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Marie Fox Belly
12/18/99
Q: What led up to the massacre at Wounded knee?
The massacre at wounded knee was occurring because the government wanted to put our
people on reservations. By the year, I believe it was 1900 or about that time, they were
all supposed to be on reservations. But they werent
some wanted their freedom
and some loved the land, so you had people who had already settled on the reservations and
you had those who wanted to be free
the hostiles and the friendlies. Of course, the
Minneconju were hostiles, they wanted to be free and loved their land and never signed a
treaty and in that way the government wanted to make sure they were all on reservations,
so they chased them and finally caught up to them near porcupine hill and finally the
killing at wounded knee.
Q: What did the massacre at wounded knee mean to the Indians?
It was in a way telling the Indian people that "if you dont do what we tell
you to do, this is whats going to happen
you will be killed". The
government and the soldiers did not want Wounded Knee or the Ghost Dance because at the
Little Big Horn numbers, there were large numbers of Indian people that were gathered and
so they thought with the Ghost Dance uprising and with um, the Bigfoot band coming to Pine
Ridge, there was going to be another large gathering of Indians. That was an immediate
threat to the government and they didnt want another Little Bighorn.
Q: What did it mean to the soldiers?
The soldiers were young, some of them didnt speak English, and they were
foreigners who had just come into New York or into the United States, and they didnt
speak English. They were also drinking the night before. To them
one of the things,
you have to remember that some of the old officers were at the Little Bighorn, so the old
officers being there and the young soldiers, there was a certain uneasiness, and yet,
there was this air of "Were going to get even". After the massacre, they
heard the soldiers saying "remember Custer, remember the Little Bighorn" and so
it was revenge and the officers would of course instruct the younger soldiers and the ones
who didnt speak English about what happened at the Little Bighorn so it would be a
total revenge and a total victory for the soldiers.
Q: Is that why it was such a massive killing? Was it a statement?
It could be that they were under command by the older officers, but the other thing to,
is it was to teach a lesson to the Indians. "If you dont listen, this is
whats going to happen to you. Another thing was, it was a revenge for the Little
Bighorn and it was also to stop the Ghost dance. The Ghost dance was never a dance of
death, it was a dance of life but to the Wachichu it was a threatening, very threatening
dance.
Q Explain what the Ghost dance is?
The Ghost dance according to my great grandfather Dewey Beard, or Iron hail, and our
family are ghost dancers, he said that it was going to bring everything back. It was going
to, the wachichu were going to disappear into the ground and the buffalo was going to
return. Our dead relatives were going to come back again and we were going to see them .
That means that the onslaught, the coming of the whites would be stopped, that they would
leave, the Buffalo would come back, meaning that our culture, our way of life, our land
and our freedom would come back. Our dead relatives would come back meaning that our
leaders would once more emerge. So in a way it was a return to the old ways and that
was
to them it was good, thats what we wanted.
Q: When you look at that picture of Leonard Colby holding that baby, what do you think
of?
It makes me very emotional, it makes me angry in a way, it makes me feel like crying,
because here I see an Indian child
the picture purity, of innocence, of trusting, of
helplessness being close to a man who represents power, control, and hes cold. And
so there is a sharp contrast between the Indian child and Colby.
Q: Describe the problems lost bird faced
Physically, the way she was nourished when she was taken from Wounded Knee, from her
dead mothers body, from the grandmothers arms at Pine Ridge, she was being
breast fed. So now she was in a place where she was being given a bottle and cows milk,
and see, a lot of native Americans have that lactose intolerance so she faced that.
Spiritually, spiritually whatever was left, whatever she remembered was home and when she
was placed in the arms of a stranger, Leonard Colby, and physically, she would have to
live in a place where she couldnt run, to be active like the Lakota children. She
would have to sit still all the time someplace, so it was just like being placed in
bondage. I dont know how you would call it, but being put in a place where she
couldnt be doing as she would do as an Indian child.
Q: What was Lost Bird lacking?
As she was growing up she was lacking her family, her people and her land. She was
lacking the love, the nourishment and the caring of her people and she was lacking the
language, hearing the language and the songs and the stories and just being close to who
she was. She lost herself, her identity.
Q: Describe some of the same things youve seen.
Its classic, what Ive described and what I know occurs in adopted children
today. Ive worked with a number of them and Ive seen the same thing, the
anger, and the feeling of not knowing who they are and the feeling of not being able to
find their way back. Number one is they know theyre native American, but who do they
belong to? So how do they find their way back? So they suffer in the way that they were
taken at birth, that they had to find out who they are and theyre searching for
their roots and returning, and thats the hard part of it because theres the
reconnecting, the rebalancing, and the healing of the lost birds. But they all go through
the same
I call it the Lost Bird syndrome.
Q: How do they typically deal with those kinds of feelings?
The kind of feelings of being away, first finding out who they are "did my family
love me? Where are they? Who are they? And then uh, they find out who they are, and then
they try to find their way back and a lot of times theyre successful and a lot of
times they arent. The difficult part of that is reconnecting, because sometimes
after being gone for so long , and not knowing their language and culture, they face
rejection. By their natural parents or natural family.
Q: Is there a closure when they do reconnect?
When they finally reconnect there is the healing part of it and that is the part that
is the hardest because thats what takes the longest. There may be years and years of
healing because of all the pain and all the suffering that theyve gone through that
they understand but the natural family does not understand so theres a vast
difference and it takes a lot of time.
Q: What drove Lost Bird to run away as a teenager?
She was running away because she didnt know who she was, she was trying to find
herself. And every child at some point in their life wants to know who they are, and even
yourself, even myself, I know who I am and so Im comfortable. But in the case of
the adoptee, they find out that theyre different from their adopted parents and they
want to know why. Why theyre different, it may be the color of their skin, it might
be something that they do thats different from the family because its inborn
in the way they do things. When they do find that out, they try to get away from that and
to find themselves and thats why they leave a lot and go off by themselves, to find
out who they are and their identity.
Q: What are they really searching for?
12:39 Theyre searching for their roots. Who they are, they feel who they are, but
they have to find their families, their identity, their spirituality, and just trying to
find out that they really are, that they know they are. But people think that this is so
and so its adopted child, but the person themselves know that they dont belong
13:06 so they try to find that place where they belong. 13:08
Q: Describe why some are rejected when they come back.
The feel rejected because they look Indian, and yet they arent. They havent
been taught the language, the culture, the songs, just being with their people and knowing
how they are. There are things that we do that they dont know about and that they
havent been taught and so they look Indian but they arent, and so when they
come home and they try act or behave like how they were taught, it doesnt fit in
with how they look. Again, theyve lost a lot of time being away from their tribe,
their homes, their families.
Q: How does the story of Lost Bird Symbolize the plight of these children?
It symbolizes what she went through as a child, being taken right after the massacre
and after something really traumatic like that and the child being taken by the general to
another place and raised differently. Thats what each adopted Indian child goes
through each day and its really sad, they dont come home the same. They have
been damaged from the time that they have been taken from the arms of the mother, from the
home, or the tribe, or the reservation. Theres the damage going on and on until
youre totally destroyed and thats where they try to reconnect and rebalance
and heal, but they do suffer the same things that Lost Bird did.
Q: What were the philosophies in the 1800s among white people regarding Indian
adoption?
15:31 I think that that mindset has never changed. Its to take away the
Indianness, to kill the Indianness and save the child. 15:39 and whether you save the
child by teaching it the English language, a second language or religion or for it to
become a productive member of American society, I think that was the mindset then, but it
still occurs today. 16:02 because theyre trying to kill the real person, the Indian
and make it become something that it isnt. 16:11and it still goes on today, and the
saddest part is that its being condoned by our own government. 16:17condoned by our
own state of South Dakota, and laws that have been passed to protect Indian children have,
in a way, been weakened. 16:29 and so today, the children continue to be taken and
continue to search for their roots, who they are
their identity.16:38
Q: (Indian Child Welfare Act) - Are there enough Indian
families out there who are willing to adopt children?
There are Indian families out there who are willing to take the children, but
guidelines and the standards are according to each state and the social services. And the
social services come out and they do an evaluation and they find out if, even in this time
and date, were going into a new millennium, a new century, and its true, but
our reservations, some of them dont have running water. One of the stipulations is
in order for your home to be a good place to place a child is that you have running water,
but yet there could be the parents there and the grandparents who would love that child,
just like it was their own child.
Q: Is that a white thing?
Its a Wachichu standard and, thats going according to their regulations.
They dont understand that the Lakota people are just as capable of loving and
raising children as anybody else, whether they have running water or not. In all fairness
to the children, the running water or not, if theres love, theres nourishment,
nurturing, and care can be given to the Indian child by Indian families, then by all
means, that child should be placed with an Indian family instead of taken away.
Q: How many children do you think this affects in a year?
Thousands. Thousands and you have to take into consideration that we have many tribes
across the country and we have many mothers who have many children across the country and
this has been going on since the Europeans came upon the shores of our continent. Children
were taken, so if you go clear back to that time, you know that thousands and thousands of
children were taken every year and placed in non-Indian homes and there the children
suffered the physical, the social, and emotional abuse at the hands of those people that
they trusted and they had to live with. And it continues, its going to continue if
we dont do anything about it if we dont bring it to light. If we can speak to
it, if we can speak about it and make people aware of it, its going to continue.
Q What would you say to a white couple trying to adopt an Indian baby?
First of all, I would let them know Im not in favor of that because there are a
lot of white children who need to be adopted in our country and they have to look. And one
thing to I would tell them that this is an Indian child. And one thing that, in the
future, one thing about an Indian child in the future when youre raising it and it
grows up and its starting to have problems academically and socially, and its
not behaving, its not excelling at the rate that you expect it to, one thing I would
tell them is that youre going to turn around and blame the child because its
Indian, for not living up to your expectations. So I would have them consider that, but
first of all, Im not in favor of those types of adoptions, because I know
theyre not
maybe about 97% dont work out, theres a few that do that
are favorable. There are a few of them.
Q: Are other tribes aware of these issues?
I call the taking of the children modern day baby snatching, thats what it is,
its genocide but some of the states and some of the tribes are aware they know that
the children are being taken, but they dont know that they can do something to stop
it. That they dont have to allow it to happen, so we have to create an awareness,
let them know that you can keep you children, let them know that there are laws and you
can keep the children within the families and the tribes.
Q: What is the Lost Bird Society about?
The Lost Bird society was founded in memory of Zintkala Nuni the original lost bird,
and its in honor of those children who were taken in 1991, before then and today.
Its in their honor because there are children out there who were taken just like
Lost Bird was taken and who suffered and who have died. And who are continuing the fight
to come back, just like she was wanting to find her own people and to come home. So
its to honor those that are trying to find their roots. Its in honor of those
who have made it home.
Q. How do you feel when you see someone come home?
I feel really, really good. I see them and, I hug them, and tell them Im so glad
youre home, Im so glad you made it back. Theyre happy about it too, but
its like my own child, or its like my own daughter or my own relative
thats come home. And lost bird to me symbolizes the child that is gone, my child and
also symbolizes my relative thats gone and returned. Im still waiting for the
return of other lost birds, and if theres any way I can help, for them to come home,
then Im willing to do that. But I receive phone calls at 2:30 in the morning, late at
night and if I hear their voices and I know that theyre native Americans or Indians
wanting to come home, then Ill do what I can to help them. Ill always be here
to help.
Q: What sort of things have you been able to do?
Ive been able to trace, to find their families, to find out who they are, to find
their families, to call them back and reconnect them with their families. To see them go
home to their families is one of the things that is the greatest fulfillment to me. I
dont ask for anything in return except to see them home, thats the greatest
reward.
Q: How do they feel?
To them, its first "I wonder if I should go. I wonder if they will reject
me?" But when they finally meet their family, its tears
tears of joy and
tears of relief being home.
Q: Tell us about reburial customs?
Repatriation and reburial is just bringing back of something that was taken, and that
could mean an article of clothing, a religious article of clothing, it could mean some
personal belonging
a child. To bring home the Lost Bird was reburial and
repatriation, but it was also symbolic, that you can bring home a child from where
its buried underneath all these things and you can bring it home and to return it.
And as far as the religious articles and personal belongings of our people that were
taken, repatriation is a very important issue, because its a return of that thing to
where it came from. Recently we had a ghost shirt that was returned from Scotland and one
of the things that I really felt strongly about and I told the people on the radio in
England and to the people in Scotland is its like taking a part of the popes
clothing and taking it away and then its sacred, and the ghost shirt is sacred to us
just as much as the popes clothing is to them. To return it is very important and so
you take a part of spirituality, a part of religion, and bringing it back is making it
whole.
Q: Does it make you whole?
It makes me feel like not totally whole, but its a start. Its an
understanding and its also helping others to not be so ignorant about things, the
culture, and the language, the traditions, what we consider sacred, what we consider to be
part of us. Anyones belongings that you make with your own hands, it could be an
article of clothing thats beaded, it could be an arrow or a moccasin, the person
that made it, or it was made for, it is a part of that person until its taken away.
Until its returned then in a way, its beginning to make a healing, to make
things whole. For me I always think its good, the beginning of that healing process.
Q Why was Lost Birds reburial so important?
Lost Birds reburial was historic, it was very historical, it had been never done
before, and so some of the leaders told us it had never been done before. "And so we
dont think it should be done". But in our hearts, especially myself, how I
felt, as a mother and as an aunt and as a sister and as a Lakota woman, if we needed to do
these to make a change so we could continue to bring home what is ours and to especially
bring a lost bird home, we needed to do that. We prayed a lot about it. And we didnt
just go out by ourselves, we had a lot of guidance, and through a lot of prayer, we were
able to accomplish that, and it was history, history of our own tribe and it was also
history of the United states, because they saw that she had come home. After a long while
of being away, so for me, I felt good about it. I didnt realize it was such a
different thing until we did it. And I was told, and it was different, but we did it.
Q: What was the trip to California like?
It was supposed to happen in December of 1990, one hundred years after the massacre,
and it didnt happen. I always felt there was a reason why. Finally when we found out
she would be coming home in July, I didn't know that either until we had gone over
there. As we were flying home there was an eclipse of the sun. The same year that she was
taken from our people there was an eclipse of the sun, and she was returning to our people
there was an eclipse of the sun, so in many ways it was very spiritual...it was very
special. I felt nervous, anxious it was really a good trip, it was very spiritual, it was
a good journey. There were a lot of people, a lot of coverage on TV and in newspapers, and
I didnt expect that. Then when we got into Rapid City, again, we had TV coverage, we
had newspaper coverage at the airport, I didnt expect that. Then when we got back to
the mass grave site, we had the bigfoot riders, we had people from the Cheyenne River
reservation, we had people from Rosebud, Pine Ridge, Rapid City and we had the press. And
I was nervous and yet it needed to be in order for people to know that it happened. And I
was surprised, but Im glad it went the way it did.
Q: How did it bring closure to Lost Birds life?
It brought her home. She wanted to be home, she was taken from that place, then she
came home looking for her mother, all her life, she came home several times, but she never
stayed, because she never fitted. She didnt know the language, so bringing her home
was fulfilling her wishes. Her wish to be home. And we couldnt bury her as close to
her mother as we could, but we got just as close as we could, and to me that means her
cycle, circle is complete and then to go forward. We founded the Lost Bird Society so, we
know that wherever she is, she knows what other lost birds are going through, so in a way,
she probable has a hand in helping us to be able to help them, the lost birds.
Q. Are there false accounts of (wounded Knee?)
There are a lot of accounts that are romanticized, some might be accounts that are
wrong, but yet they are written, and when they are written, even though theyre
wrong. I know a lot of the people who have personal accounts and who know, dont
really write a lot of books, we dont mention it a lot. A lot of what is written is
not the right account, but it is written and people believe it.
Q: Whats the biggest misconception?
That the massacre was a battle. It isnt . It was a massacre of babies, pregnant
women, old ladies and old men. And it was a massacre of unarmed men who were put in a
council circle and fired upon until some of them died right away, but some didnt so
they laid kicking and rolling in their own blood until they died. And then the guns were
turned on the women and the children and they were shot. It was terrible, and so it was
not a battle, it was a massacre. The other thing I dont agree with is that the
soldiers were given medals of honor. Those medals should be rescinded and taken back,
because in both WWI and WWII there were never that many medals of honor given to soldiers,
and that includes Korea and Vietnam. Mostly it was to hush up the soldiers, to keep them
from telling the terrible thing that happened at wounded knee. It wasnt medals of
merit, it was because they had killed innocent people, and they knew it, and in order for
them to not say too much about it during the court martial afterwards, they were given
those to be quiet.
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