Issue link: http://bluemagazine.uberflip.com/i/25044
- June 16 - Bear Butte to Oelrichs, South Dakota (1 18 Miles) Chief Red Cloud begins the race with a morning prayer. "It will be hard and painful," he says, "but, the Black Hills are yours and I will tell the others [with in the Lakota Nation] that you are running for them-running to return Paha Sapa to the Lakota." He ends with the traditional conclusion to prayers, "Mitakuye Oyasin" (pronounced mee-tak-u-ay oh-wah-sin), meaning "we are all related." Russell Little Spotted Horse, 17, ann'ounces he will run the first leg before telling the driver of the pickup to turn up the song on the radio. One of the tattoos on the back of his hands reads "SIOUX" while the other spells "AIM," the acronym for the American Indian Movement. It is rumored that he is wanted by the Indian authorities for gang-related activities but no one will say so for su re. Russell runs hard and easily creates a sizable lead during the first two-mile leg. He reaches the pickup breathing heavy and hands off the to Fred Brings Him Back. "Told you," he says short of breath. "I told you. I'd take him." Runners alternate in two-mile rotations down a long dirt road pass ing the team Lakota Oyate staff from one to another. After the first hour, we are clearly in the lead. The six young men in the truck relax a little and boa of our running. Some of them know each other while others seem to be strangers. After a few more relay rotations, a conversation begins. They tal about a hoops whose chief is clearly Michael Jordiln. Fred Brings Him Back replays a favorite move, "No, best dunk was definitely over Starks if) April. Left, spin and rig "Yeah," Dave Brings Plenty, Jr, counters, "but Starks later that same game." Each morning at least one of the runners wears an NBA . or (ioN' • Chicago Bulls earring as he runs around the Red Track. To see young, strong men of color succeeding and becoming famous clearly captures their col lec tive imaginations and keeps the satellite dishes tuned nightly to ESPN. By mid-afternoon the team runs along highways and through small communities. CB radios inform the runners of the other teams' progress and the pace is quickened. The tone of conversation gets more serious and the running much harder. Bewildered tourists and indifferent truckers pass by and the staff moves southward from runner to runner. That night we camp at Angostora Dam. Over dinner, David Brings Plenty, Sr, tells a few of us that this is where Lakota men on horseback drove buffa lo over cliffs. The buffalo, he says, symbol ized "Lakota existence on the central plains. [They provided] nourishment, clothing and folklore." - - - - June 17 - Oelrichs, South Dakota, via Nebraska, to Lusk, Wyoming (1 08 miles) The race moves the teams toward Ft Roberts, Nebraska, where Chief Crazy Horse surrendered during a truce after successfully holding a ten-year resis tance in the unceded Indian Territory. On September 6, 1877, he was stabbed in the back while being held by the US caval ry. The Lakota camp like any group of families would camp in 1997, but imagine a campsite on the grassy knoll in Dallas or where your ancestors were killed. Running through here is a chilling reminder of the past. Thunderstorms hold off and the run continues through the Nebraska plains in a pre-dawn cold. You wonder what you are doing stand ing next to a highway waiting for a buffalo staff. You stop wondering when