride was revived and the resurgence of our Spirituality Began.

All of the writing on the walls was neatly hand-lettered, and there were photos and collages in frames all around.  This was clearly something that had been done by the people themselves, to commemorate the sad plight of the Lakota people, of their betrayal by the US government, and bloody battles and sacrifice made by them.

South Dakota: Mountains & Missiles

We checked out  of the Rushmore Express Inn on Wednesday, August 23, and had breakfast at the Executive Order Grill.  Keystone reminded me of Gatlinburg, Tennessee, a little mountain town full of tourist shops and restaurants, all centered around the main attraction:  Mount Rushmore.  Alex begged us to let him take the tramway up to the top of the mountain and use the giant slide down, but we passed on this idea.

Instead, we headed over to the Crazy Horse Memorial, about 15 miles from downtown Keystone.  This is a monument in progress, and one that I had only vaguely heard about.  It is a mountain carving of the Native American Lakota leader Crazy Horse, being blasted out of the side of one of the Black Hills.

The project was started in 1948 by a lone sculptor who was commissioned by a group of Native American chiefs.  For scale, all 4 of the Mt. Rushmore heads would fit inside the side of Crazy Horse's head.  In 60 years, they hae completed the face and the top of the arm.  The next portion of the project will be to carve the horse's head.  When finished, it will be the largest sculpture in the world.  There is a sculpture at the visitor's center of what it will eventually look like.

This is the kind of thing I hope Alex will take his children to, and show them the pictures of what it looks like today.  Progress has been slow, because the family who is doing the carving refuses any sort of government funding.  They rely solely on donations from the public and revenues from visitors.