Re-entry

The Winter Count Hide

It was the last day of the road trip before I had to make tracks home, and I probably shouldn’t have, but even though I lost time to weather, I took the time to drive over to the Bear Tipi, the Matȟó Thípila, which is called Devil’s Tower by some. According to one perspective, it’s an ‘igneous intrusion or lacolith’.  It is the first thing to be designated a national monument in the US.  According to the Lakota story, either seven little girls or two small boys were being chased by a bear.  They prayed to creator to save them and he made the piece of land they were standing on rise up.. The bear reached up to try to get them, and his claws raked the sides (apparently the bear eventually came to rest on what is now Bear Butte). I went up to the monument and walked as far as you can go without filing with the park services, and left a little tobacco to say some prayers for father’s and sons. On a side note, there was black ice on the road and I had to go down the hill very slowly and by the way I am never ever ever going to go down a mountain that has black ice on it ever again. Ever.

It was an utterly gorgeous day, sunny and warm and the I90 was bone dry so I drove back through the beauty of Wyoming.  The saddest sight was the truck picking up the road kill deer that were all along the road. I have managed to miss all deer to date, including the dead ones that are often lying on the pavement. I have meanwhile seen a number of herds of deer beside the road, wondering whether to cross.  Don’t cross, deer!

The Road to Becky's II

My next stop was to check in with Becky.   I was feeling confident so I took the short cut that goes down highway 79-44 and somewhere, where the road said go straight, and there was no straight, and I took the paved road, I got lost. Wonderfully lost.  I stayed on the 44 and ended up going some way into the Badlands National Park and the grass range before turning back and finding the right road.  The right road led past Wounded Knee, so I stopped there to pay my respects.

The church at Wounded Knee

The site of the massacre at Wounded Knee

Becky!

I headed across the back road to Becky’s, and found her cooking up a feast for after the inipi that was to take place in her lodge out back.  We had wondered if Becky and Dallas could help teach the workshop on Native American healing at the APA Scientific Institute and she told us that she and Dallas and their friend Patrick, another counselor, would be pleased!  And, she said that she would help us connect with anyone who might be Lewis’s family. On account of losing the day to the ditch and the storm, I had one day less to get back, so I didn’t stay at Becky’s even though the temptation was considerable to stay for weeks and learn from her, but I had to obey the call of the road.  So I dragged myself away, heading east slightly sadly into the lonely night, finally stopped at around 11pm but I made up enough time that I have two 12 hour days instead of two 15 hour days.  So I pulled in at the Holiday Inn Express at O’Neill, Nebraska, the Irish Capital of Nebraska!