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Chicago Sun Times / April 2008

Touching Indian Ways

Go Native America / Tour lets you walk in footsteps of history

as seen by America's earliest inhabitants 

By Devan Stuart

“People always ask me, ‘What was Crazy Horse like?’” says Serle Chapman, standing in two-foot-tall prairie grass dappled with wild sage and heather and backed by Bear Butte, the Plains Indians’ most sacred of places. A group of eight tourists from across the U.S., England and Australia listen, spellbound, despite the frigid October mist. “I tell them, ‘I think he was beautiful.’”

Perhaps not the word that most would use to describe this iconic Lakota leader. But then most have heard only of Crazy Horse the warrior – not Crazy Horse the romantic who willingly gave up his Shirt Wearer (war leader) status to ensure the protection and gentle treatment of the woman he loved. Neither Hollywood nor the mainstream publishing industry is likely to tell you such stories – at least not accurately. That’s why Chapman and wife Sarah founded Montana-based Go Native America (www.gonativeamerica.com), offering an exhaustive series of tours that take participants deep into Indian Country to experience firsthand the sights, sounds, tastes and histories of America’s first inhabitants. A primary aim is simply to contest what many call the “bastardization” of the Native experience. Yet, for many participants, the result is a journey not just physical, but emotional, spiritual and often life-changing. 

Described by the Associated Press as "one of America's fifty most influential writers", Chapman is the best-selling author and photographer of  seven books, including Of Earth and Elders, the award-winning Promise: Bozeman's Trail to Destiny, and We, The People, which includes a forward written by former President Bill Clinton. A tireless supporter Native youth and education programs, Chapman has received commendations from US and world leaders including Nelson Mandela, Vice President Dick Cheney and Senators John Edwards and Ben Nighthorse Campbell. His own forebears include legendary frontier scout Amos Chapman and Mary Chapman, also known as Long Neck Woman, the daughter of Southern Cheyenne Chief Sleeping Bear and adopted daughter of Chief Stone Calf. Go Native America is listed in National Geographic Traveler’s “50 Tours of a Lifetime” and Chapman made Wanderlust Magazine’s top six tour guides worldwide.

Chapman’s knowledge of America’s indigenous peoples and their histories is surpassed only by his passion for sharing it. So it’s no surprise that the Chapmans go out of their way to bring tour participants as close as possible to walking in the very footsteps of people whose stories they’re hearing.

My group’s 13-day journey, titled “Elk Medicine,” took us to various locales in South Dakota, Nebraska, Wyoming and Montana, via a rented passenger bus and one-night stays at Best Westerns, Holiday Inns and one-room cabins in valley of the Badlands National Park. It began with an entrance into the Black Hills in the traditional Lakota way – through Buffalo Gap, South Dakota, population 164 according to the 2000 census. Here, among what is now a National Grasslands property boasting 591,000 acres of prairie intermingled with rocky badlands, herds of buffalo entered the Hills on their migratory journeys centuries ago.

“The landscape here seems to pulse with a heartbeat,” tour participant Jan Yoxall wrote of the experience in her Southeast England-based blog (www.medicinebowlcafe.blogspot.com). “It speaks to those who take the time to listen and as Serle relates the Lakota stories to us, the wind suddenly builds up as if reinforcing what he is telling us, then it disappears suddenly.”

Chapman’s stories here included that of the Native American’s way of capturing buffalo and bison for meat, hides and bones. Men would chase the herds over cliffs known as “buffalo jumps” and often called “pishkuns,” from a Blackfeet word meaning “deep blood kettle.”  Lying in wait below were the tribal women, who would slaughter the animals as they crashed all around. Hides were used to make clothing, blankets and lodge coverings. Bones were carved into tools and tendons were used in sewing or to make bowstrings.

Here, Chapman also shared the Native version of the story of the Battle of Little Big Horn, better known as Custer’s Last Stand. It’s true that the famed US Army Cavalry Commander was outnumbered, outmaneuvered and outsmarted by a massive coalition of Sioux, Cheyenne and Arapahoe warriors led by Sioux chiefs Crazy Horse and Gall and by the Hunkpapa seer and medicine man, Sitting Bull. You’ll find that account in any history book. But oral histories among the Native peoples suggest that it was actually a group of tribal women who finished off the flamboyant Custer.

The day continued with a walk through Custer State National Park in search of wild buffalo and elk, and a visit to Wind Cave, revered as the Lakota Nation’s place of genesis. And our group ended our first evening with the He Sapa Wacipi-Black Hills Powwow, a virtual kaleidoscope of color, culture, music, dance and drumbeats. 

Throughout the trip, we would visit many places of interest and places of reverence: the Museum of the Fur Trade, where a faithful reconstruction of pioneer James Bordeaux’s original 1937 trading post stands; the site of the original Red Cloud Agency; the grassy, tree-lined field where the Treaty of Fort Laramie was negotiated, guaranteeing Lakota ownership of the Black Hills – a promise broken when the US Congress illegally seized the land in 1877 after gold was discovered; and the Medicine Wheel in the snowy reaches of the Big Horn Mountains, an ancient place of prayer and meditation.

Several stories and stops drew deep emotionally – particularly our visit to Wounded Knee. Several of us stood sobbing at the gated edge of the mass grave bearing victims of the slaughter that marks American history’s darkest hour. HBO’s recent Emmy-sweep, “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee,” by the way, won little praise from the locals, who call the film, at best, a fictionalized history.

Guests you’ll meet along the way on a Go Native America tour include people like Ernie LaPointe who, if you believe all you hear, must have more second cousins than anybody on the planet. Seems everyone wants to be the great-grandchild of Lakota statesman, holy man and Sun Dancer Sitting Bull. But only LaPointe and his sisters have the documents and the oral history to prove that claim. As proud of his French heritage as he is of his Lakota lineage, LaPointe shakes his head in frustration at the countless strangers who claim a blood connection to his family.

“I tell them, ‘somewhere in the Spirit World, your ancestor is hurting,’” he says. “’He is sad because you don’t want to be his family. You want to be someone else’s.’”

Our group also met Lakota traditionalist Wilmer Stampede Mesteth, a recognized spiritual leader on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and respected Oglala Lakota historian and educator. Mesteth is an ardent preservationist of Lakota culture who, in 1972, defied religious prohibitions to help reintroduce the Sun Dance. He also has worked to preserve the scalp and victory songs from the Battle of the Little Bighorn and, after 20 years of training and promotion, successfully brought back a traditional Lakota game thought lost to assimilation.

What you won’t get on a Go Native America tour is an ego-tripped oration about how Natives can do no wrong. While Chapman is deeply respectful of all indigenous peoples, he also freely admits the faults of even the most celebrated leaders, both of the past and the present. He possesses an uncanny knack for describing characters in ways totally relatable in today’s terms. His stories of Red Cloud, for instance, vividly illustrate the Lakota war leader as a powerful motivator, a shrewd politician, a heavy-handed negotiator and an ingenious international trade leader whose abilities would rival any political or corporate powerhouse on the scene today.

The scenes of modern reservation life stand in stark contrast to the untouched beauty of the lands surrounding them. Poverty, addiction and suicide rates are far greater among America’s indigenous peoples than among any other group living within the nation’s borders today. Several in my tour group bought hand-beaded necklaces from three women who lived, along with 14 others, in a two-bedroom mobile home near Wounded Knee – a small but appreciated gesture followed by vows to do more to help.

Perhaps it’s the heartbreaking histories and the ongoing hardships that make us all better appreciate the immeasurable value of the lands that Native Americans hold in such reverence. Nowhere is that more evident than the place where our tour group spent its last day – Tongue River Canyon. Here, Crazy Horse would find respite for days at the time, among the brilliant colors of the foliage and the lullaby-like sounds of the stream. It is a scene indescribable – like stepping into a painting, and, like Crazy Horse himself and those who lived, love and fought alongside him, beautiful.

Getting There: Most Go Native America tour participants will begin their journeys in Rapid City, S.D., a 13.5-hour drive or average five-hour, one-stop flight from Chicago. No rental car needed. A Go Native America guide will pick you up.

Staying There: Go Native America makes all lodging arrangements for you and aims, where possible, to patronize tribal- or locally owned hotels or camps. Those hoping for a trip-back-in-time experience will enjoy itineraries that include overnight stays at the Tipi Ranch on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation.

Playing There: The adage 'When in Rome' does not always translate in Indian Country. The people you'll meet are more than happy to share stories and customs. But participation in certain ceremonies is limited to tribal members only. The authentic, Native American-made arts and crafts, as well as the experiences shared by special guests, are amazing, so bring extra cash for purchases and tips. Pack light, as luggage space is at a premium. And by all means -- try the buffalo taco.

For More Info: Visit www.GoNativeAmerica.com or pick up any book authored by Serle Chapman, listed among America's 50 most influential writers by the Associated Press, or Vine Deloria, Jr., called one of the greatest religious thinkers of the 20th century by Time magazine.