Facebook Twitter Email
JULY 11, 2000

Ahead of schedule and filled with jubilation, walkers on The Journey of the Sacred Hoop completed the final leg of their cross-country tour, arriving in Washington, DC, this past weekend.

The three-and-a-half-month journey has taken the group from Los Angeles, California, through New Mexico, through Cherokee Country in Oklahoma and North Carolina, as well as many points in between.

A core group of 25 walkers, sometimes reaching as many as 100, walked a total of 4,292 miles to reach their goal. Throughout their journey, they carried with them a hoop made out of 100 eagle feathers, symbolizing some of the walk's goals, which include wellness, sobriety, and an end to family violence.

On Sunday evening, the group held a ceremony at the Iwo Jima Memorial in the Arlington National Cemetery. They were joined by the Ira Hayes Color Guard and 17 dancers from the Gila River reservation in Gila River, Arizona. The ceremony paid tribute to veterans of World War II.

Ira Hayes, a Pima man from Gila River, is buried at the cemetery. Along with five other soldiers, he help raised the United States flag on the island of Iwo Jima in 1945, an image forever ingrained in the minds of many Americans.

On Monday, the group marched to other veterans memorials during a sunrise ceremony. They carried the hoop to the Korean, Vietnam, and Vietnam Nurses Memorials, honoring veterans of those wars as well as those from the Persian Gulf war.

The rest of the day was devoted to a conference focused on strengthening families. Susan Masten, president of the National Congress of American Indians, and Kevin Gover, Assistant Secretary of the Interior, Bureau of Indian Affairs, spoke at the event.

The event was just one of many conferences held throughout the walk to promote wellness and healing. Sponsored by White Bison, a non-profit corporation founded and led by Don Coyhis (Mohican), various conferences have focused on domestic violence and prevention, drug and alcohol abuse, fatherhood, boarding schools, teen suicide, fetal alcohol syndrome, women, and Native leadership.

"It was such an honor to make this walk for the people," said Coyhis yesterday. "There response was way beyond what we thought it would be."

Even though the physical walk has completed, Coyhis says the journey will continue with an emphasis on the group's web page. He is calling for groups around the country with successful wellness programs to share them with others via the White Bison web page.

"Indian country is healing," said Coyhis.

Relevant Links:
White Bison, Inc. - www.whitebison.org
Ira Hayes - www.artnatam.com/utaylor/n-ut008.html