Other days in South Dakota

I had an overwhelming time in South Dakota. In five days, I encountered places and people the likes of which I've never run into before. Flat, grass-covered "tables" that drop away into alien, eroded rock formations.


Stone toadstools, called "hoodoos."


Vistas reachable only by trouncing through potholed rutted roads, driven by a cowboy-hatted man with a waxed mustache (the superintendent of Badlands NP).


Giant prairie dogs.


Shelves and shelves of technicolor, multimedia cowboy boots.


The most dizzying time I spent was here, though. That's the double-wide trailer that houses Badlands' White River Visitor Center. It's on the Pine Ridge Reservation, and it's where the exhibits we'll be planning will go. We spent half a day there, meeting with people from the Oglala Sioux tribe, especially with elders and spiritual leaders. Yes, that's a tipi next to it. The Sioux park rangers say they have to explain that they don't live in tipis or wear feathers.



We waded through the grass with some younger people, who have jobs with the Oglala Sioux Parks and Recreation department. They go out at night to survey the endangered swift fox population, supervised by a wildlife biologist. Next they'll move on to mountain lions.


The Parks & Rec board treated us - and whoever else happened to be stopping by the visitor center at the time - to a lunch of bison roast, bison stew, mashed potatoes, and cupcakes. I sat across from the man in the straw hat on the left. He's an elder, who, earlier that day, said to us, "This is stolen land. It's not a government, it's an occupation. There was peace and freedom here, until you brought your freedom. We're wards of the government. Why are we here in prison?" Later on, over lunch, he asked me to get him some napkins.



We visited Wounded Knee, after lunch. It's a sad, delapidated place, commemorating a shameful tragedy. To learn more about it, go here.


Most of the time I was in the Badlands, I sat in this room talking with these people about new exhibits for the visitor center. Two other folks from Harpers Ferry are on the right. The director of the Lakota Parks & Rec dept is in the middle, and his head ranger sits with his back to the camera. The four other folks are NPS staff from Badlands. My next task is to draft the "trip summary," describing the outcome of our conversations and consultations.