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Sisters Rita and Beatrice Long Visitor Holy Dance are Oglala
Sioux and live on the
Pine Ridge
Reservation in South Dakota. They are descended from Long Visitor and are members of the
Crazy
Horse Band, named for the great warrior,
Crazy Horse.
The Oglala Lakota of Pine Ridge are the largest band of the great
Sioux nation and represent the majority of the
Teton Sioux.
The
Pine Ridge Indian reservation is the most poverty-ridden area in
America. Unemployment rates are 85%, school drop-out rates are up to 62%,
and suicide rates are
twice the national average. These desperate conditions may be of
benefit the U.S. government. The United states is
pressuring the Lakota to sell them the Black Hills.
In 1868, the U.S.
signed the
Fort Laramie Treaty which set aside the Black Hills for the
Lakota. In 1869 gold was discovered, so the U.S. grabbed back
the land. In 1980, the U.S. Supreme Court wrote "the
taking of the Black Hills ($60,000,000,000 in gold) is the most ripe
and rank case of dishonorable dealing ever perpetrated on a people
by the United States government." Almost 140 years later,
the Lakota remain in the fight for the return of their Sacred Hills.
 But
despite
overwhelming poverty and oppression, the people still refuse
to sell their sacred lands. Such a purchase would mean a
sellout of the Lakota Nation, culture, religion, and values.
When asked about selling, 90% of the Lakota voted "NO."
Grandmother Beatrice and Rita
remember having good lives as children. They were poor and worked
hard: their home was
heated by firewood and lit by kerosene lamps. Food came from
their garden at the bottom of the hill. The family had
their own chicken and cattle. Most of their water was hauled in buckets from
the river to the house until 1985, when Grandmother Beatrice had
running water installed. Everything was done by hand.
 When Grandmother Rita was seven,
she left home to attend
Catholic Boarding School where she
lived 9 months out of the year. Five year old Beatrice wept
and wept. When Beatrice was old enough, she joined her sister at
school while the remaining siblings stayed home.
Beatrice remembers she and Rita always got into mischief together
whether at home or school. They were natural pranksters.
In 1942, their mother became ill with
cancer. After graduating from 8th grade, Rita stayed home to care
for her mother and the children. She also helped her
father because he was a Tribal Council representative and
needed to be available whenever called. In 1946, Antonia Long
Visitor Holy Dance died. The whole family was sad. Beatrice
remembers her father sleeping many nights at his wife's grave.
Rita soon returned to school.
After she and Beatrice graduated, they worked in the the potato fields,
earning 3 cents for bushel a potatoes. That's almost 100 pounds!
They bought books with some of that money.
Eventually, Grandmother Beatrice
Long Visitor Holy Dance fell in love. She waited for Grandmother Rita to
fall in love, too, so they could have a double wedding ceremony.
Their father paid for the ceremony and for a double wedding
dinner! "We had a good dad," Grandmother Rita remembers. "We
always had everything. He made sure we had clothing. He even took
care of us after we married. He didn't have to, but he did."
Nineteen years after their mother
died, their father was killed in a car accident. Since then, the
sisters hold their parents and grandparents in their daily prayers.
During the days of organizing and preparing for sacred ceremonies, the family sheds many
tears remembering their loved ones.
Today, Grandmothers Rita
and Beatrice worry about their people,
poverty, and the enormous
drug and alcohol abuse problems on the reservations.
They are very disturbed about the effects on youth. The
Grandmothers say teens are disrespecting elders who
refuse to give them drug money; some 13-14-year-olds are
having children; parents and other adults are passed out on the street. Some
who need drugs or alcohol will beg or threaten
people for drug money . Both women worry about
traveling alone.
"It's really really bad," Grandmother
Beatrice says." ...it's dangerous to go to town. I take Rita with
me."
"I'm her bouncer!" Grandmother Rita
laughs, reminding us that even in their 80s,
sisters Rita and Beatrice remain best friends.
Grandmothers Rita and
Beatrice pray for youth to find their spiritual paths and leave
drugs and alcohol alone. Grandmother Rita reminds us of the
sacred rites given to the Lakota people by the
White Buffalo Calf Woman 19 generations ago. "Our
spiritual ways, our Sun Dance ways are encouraging prayer and
bringing a lot of people back," she says. "A lot
of young boys and girls are coming into the Sun Dance and are
learning to reconnect with the source of their being."
Grandmother Rita and
Beatrice Long Visitor Holy Dance expressed their gratitude to the
Grandmothers Council for being asked to join. They spoke about
peace, love, hope, faith, and charity, all the things that go with
Mother Earth. They hope the Grandmothers Council brings good
things to the children, grandchildren, and children to come and will
give a voice to the Lakota People.
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Text adapted from:
"Grandmothers Council the World: Women Elders Offer
Their Vision For Our Planet"
by Carol Schaefer
Trumpeter Books, 2006 |
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