Blog: Oglala Sioux Tribe working to co-manage national park

Monday, February 4, 2013  

"On Memorial Day 2004, a friend and I drove into the South Unit of South Dakota's Badlands National Park, located within the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation on a former gunnery range. We stopped at the visitor center, a dilapidated trailer at one end of a crumbling parking lot, but it was closed. No matter, we thought, we can still hike. Studying an informative sign, we learned that this part of the park is "largely undeveloped and lacks access points such as roads and trails." The sign listed requirements for exploring: Get permission from surrounding tribal landowners, use a four-wheel-drive vehicle, watch for unexploded bombs, and, if you see one, don't pull out your cellphone -- the signal might detonate it. We settled for a stroll down a dirt road instead.

Then we drove to the Wounded Knee burial site. Three Natives came up to tell us about their massacred ancestors, and to ask for money. When we returned to our car, a sedan full of Indian youths pulled in and blocked the exit. They sat in their vehicle. We sat in ours, and locked the doors. After several minutes, they drove off. Thus ended the Badlands National Park experience of two nervous white women."

Get the Story:
Jodi Peterson: Whose land is this? (High Country News 2/4)

Oglala Sioux Tribe looks to benefit from growing tourism industry (8/2)