Well that was a bit of a Wild West meeting.
We’d not seen Oglala meetings announced ahead of time until this one. Since many of the descendants are Oglala (not just this family) we loaned them our zoom so they could include everyone. KLND radio from Standing Rock was also patched in and we were live and having open discussion. A couple of people said things that were directed at us and which needed to be addressed so I spoke up. I told them that if families had been respected in the first
Place there would never have been a need to respond publicly. I also said it is a shame that the photographs being circulated are of the wrong man. And I said one family should not be decided for all of the families what happens to these. I said we absolutely do have proof that our family are lineal descendants of Spotted Elk and I have the documents including their probates here I can screen share with you all. I just ask that you share your family trees also. I said to put it simply
If I came to the funeral of one of your family members and said well I’m just going to take a lock of hair, their pipe and their clothing and I’m going to burn them then I’m pretty sure you would respond in exactly the same way.
Then I said we want to work together but we have extended an olive branch again and again only to be smacked with it. So we’re doing it again but we want to work together respectfully and address the larger issues that are down the road. Thanks for listening to me.
So they said they didn’t know how the flyer got posted in the Lakota Times but that this was their family meeting and they didn’t want zoom.
So we respected that and the meeting was closed. I had called the past two days, all four numbers on the flyer and said we would rather speak directly but no one responded, of course.
So.. that’s where we are. But at least people there heard the truth, for once. All meetings should be public. We asked if they’d hold one for all WK descendants
@gls it is not easy but we think, in time, it will be better for everyone to face the truth. There's important work to be done and this, unfortunately, is a distraction from that. We hope that someone neutral will be appointed.