A Film Produced by the 222 New York Street Rapid City, SD 57701 • https://www.journeymuseum.org Through a Grant from the With Funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities Filmed on Location in the Journey Museum © The Journey Museum and Dakota Daughters (Geraldine Goes in Center, Joyce Jefferson, and Lillian Witt.) All Rights Reserved. Study materials compiled by Anna Marie Thatcher. “America is an old house. We can never declare the work over. Wind, flood, wrought, and human upheavals batter a structure that is already fighting whatever flaws were left unattended in the original foundation. When you live in an old house, you may not want to go into the basement after a storm to see what the rains have wrought. Choose not to look, however, at your own peril. The owner of an old house knows that whatever you are ignoring will never go away. Whatever is lurking will fester whether you choose to look or not. Ignorance is no protection from the consequences of inaction. Whatever you are wishing away will gnaw at you until you gather the courage to face what you would rather not see.” Isabel Wilkerson CASTE: The Origins of Our Discontents 2 REFLECTIONS ON THE MASSACRE AT WOUNDED KNEE Three Women, Three Stories, Three Cultures Written and Presented by Dakota Daughters with Geraldine Goes in Center as Kimimila (Sitting Bull’s Daughter) Lillian Witt as Sadie Babcock (a Rancher’s Wife) Joyce Jefferson as Mattie Elmira Richardson (Engaged to a Buffalo Soldier) Each performer researched and wrote her part of this historical interpretation of the events leading up to the massacre at Wounded Knee Creek in 1890. THE TIMES AND PLACES ACT I - The Timeless Land Kimimila, her family, tribe and nation are living their lives on the land … following and hunting the buffalo and gathering plants and herbs for food. These indigenous people have had no contact with non-natives. Sadie, her husband, Steven, and their children, Carrie, Curtis and baby Effie have arrived from Texas and are excited about “free land” in Dakota Territory that is theirs “just for the taking” thanks to Manifest Destiny. Mattie Elmira and her family have just been freed from enslavement at the end of the Civil War. They strive for education, land and work. She is engaged to Siscro McCarty, a Buffalo Soldier assigned to the U.S. Army Ninth Cavalry, which is sent west to serve in Dakota Territory. ACT II - Shifting Attitudes: 1868 to 1882 Kimimila, after the Battle of Greasy Grass, (Little Big Horn), decisions are made to move up to Grandmother’s land (Canada) with her father Sitting Bull. Sadie and Steven discuss missing cattle, the Battle of the Little Big Horn and the Black Hills Gold Rush. Mattie Elmira and her family have moved from the south to Nicodemus, Kansas. She and Siscro correspond with each other while Siscro acclimates to Army life. Mattie has just received one of many letters from Siscro. 3 ACT III - Family and Community: 1882 to 1887 Kimimila has lived in Canada for five years and is now a grandmother. Sitting Bull decides to surrender to the American authorities in hopes of enforcing the Ft. Laramie Treaty of 1868. Sadie and Steven, family and friends, partake of Thanksgiving dinner. New friend, Lucy Lone Eagle, is there to help. Mattie Elmira reads a letter she wrote to Siscro describing her goals. ACT IV - Drought: 1888 to 1890 Kimimila has been living on the Standing Rock Reservation, still surviving by the traditional ways of living as well as incorporating new skills and new foods. Her daughter and family come to visit. Sadie has received a letter from her mother and has learned that her father is very ill. She writes to her mother and tells her of the happenings in Dakota Territory. Mattie Elmira is worried about Siscro. She reads a letter from him which contains news of the Paiute, Wovoka. Siscro explains the Ghost Dance religion and describes life on the reservation. ACT V - Big News - November and December 1890 Kimimila is now staying with her daughter since the death of her husband. Sitting Bull is allowing the Spirit Dance to be performed on his land. Sadie just gained access to different newspapers, and though some of the news is months old, she and Steven discuss the articles. Mattie Elmira now a maid works for and lives with the Babcock family. Mattie's letter from Siscro tells about the Ninth Cavalry being sent to Pine Ridge from Fort Robinson. She sings part of a song composed by Buffalo Soldier, Private Wm. H. Prather. ACT VI - The Massacre - December 29, 1890 Kimimila left her reservation, travels to Cheyenne River to her Uncle, Spotted Elk and they go to Wounded Knee seeking safety. Sadie reads from the newspaper relating the events of the recent “battle,” declaring it a massacre. Mattie Elmira reads the last letter from Siscro who is in the Stronghold, looking for Big Foot. The Ninth Cavalry detains the Lakota, then marches with them to Drexel Mission the next day when Lakota warriors return to rescue their children from the mission school. ACT VII - The Aftermath in Black and White A look at the realities of the Massacre at Wounded Knee. 4 ACT VIII - How Do We Heal and Where Do We Go From Here? The play ends with a blessing and image of reconciliation: Sage is burned; the pipe is blessed; the drum is beaten; and the pipe song is sung. Prayers go out to our ancestors for healing. We encourage questions and discussion about issues raised in the play. The goal is to help heal divides created by racist attitudes to move forward to building a shared, inclusive future. Dakota Daughters first presented this play in 2005 and has done many performances in many venues over the years. The initial plan was to present it at the Journey Museum in 2020 to recognize the 130th anniversary of the Wounded Knee Massacre. Since COVID lockdown prevented a live performance, the South Dakota Humanities Council provided support to create this filmed version. It is presented to create more awareness of the Wounded Knee Massacre and provide an opportunity for reflection on the lingering consequences of it. Mitaukuye Oyas’in! - We are all related! THE CAST GERALDINE (JERRY) GOES IN CENTER, Oglala Lakota, comes from the Lip’s (Pute) Camp Tiospaye (Wamblee, SD) and has been with Dakota Daughters for 15 years. She fully embraces her Lakota beliefs and culture and shares both through presentations covering Lakota history, decolonization, and food. She prides herself on being ina (mother) to four strong cunkshis (daughters) and unci (grandmother) to many beautiful takojas (grandchildren). A Vietnam era veteran, Jerry served in the U.S. Army from 1974-1982 and served in the National Guard for five years. She holds a B.S. in Human Services and a has a minor in Counseling from Oglala Lakota College in Rapid City, SD. Jerry can be contacted at [email protected] LILLIAN (LILLY) WITT grew up on a ranch in South Dakota ranch and attended a small country grade school and has been with Dakota Daughters since 2011. She earned a B.A. in Journalism and History at Chadron State College in Nebraska and now works as a free-lance writer for local and regional publications. As a published author her writing has appeared in CSC’s Outside the Lines, a book of student essays used by history college professors, and Tenth Street Miscellany, a collection of creative writings and visual art entries. Lillian’s proudest accomplishments are her six children and eleven grandchildren. Contact Lilly at [email protected]. JOYCE JEFFERSON earned a B.S. in English at Black Hills State University and is one of the founders of Dakota Daughters. Through her business, Joyce Jefferson Creates Stories in Song, she presents performances that weave narration with poetry and song. She serves as scholar with the South Dakota Humanities Council and tours the state “educa-taining” audiences, specializing in the contributions of African Americans to the settling of the West. She has presented “Black Hills Sheroes” in numerous, including the High Plains Western Heritage Center. She has done several programs at the Journey Museum where, in 2000, she also mounted an exhibition of historic photographs called “Corporals, Cooks, and Cowboys: African American Pioneers in the Black Hills.” A self-published author, Joyce wrote Black & Other Friends - a book of poetry inspired by her many years of research and self-reflection. Contact Joyce at [email protected] 5 DIRECTOR’S REFLECTIONS … The Wound That is Wounded Knee Wounded Knee Creek is a tributary of the White River, approximately 100 miles long, in Oglala Lakota County, South Dakota. Its Lakota name is Čhaŋkpé Ópi Wakpála and I was curious how Wounded Knee Creek got its name. In my search I found that the story told for the Federal Writer’s Project in 1940 indicated that the creek's name refers to an incident in which a Native American sustained an injury to his knee during a fight. I then discovered that “knee” as a geographical term, like “a knee in a river,” indicates a bend that greatly changes the course of the river, suddenly to a different general direction. I am a great lover of metaphor, a figure of speech in which a word or phrase is applied to an object or action to which it is not literally applicable. Metaphors can help us understand something that may be not be totally clear. So, as I searched, the metaphor of the knee in the creek for the Wounded Knee Massacre began to emerge for me.