MSA Trip to Pine Ridge Reservation (Oct. 2-8, 2015) by Claire Christerson

Communication Arts presents a visit to our

Sister School Little Wound High School

Pine Ridge Reservation Kyle, South Dakota October 2nd â&#x20AC;&#x201C; October 8th

** Students must be a Level R or L to go on this trip (Mill Springs policy). They do not have to be a Level R or L to sign up for the trip. All but the airfare is refundable for this trip if for any reason your student can’t attend. If you are wondering whether you should take a chance on signing up, give me a call. If you need more time to pay, I can work with you, but I must have a firm commitment to go by the deadline date. I keep costs down by buying non-refundable airline tickets. We’ll visit Mount Rushmore, The Crazy Horse Memorial, Red Cloud Indian School, the Wounded Knee Massacre Site, meet the President of the Oglala Lakota people, tour Oglala Lakota College, take a tour of the Badlands, and meet the wonderful Oglala staff, students, and families from Little Wound High School, and enjoy some of the most beautiful landscape in America This is the opportunity to see some of the most important sites in United States history and meet the Oglala Lakota people in person.

Dates of trip: Cost of trip: Full payment due date:

Friday, October 2nd- Thursday, October 8th, 2015 $1,670.00* Friday, September 4th

*This includes round trip air fare, food and lodging, and all entrance fees.

Chaperones: Mill Springs’ staff members (Kay Morrison, Chelsea Michelson, and Carol Adams) will accompany students to all destinations, and be housed in close proximity to them. Transportation: Rental vans driven by staff from Rapid City to Kyle and back again.

Lakota Prairie Ranch Resort

Our Sister School, Little Wound High School Over the last two years, we’ve developed a special relationship with the Lakota students at Little Wound High School. We are learning to speak their language, we’ve studied their history, we have skyped with them, and been pen pals. Now we get to visit their high school and get meet our friends in person.

We’ll attend a basketball game, sit in classes with our fellow Mustangs, have some Q and A sessions, and be treated to a Fry Bread feast from the Lakota community. Their Lakota singers and dancers will also perform for us. Our students will not only have the opportunity to immerse themselves in the beautiful Lakota culture, but they’ll be able to connect as teens. We’ll be working on some joint projects to benefit both schools.

Visits with Lakota Leaders Students will meet with the President of the Lakota tribe, and find how present-day Lakota govern themselves. Pictured here are Comm Arts staff members with our guide (left) Young Man Afraid of His Horses, and Oglala Lakota tribal President Bryan Brewer. Sadly, Ed passed away during the summer of 2014. Students will have the chance to sit in a real sweat lodge (we won’t light any fires). They’ll also learn about vision quests, and their spiritual importance to the Lakota people.

Oglala Lakota College Our students will enjoy a lecture from a professor of Lakota history from the college. Then we’ll tour their historical center, which features the history of all the great leaders of the Sioux nation.

Mount Rushmore, South Dakota The Mount Rushmore National Memorial is a sculpture carved into the granite face of Mount Rushmore (Lakota Sioux name: Six Grandfathers) near Keystone, South Dakota, in the United States. Sculpted by Danish-American Gutzon Borglum and his son, Lincoln Borglum, Mount Rushmore features 60-foot sculptures of the heads of four United States presidents: George Washington (1732–1799), Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), Theodore Roosevelt (1858– 1919), and Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865). The entire memorial covers 1,278.45 acres and is 5,725 ft. above sea level. Mount Rushmore has become an iconic symbol of presidential greatness and has appeared in works of fiction, and has been discussed or depicted in other popular works. It attracts over two million people annually. South Dakota historian Doane Robinson is credited with conceiving the idea of carving the likenesses of famous people into the Black Hills region of South Dakota in order to promote tourism in the region. Robinson's initial idea was to sculpt the Needles; however, Gutzon Borglum rejected the Needles site because of the poor quality of the granite and strong opposition from Native American groups. They settled on the Mount Rushmore location, which also has the advantage of facing southeast for maximum sun exposure. Robinson wanted it to feature western heroes like Lewis and Clark, Red Cloud, and Buffalo Bill Cody, but Borglum decided the sculpture should have a more national focus and chose the four presidents whose likenesses would be carved into the mountain. After securing federal funding through the enthusiastic sponsorship of "Mount Rushmore's great political patron", U.S. Senator Peter Norbeck, construction on the memorial began in 1927, and the presidents' faces were completed between 1934 and 1939. Upon Gutzon Borglum's death in March 1941, his son Lincoln Borglum took over construction. Although the initial concept called for each president to be depicted from head to waist, lack of funding forced construction to end in late October 1941. Mount Rushmore is controversial among Native Americans because the United States seized the area from the Lakota tribe after the Great Sioux War of 1876. The Treaty of Fort Laramie from 1868 had previously granted the Black Hills to the Lakota in perpetuity. Members of the American Indian Movement led an occupation of the monument in 1971, naming it "Mount Crazy Horse". Among the participants were young activists, grandparents, children and Lakota holy man John Fire Lame Deer, who planted a prayer staff atop the mountain. Lame Deer said the staff formed a symbolic shroud over the presidents' faces "which shall remain dirty until the treaties concerning the Black Hills are fulfilled."

Crazy Horse Memorial Story of Crazy Horse Memorial Sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski and Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear officially started Crazy Horse Memorial June 3, 1948. The Memorial’s mission is to honor the culture, tradition and living heritage of North American Indians. Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation demonstrates its ongoing commitment to this promise by following these objectives: 

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Continuing the progress on the world’s largest mountain sculpture, carving a memorial to the spirit of legendary Lakota leader Crazy Horse and his culture Providing educational and cultural programming to encourage harmony and reconciliation among all people and nations Acting as a repository for Native American artifacts, arts and crafts Establishing and operating the Indian University of North America

Storyteller in Stone

Crazy Horse sculptor Korczak Ziolkowski and Lakota Chief Henry Standing Bear dedicated their Crazy Horse Memorial dream on June 3, 1948. Korczak’s remarkable family is motivated by their individual and collective dedication, determination and courage to carry on his work.

Crazy Horse Museums and Collections A large tipi, painted by the late Lakota artist Paha Ska, is a central attraction in the INDIAN MUSEUM OF NORTH AMERICA. There also are hundreds of small, finely detailed items. Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation. When Korczak accepted the invitation of Native Americans to carve a mountain memorial to their culture, he determined that it would be a humanitarian project. He wanted Crazy Horse to be much more than “just” a colossal Mountain Carving. He directed that the Memorial also would tell present and future generations the story of Native Americans by displaying outstanding examples of Indian culture and heritage – both of yesterday and today. The museum has grown with the project. Each year, tribal members and others contribute Native American art and artifacts to enhance the collection and make it more comprehensive and representative of all North The Center hosts and encourages many hands-on activities including: setting up a Lakota style tipi, Lakota games (shinny/field hockey, hoop toss, whipping top game, bone and pin game, whirling bone game and hand games.) Guests are encouraged to participate at the “make and take” activity table which provides detailed instruction on how to make Lakota crafts such as miniature drums, medicine pouches and par fleche designs. Each item has written and drawn explanations of its cultural significance and usage in order to teach the proper cultural respect. Staff and vendors provide instruction in American Indian history and culture through storytelling, flute playing, song and dance, as well as information regarding contemporary issues affecting tribal nations today. Native American artists from all over North America spend much of the summer in residence at Crazy Horse, where they are provided space in the Cultural Center at no charge. They are able to create and sell their work while interacting with visitors, which provides a valuable cultural exchange for both parties.

Badlands National Park Millions of years of wind, water and erosion have created the chiseled spires, deep canyons and jagged buttes of Badlands National Park in South Dakota. On-going rains, freezes and thaws have revealed millions of years of sediment that paint a colorful landscape on the prairies of southwestern South Dakota. When the Lakota first encountered the striking, moon-like landscape, they aptly called the area “Mako Sica” or “bad land.” Early French trappers also described the area as “bad land” after difficult travels over the rugged terrain. Today, visitors to Badlands National Park in South Dakota can explore this natural wonder on foot, on horseback or by car as they travel the scenic loop or roam the many trails.

Badlands Wildlife Covering 244,000 acres, Badlands National Park in South Dakota is one of the largest protected mixedgrass prairies in the United States. The park, located south of Interstate 90 between Exits 110 and 131, is home to many species of wildlife including bighorn sheep, bison, the swift fox and the endangered blackfooted ferret. Antelope and deer are commonly seen roaming near roadways and picnic areas. Antelope, bison, and deer are commonly seen roaming near roadways and picnic areas. More than 64,000 acres of the part are designated as wilderness. Badlands National Park contains the world's richest deposits of fossils from the Oligocene epoch.

Paleontology in the Badlands Paleontologists have uncovered the remains of ancient three-toed horses, tiny deer-like creatures, turtles, a sabertoothed cat and other creatures who survived in ancient times on these lands.

The South Unit Approximately half of Badlands National Park lie within the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and contain several sites that are considered sacred to the Oglala Lakota. The National Park Service and the tribe work closely together to co-manage and protect this part of the park. During World War II, the South Unit area of Badlands National Park was used by the United States Military as a practice aerial bombing range.

Wounded Knee Students will visit the site of one of the most tragic events in American history, the massacre at Wounded Knee. The site is marked with Lakota prayer flags, and is still used today as a sacred burial ground. The Wounded Knee Massacre (officially Battle of Wounded Knee) occurred on December 29, 1890, near Wounded Knee Creek (Lakota: Čhaŋkpé Ópi Wakpála) on the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in the U.S. state of South Dakota. On the day before, a detachment of the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment commanded by Major Samuel M. Whiteside intercepted Spotted Elk's band of Miniconjou Lakota and 38 Hunkpapa Lakota near Porcupine Butte and escorted them five miles westward to Wounded Knee Creek, where they made camp. The remainder of the 7th Cavalry Regiment arrived, led by Colonel James W. Forsyth and surrounded the encampment supported by four Hotchkiss mountain guns On the morning of December 29, the troops went into the camp to disarm the Lakota. One version of events claims that during the process of disarming the Lakota, a deaf tribesman named Black Coyote was reluctant to give up his rifle, claiming he had paid a lot for it. A scuffle over Black Coyote's rifle escalated and a shot was fired which resulted in the 7th Cavalry's opening fire indiscriminately from all sides, killing men, women, and children, as well as some of their own fellow soldiers. The Lakota warriors who still had weapons began shooting back at the attacking soldiers, who quickly suppressed the Lakota fire. The surviving Lakota fled, but U.S. cavalrymen pursued and killed many who were unarmed. By the time it was over, more than 200 men, women, and children of the Lakota had been killed and 51 were wounded (4 men, 47 women and children, some of whom died later); some estimates placed the number of dead at 300. Twenty-five soldiers also died, and 39 were wounded (6 of the wounded would later die). At least twenty soldiers were awarded the Medal of Honor. In 2001, the National Congress of American Indians passed two resolutions condemning the awards and called on the U.S. government to rescind them. The site of the battlefield has been designated a National Historic Landmark.

Lakota Sioux – Crying for a Dream The Lakota Sioux word for vision quest is Hembleciya (ham-blay-che-ya). The word Hembleciya translates to “Crying for a Dream.” This refers to the “quester” both physically and internally crying for a Vision or Sacred Dream. Sometimes this ceremony is called “going up on the hill,” because people would often go to a nearby mountain or butte to complete their vision quest. Typically the quest is completed deep in nature, far away from civilization. The person on the vision quest either chooses or is told the location for their quest. They are also instructed in all preparations and on how many days and nights the quest will last by a Medicine Person (aka Holy Person). This Medicine Person will guide the quester in all aspects of the ceremony and provide spiritual support and guidance. Before a vision quest is started the quester is purified in a sweat lodge, often over many days. On the day of the quest they start their fast at sunrise. They also forgo sleep and food. They give up all that it takes to live in the physical world and rely on the strength of spirit to sustain them for the duration of the quest. The quester is purified one last time in a sweat lodge ceremony and then taken to the designated place of the quest. There they will stay without food, water or sleep for one to four nights. During this time the person focuses their heart, mind, body, and spirit on the guidance they are seeking. They must overcome their earthly wants and desires and face their human nature to fully receive the Vision. Upon completion of the quest they are brought back to a sweat lodge. There, the quester speaks of his or her experience to a Medicine Person who provides spiritual guidance and interpretation of the Vision. The Medicine Person helps the quester understand his or her experience. The Vision that is received will provide guidance to the person for the rest of their life. Some people are called to do many vision quests over the course of their lifetime.

Pine Ridge Reservation Application Form Mill Springs Academy, Communication Arts Department

Student Name:_________________________________ Age:______ Sex:______ Home Phone: _________Work Phone: __________ Cell Phone:______________ Emergency Contact: Name:_______________________ Phone:______________ I, the undersigned, hereby give my child_____________________________, permission to travel with Mill Springs Academy on a trip to the Pine Ridge Reservation in Kyle, South Dakota from October 2nd-8th, 2015. I understand that my child will be rooming with other students of the same sex at Lakota Prairie Ranch Resort, and that a chaperone will be housed in close proximity to my studentâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s room. I also understand that chaperones will accompany students to all events, activities, and meals. The chaperones act only as guides for the students in regard to travel whether by railroad, motor coach, private car, boat, aircraft of any other conveyances and assume no obligation for injury, damage, loss, accident, delay, or irregularity which may be occasioned either by reason of defect in any vehicle, through the acts of default of any company or person engaged in conveying the students or in carrying out the arrangements of the tour. Mill Springs Academy and the tour leaders can accept no responsibility for less or additional expenses due to delay or changes in schedule or other causes, including without limitations weather, strikes, war, flight delays, mechanical failure, or any act of God. The right is reserved to decline to accept or retain any person as a member of any tour or to change or withdraw the tour as circumstances demand. All rates are based on prices in effect at the time the tour was planned and are subject to change in the event of adjustment therein. The student waives any and all claims against Mill Spring Academy and its associates for any damage to or loss of, property, or injury to, or death from any act of negligence of any airline, hotel, or any person rendering any of the services or accommodations included. Permission is hereby granted to the representatives of Mill Springs Academy, to authorize emergency treatment when unable to locate a parent. I understand that I will be responsible for expenses of such medical care.

Health Insurance Company:_________________________ Policy Number:__________________ ** Please include a photocopy of your current insurance card.

Signature Custodial Parent/Guardian:______________________________ Date:_________

Mill Springs Academy 13660 New Providence Road Alpharetta, GA 30004-3413 Phone (770) 360-1336 Fax (770) 360-1341 Ann Hardin (Nurse): ahartin@millsprings.org

AUTHORIZATION TO ADMINISTER MEDICATION STUDENT_______________________________________________

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I request that Mill Springs Academy administer the following medication/s to my child while he/she is participating in the___________________________________ field trip. I understand that an MSA teacher will administer all medications on this trip following the instructions provided below. I understand that the teachers are familiar with each student’s medication/s and have been instructed by the nurse on the administration of said medication/s. __________________________________________ Parent/Legal Guardian __________________________________________ Phone Number NAME OF MEDICATION: