150 Years Whitestone Massacre

[ladonna]

North Dakota Holds Whitestone Hill 150th Commemoration Event on August 24

American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association Member Standing Rock Sioux Tribe Takes Part in Commemoration of North Dakota’s Fiercest Clash
between American Indians and White Soldiers
Albuquerque, New Mexico (August 20, 2013) – American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association (AIANTA) Board Member and Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Tourism Director LaDonna Brave Bull Allard will make a presentation on “Life in the James River Valley” at the Whitestone Hill 150th Commemoration Event on Saturday, August 24, which begins at 9:00 a.m. CST at Whitestone Hill, Kulm, North Dakota.

Sponsored by the State Historic Society of North Dakota and Whitestone Hill Battlefield Historical Society, the event will include stations throughout the day for Dakota life ways, food demonstrations, military life and settler reenactments, Dakota drum and dances, Dakota War history and more. Food vendors will also be on site for lunch and refreshments.

“The 150th Commemoration of the Whitestone Massacre should always be remembered so this never happens again,” said LaDonna Brave Bull Allard, AIANTA Board Member at Large and Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Tourism Director. “This event changed my people forever; we lost our lives, our homes, our land and most of all, our center. I remember my great-great grandmother Nape Hote Win as a young girl of nine who was shot and survived; my great-great grandfather Tatanka Ohitika who called the buffalo for the people was taken as a Prisoner of War. On this day of commemoration, we begin the long journey of healing by bringing my nation together again as a people. We remember, we pray and we heal.”

Whitestone Hill State Historic Site is where the Sixth Iowa and Second Nebraska Volunteer Calvary troops under Brigadier General Alfred Sully battled with Dakota (Sioux) warriors on September 3 and 5, 1863. The attack on the Two Bears Dakota (Sioux) village at Whitestone Hill was the last battle of the 1863 campaign, and the last major battle between soldiers and American Indians east of the North Dakota’s Missouri River.

On the actual anniversary date, Sept. 3, Dakota and Lakota will gather at Whitestone Hill for a private observance.

A panel discussion will also be held to discuss “Preservation of Whitestone Hill – from the past, present and future.” The panel will include: Whitestone Hill Battlefield Society Board Member Alden Flakoll, Program Director for North Dakota Humanities Council Dakota Goodhouse, AIANTA Board Member and Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Tourism Director LaDonna Brave Bull Allard, Tribal Historian for Sisseton Wahpeton Tribal Historic Preservation Office Tamara St. John, and Historic Sites Manager for the State Historical Society of North Dakota Diane Rogness.

A tentative schedule of events can be found below in Central Standard Time:

· 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. Stations and Demonstrations
· 9:00 a.m.
Opening Prayer by Kevin Locke of The Kevin Locke Native Dance Ensemble

· 9:15 a.m.
Life in the James River Valley by LaDonna Brave Bull Allard
· 11:00 a.m.
The Military Context of Whitestone Hill – Tactics, Artillery and
Non-Combatants by Historian-Archeologist Richard M. Rothaus

· 11:45 a.m.
Remembering Whitestone Hill by Historian Aaron Barth

· 1:00 p.m.
Identity and Story of the Native People of Whitestone Hill
· 3:00 p.m.
Panel Discussion: Preservation of Whitestone Hill – Past, Present and Future
· 4:00 p.m.
Dance by Kevin Locke
· 5:30 p.m.
Buffalo Supper – RSVP required; $10 per person in advance and $15 the day of the event. For more info contact: [phone] or [phone].







Photo credit: State Historical Society of North Dakota


To learn more about:
Standing Rock Sioux Tribe visit
Whitestone Hill State Historic Site visit
Standing Rock Tourism visit www.standingrocktourism.com.

About AIANTA
The American Indian Alaska Native Tourism Association (AIANTA) is a 501(c)(3) national nonprofit association of Native American tribes and tribal businesses that was incorporated in 2002 to advance Indian Country tourism. The association is made up of member tribes from six regions: Alaska, Eastern, Midwest, Pacific, Plains and the Southwest. AIANTA’s mission is to define, introduce, grow and sustain American Indian and Alaska Native tourism that honors and preserves tribal traditions and values.

The purpose of AIANTA is to provide our constituents with the voice and tools needed to advance tourism while helping tribes, tribal organizations and tribal members create infrastructure and capacity through technical assistance, training and educational resources. AIANTA serves as the liaison between Indian Country, governmental and private entities for the development, growth, and sustenance of Indian Country tourism. By developing and implementing programs and providing economic development opportunities, AIANTA helps tribes build for their future while sustaining and strengthening their cultural legacy.

To learn more, please visit www.aianta.org.

[emilylevine]

Remembering White Stone Hill today.
Josephine Waggoner: " I asked my friend Híŋziwiŋ, “Who fired the first shot, the Indians or the whites?” She glared and exclaimed, “Who fired the first shot? What a question! Who fired the first shot?” she repeated. “We were surrounded, there was no time to find out who fired the first shot, they came while we were eating supper. The sun was just setting; we could see their guns and sabers glistening in the red glow of the sunset. The sight meant death and destruction to all of us, I knew!”
Hiŋzíwiŋ continued, “The ponies were run in, and my father threw a raw hide rope; it fell around the neck of a horse that had never been ridden. He put me on the horse and handed me my baby. I put the baby under the bosom of my dress and tightened my belt. He pointed to an opening that was to be made. My father told me to ride fast. As I heard four shots fired, the opening was made, and when the firing stopped for a moment, I rushed for the place where the way was made,” she said. She rode hard for several rods; on looking back, she saw that some desperate woman was hanging to the tail of her horse. She dragged the woman for half a mile, then she slowed down so the woman could let go as they stopped in a draw which led downward to a lake bed. They heard and saw a man was running behind them calling. Híŋziwiŋ told this man to take the horse and go back to help fight. The man swung on the horse and started back to the battle as fast as the horse could carry him."