The Wounded Knee Memorial has been neglected for many years until Tribal member steps in to restore it. (Photo by Karin Eagle, courtesy of Native Sun News)

WOUNDED KNEE – On a cold, windy morning, the mass grave site of the victims of the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre is lonely and desolate.

The grave itself is surrounded by a cemetery, and backed by a log cabin church. Trash blows in from the surrounding area, empty beer boxes blowing up against and getting hung up on the chain link fence. There is little honor and reverence to be found in what should be the most revered site of the Lakota people.

With a strong mind and a generous heart, one Oglala man has taken on the responsibility of caring for the resting place of those victims of such a tragic and devastating event in the history of the Lakota people.

Julian Brown Eyes, a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, and owner of Competitive Masonry out of Rapid City, has taken the initiative in redoing the brick area surround the mass grave.

Donating all the materials needed as well as asking his employees, all Natives, to volunteer for such a poignant task, the renovation is being done at no cost to the descendants or the tribes who have people buried there.

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By Ernestine Chasing Hawk, Native Sun News Editor

RAPID CITY – Less than two weeks after U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder visited the Rapid City community and spoke about measures to curb violence in Indian country, three Rapid City Police officers were shot by Daniel Tiger, a 22-year-old Native American male.

James Ryan McCandless, 28, died at the scene and Nick Armstrong, 27, later died as a result of gunshot wounds sustained during a shoot-out with the suspect. Tiger also died of gunshot wounds.

Another officer, Tim Doyle who was shot in the face during the armed altercation is currently recovering from his injuries.

According to the Rapid City Police Department on Aug. 2 at about 4:30 p.m., during what was termed a “routine stop” a Rapid City police officer patrolling on a bicycle came into contact with a group of four individuals at the intersection of Anamosa and Greenbriar streets.

Rapid City Police Chief Steve Allender reported that there had been complaints of underage drinking in the area and an officer was responding to the call.

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Rapid City Firefighters/EMS rush the apparent victim of a shooting at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center to a waiting ambulance. (Ryan Soderlin/Rapid City Journal)

Bad enough that there was a shooting outside the tournament – worse yet, both authorities and families fear it may have been gang-related, according to this Rapid City Journal story.

Police say the incident was probably isolated; nonetheless, they’ve given authorities at the Rushmore Plaza Civic Center the right to refuse entry to anyone wearing gang colors, according to today’s follow-up story, here.

“It’s probably gang-related and if it is, it could happen again,” Anthony Four, a senior at Standing Rock High School in Fort Yates, N.D., tells the Journal’s Mary Garrigan.

Ron Kills Warrior, a school counselor from Porcupine, describes himself as “distraught” – especially because the tournament is “a classic family event that’s supposed to unite us as a people.”

(For a story about one of the LNI’s family-oriented events, the Knowledge Bowl, click here.)

Some at the tournament say they fear the shooting will only further stereotype people from reservations as gang members. The Pine Ridge Reservation has recently been the focus of national – and international – news reports on gang violence on reservations. (See previous post, here.)

Lindsey Twinn of Standing Rock High says she saw gang members at the tournament.

“You’d see them hanging around. They’re in groups of four or five, all wearing the same colors,” she said.

The shooting has brought a heavy police presence to the family event that celebrates small-town hoops. And that’s just fine with Roberta Ramsey, of Standing Rock, there to watch her granddaughter play.

“I would like to see a cop at each door,” she says.

We absolutely understand where she’s coming from. But still – ouch.

Gwen Florio

Jenna Gitzke, 21, pleaded guilty in a Rapid City, S.D., courthouse yesterday to harassing and attacking Native people in two separate incidents last December. Her co-defendant, Miranda Sheldon, pleaded guilty Tuesday in the same case. Theirs was the first case prosecuted in Pennington County under South Dakota’s hate crimes law.

Pennington County State’s Attorney Glenn Brenner is working with several groups toward an agreement that would require Gitzke and Sheldon to interact with Native people as part of their probation, according to this Rapid City Journal story.

Meanwhile, the paper also reports (here) that Rapid City is holding another in a series of meetings on resolving racial differences. It’s set for tonight. Robert Doody of the South Dakota ACLU chapter will speak, and the grassroots group Society for the Advancement of Native Interests oday will host the potluck dinner.

It’s good to see folks working toward this cause.

Gwen Florio