WAKPAMNI - Johnson E. Holy Rock, 93, of Wakpamni Lake, entered into the spirit world on Saturday, Jan. 21, 2012. Service to the people: That is what Johnson Holy Rock’s life was all about. His career in service began in the United States Army during WWII, and went on to serve his Lakota Oyate as Oglala Sioux Tribe President in 1960. Most recently, Holy Rock used his voice to speak on behalf of the Lakota people as an active member of the Black Hills Sioux Nation Treaty Council. The youngest of nine children, Holy Rock says, “I was born late in my mother’s life. She was in her 60s and I was a surprise to everybody. Nobody expected me. When my mother would tell people that I was her son, they thought she was telling a tall tale.” As a little boy, he lived in a one room log house with a dirt floor. “We did not have any beds, so we spread our blankets on the ground. Which was all right, because in the winter, the heat from the wood stove kept the ground hot,” he remembers. Holy Rock did not have modern toys and playmates, but he created his own recreation by using imagination and playing make-believe. “I was the only player and the only winner, which was all right,” he says with a laugh. And he admits, “I was real shy. I didn’t want to meet people, much less talk to them. I wasn’t gifted with words until I went to school, and then I was more or less intimidated into shedding my shy nature and being more aggressive. And I have never stopped talking since then.” He learned how to speak English at home, but says, “I did not go to school till I was eight years old, and even then the authorities had to threaten my dad to make me go to school. I was sickly and puny and my mother felt sorry for me, and she and my dad wouldn’t let me go to school.” Holy Rock’s sisters went to school and spoke both English and Lakota, and so he learned English through them. Even though he knew the language, he didn’t like school when he finally went. “I didn’t like education and I didn’t want to meet people. I was just a wild Indian. When I would see people coming to visit my folks, I would make a fast disappearance. They would tell them that I was a member of the family, and they would look around and there was nobody. So most people did not know who I was, and I liked it that way.” He graduated from Pine Ridge High School and was drafted into the army in 1941. Basic training was just outside Washington D.C. Most of his army service was spent in the United States moving from camp to camp and participating in wartime training sessions. Holy Rock confesses that he did not like his army training. “Your mind has to be trained to be what you eventually commit yourself to be, and you were taught to kill or be killed. There was no happy medium. You were taught to be a machine. And I didn’t like that way of life. Basically, I’m a peaceful man. I would rather turn my back and walk away than face a violent confrontation. But if there is no other way, then I’ll be what I am: a killing machine.” When Holy Rock returned to Pine Ridge in 1946, it was the same “dust bowl” steeped in poverty that it had been before he left. “It was such a disappointment,” he says. At this point, Holy Rock decided that somebody needed to do something, so he became involved in tribal politics and was Tribal President from 1960 to 1963. “I rubbed elbows with politicians and anybody who would listen to me. ‘We need food; we need clothes; we need good health care; we need this; we need that.’ Our needs were so numerous, it was total discouragement for anybody to stop and look at us,” he laughs. Holy Rock met John Fitzgerald Kennedy and spent a lot of time with him. He even has a picture of himself with President Kennedy that was taken in the Oval Office of the White House, and he is extremely proud of that. “He wasn’t afraid to take a stand. He wasn’t a politician, he was a man,” Holy Rock says admiringly of the former president. Unfortunately, Kennedy was assassinated before he was able to accomplish much in the way of getting improvements on the reservation. “But he lit the spark, and I pounded away at it year after year after year. And finally Congress decided to provide us with houses. If I had not done that, I don’t know what would have happened, because nobody did anything. But fortunately, somebody listened,” Holy Rock continues. Holy Rock says he spoke out for veterans: “A lot of them were injured; a lot of them lost their minds; they lost hope; they lost everything. You can go to White Clay and you can see the lifeless faces of those veterans, and they went through hell. These people have wounds that can’t heal. A lot of them have wounds inside that are not visible. They need help. We better do something.” Holy Rocks says he “kept pounding away,” and, as a result, Pine Ridge built its veterans home. But even before all of this, he played an active part in the interests of the Oglala people. During WWII, when the United States Government wanted to condemn the Badlands so they could use them as an aerial gunnery and bombing range he protested. In the end, the federal court allowed the war department to use the Badlands for bombing targets, but they paid the tribe ten cents an acre to do so. “That was an insult. But it was better than nothing. We still have the land, and for me, that’s what counted,” he laughs. Holy Rock married his high school sweetheart, Amelia Chief, in 1942. The couple had one daughter, Bonnie, who gave them two grandchildren. Holy Rock led a full life and is satisfied that he has done what he could for his people. “I’m glad. I’m happy. I’m ready to go anytime.” But he does have a couple of things he’d still like to accomplish. Survivors include daughter, Bonnie Holy Rock, Wakpamni; two grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren. Visitation will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, Jan. 27, 2012 at Serenity Springs Funeral Chapel in Rapid City. A one-night wake service will begin at 4 p.m. at the Wounded Knee District School in Manderson. Funeral services will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012 at the Wounded Knee District School, with the Rev. Simon Looking Elk officiating. Traditional Lakota prayers will be offered by Mr. Wilmer Mesteth. Burial services will be held at Holy Cross Episcopal Cemetery at Pine Ridge. Arrangements have been entrusted to Serenity Springs Funeral Chapel of Rapid City and Sioux Funeral Home of Pine Ridge.
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