Travel Volunteering - Pine Ridge Reservation (Days 1-3)

I recently moved back to Muskegon, Michigan for the summer and while cleaning my room at my Dad's house, I found one of my old travel journals. Inside, I kept a day-to-day account of what happened during the first of two trip my friends from First Congregational Church in Muskegon to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. We traveled with the Re-Member non-profit organization, based out of Grand Haven, Michigan, who makes it their priority to work with the people of the Oglala Lakota people to, as their website puts it, "[help] to rebuild relationships, homes, and lives." Re-member makes week-long trips to the Reservation (the Rez) to help with any number of projects, but most of the time is spent on basic home restoration projects. The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation is consistently listed as one of the poorest areas of the United States, and while many volunteer groups visit regions in need and leave, Re-member has made it its mission to continue working year after year, building a stronger community on the Rez. I transcribed my writings from my journal and copied them below. I was 14 years old at the time, so please excuse my lack of writing skills at that age!

Day 1 - August 11, 2000

We left Titus’ house at 8:30. We’re taking four cars. Rev.’s Keith and Ginny Titus, and their daughter Kirstina, are in the first truck with the trailer. We’re behind them. In our van is Keith Koeble, Mrs. Hunt, Meagen, Amanda, Lee, Mellissa, and I. Then betsy and Crystal are in Betsy’s truck with camper. Then in the last car is Cindy Novoselick, Sigrid, Ian, Ben, Brennen, Marc, Alissa, and Becky. We stopped a little bit after Gary, IN, for bathrooms and gas. We stopped in Minooka, IL, for lunch at Subway. I’m pretty bored so I’m listening to my musicals and talking to Amanda and Brennen over the two-way radios. We stopped at a rest area 100 miles east of Des Moines; after all, our four cars were separated. Now we’re back on the road headed for Des Moines. I think we all have got just a little taste of the western heat. It was probably around 95°F and it will only get hotter! We finally arrived in Des Moines. We found the Plymouth Congregational Church, unpacked the trailer, and set up our sleeping bags. All the boys and girls were in the same room. We went around in the vans looking for a place to eat. We ended up at...HARDEES! The food was good, and there weren’t as many flies. After dinner, we had a little devotion time, and then I went down to the gym and played soccer. In doing so, I was barefoot, and slipped on a puddle and fell, and slammed the back of my head into the floor.

Day 2 - August 12, 2000

After showers, a five-minute devotion time, breakfast, and packing the trailer, we got on the road at 7:00am. It is 10:09am, and as I’m listening to my CD player, and now, it’s raining! We ate a hearty brunch at Perkins while Alissa found a bee in her salad! We’re going by the Lewis and Clark expedition’s monument. It looks like the Washington Monument.

Mississippi River

We drove straight through to the Reservation. As we entered the Reservation, we drove through a little bit of the Badlands, and drove through the Indian communities of Kyle, Porcupine, Sharps Corner, and finally Wounded Knee. We are staying at a small church, separated into two rooms (boys and girls) and then there’s a kitchen, and two bathrooms.

Driving through the Badlands

Amanda W. reading in the vans

There aren’t as many bags as I thought. I have confessed my arachnaphobia and “bug-phobia,” and have been constantly teased afterwards. We then, after unpacking, we drove to Pine Ridge (city) for milk and Pizza Hut. There was a group of like five little Indian kids were asking us for breadsticks. After we got back to our church and were told the rules. The hot water is not working so we’ll have to take five-minute, cold showers. Tomorrow morning, we’ll probably get up and going to clean up the Wounded Knee Cemetery. But now only 10 people are still awake.

Day 3 - August 13, 2000

I got up this morning unharmed by bugs. (lol) After breakfast, we drove up to the Wounded Knee Cemetery. We got a little bit of history of the area. We had a communion service with hot dog buns and cherry flavored juice. Then we toured the cemetery. There was a fenced-in area where there was a monument with the names of at least 25-30 Indian Braves who died in the Massacre of Wounded Knee. There was also the grave of Lost Bird, an Indian girl who survived for four days in the snow and when found, she was adopted by an Army official. After being physically, mentally, and sexually abused, she moved to California and became a prostitute. After she died, some of her relatives brought her body back to Pine Ridge [Reservation] to be buried.

Memorial stone in the Wounded Knee Indian Reservation

Our whole group at the entrance to the Wounded Knee Cemetery

Then we came back to the church for lunch (Tacos. Eww!). After lunch, Brennen, Betsy, Keith Keoble, Ian, Lee, Ben, Marc, and I went to St. Albin's Church to organize bunk bed materials. After two hours of vigorous work, we took a half-hour tour through the Rez. We came back to a wonderful dinner of mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, green beans, lima beans, cranberry sauce, gravy, rolls, chicken, and stuffing. Then we "unpacked" (talking about the day). Then we went inside for free-time.

Sunset over Wounded Knee