~ 37 ~
The next day travelers remount for the eighteen mile journey to
Beaver Valley. The hallowed historical sight marks one of Crazy
Horse’s favorite camps and is also the last place where his body
was seen.
Here, the youth are taken to see the burial tree Crazy Horse was pla-
ced inside. They are challenged to remember how hard he fought
for the Lakota Way and they spend a night of ceremony, tradition
and honoring.
After a day of rest, the riders embark on the fourth day over the last
twenty seven mile stretch of the journey to the Pine Ridge Reser-
vation.
When Brewer began the ride, he didn’t realize that it would become
an annual event. Initially, he planned it for one year, but that stret-
ched to four years because of the youth’s enthusiasm.
“Whenever the Lakota do something in the Sacred Way it is a four
number, Brewer explained. “The ride changed from one year to a
four year commitment”. At the end of the fourth year, the partici-
pants gathered at the Powwow Grounds, where the elders and spi-
ritual leaders speak. Brewer thanked everyone there, saying, “This
is it. We did four years. It was great!”
The youth responded resoundingly, “You mean it’s over? No! This
is our life! This is what we live for all year for this one time of the
year!”
Impassioned by their pleas, Brewer agreed to make the ride a per-
manent event, “As long as you want to do it, I will keep it going.”
The youth have thanked him by filling eighty percent of the two
hundred riders each year. By doing that, they added a third aspect
to the Crazy Horse Ride. The ride still honors the veterans and the
commitment of Crazy Horse to the Lakota Way of life, but it now
also serves as a yearly rite of passage for Lakota youth.
The key to the actual success of the Crazy Horse Ride has been the
youth, Brewer said. “It’s been good for the youth. They struggle in
a place of poverty, gangs, drugs, alcohol and everything that comes
with that. Youth that are in trouble with gangs and stuff go on the
ride; it shows them something else to do – a different alternative.
A lot of kids grew up on the ride and it prevented them from going
down the wrong path.”
A generation has grown up participating in the event credit staying
substance free, excelling in school and doing well in their adult
years to the Crazy Horse Ride.
Unity between the Lakota and outside communities has become an
integral part of the event. It has been said that this event builds the
participants into a family. If it were not for the generous investment
of those participants who believe in the value of the mission, the
massive undertaking it requires would not be possible.
Source:
