The Dakota 38 +2
The Dakota 38 + 2 Memorial Ride has begun. Every year since I learned of the Ride and the reason for its existence, I’ve marked my calendar. During that time, I consciously hold energy for the riders — and their intent toward forgiveness and hope — memorializing the atrocity that took place. Annually, I track their journey documented in real-time via a private page on Facebook. They bring a clear message of resilience.
The story is well told through the Dakota 38 documentary produced by Smooth Feather. I’ve now watched it countless times as my own act of respect and grief that something of this nature took place. Each time it stirred something in me that has no words, but much emotion. The Dakota Wokiksuye Memorial Ride was first undertaken December 10–26, 2008, and held at the same time each year since.
In 2005 a dream vision came to Jim Miller, a Dakota Vietnam Veteran — one so terrible that he tried to forget it. He said you have a sense when something was real and “it wouldn’t go away.” What he saw was a dark occurrence in the name of justice, largely hidden in history and unknown to Jim at the time.
On December 26, 1862, at 10 a.m. in Mankato, Minnesota, 38 Sioux warriors were hung in the public square, the largest mass execution in the history of the US. President Abraham Lincoln ordered it so on December 6. Two more warriors were executed the following…
