The Beer Traveller

I wasn’t planning on stopping anywhere (other than breweries) in Minnesota b/c there didn’t appear to be much worth seeing.  I saw a sign for Pipestone National Monument & figured as long as I’m here, I might as well.  I arrived at the monument about 10 minutes before closing, but the trail would remain open until dark.  I had all of about 30 seconds to check out the the pipestone pipes in the gift shop before having to move outside.  Now I completely understand the cultural significance of pipestone to the Native Americans, but the monument was not worth the stop.

The ranger @ the front desk informed me there was a Sun Dance starting Wednesday & I could grab some pics of tepees between now & than.  He directed me towards a dirt road that would get me up & close.  After traveling down this dirt road & driving through a field, I came upon a lot more than my expected single tepee.  There were several tepees, Indians, sweat lodge frameworks, & porta-potties.  At this point I was feeling rather out of place, but figured as long as I was here, I would snap some pics & be on my way.

I made my way out to last year’s Sun Dance tree and was waved over by a nice woman (Cheryl, I think) who was weeding the ceremonial mound for the pipes.  She got me more up to speed with exactly what was going on.  For those of you who are ignorant regarding the Sun Dance, it varies by tribe but this one is a cleansing ceremony. Men are pierced through the chest & tied to the tree; they than dance for 4 days/nights straight w/ no food or water (& you thought Crab Fishing was hard).  At the end of the dance, their objective is to tear themselves from the tree, thereby ripping their pierced chests open (or breaking the rope).  I don’t mean to be disrespectful as there is a lot more to it, but this is the main focus.  Cheryl recommended I stick around as least for the night if not the dance.

I was pretty focused on hitting the road, but decided to stay for the experience.  They were in the preparation phase & several folks had arrived early to help & hang-out.  Although I felt completely out of place, it was no fault of theirs.  There was a true community feel; everybody was doing their share of work & free food was provided to everyone helping out.  Vehicles, tents, & tepees were scattered.  I even acquired a blister machetteing sticks into tepee stakes.

Everyone was called to the food tent around dusk as Clyde Bellecourt was going to speak.  I had no idea who this man was but he talked of his past, an interesting one at that.  He also talked of the Sun Dance, the fact that it was outlawed until recently, his other Sun Dance experiences, & being Indian.  Clyde too, at age 72, was going to dance the Sun Dance.  Clyde discussed how Indians (incl. himself) have had issues w/ alcohol & how he is now clean & sober.  Now keep in mind…there’s a white kid in the corner w/ a T-shirt that has “The Beer Traveller” plastered on the front.  Oh, did I mention my truck (plastered w/ The Beer Traveller decals) was parked right at the entrance for everyone to see upon arriving.  The great thing is as anti-alcohol Clyde (& others) now are, I never felt judged.

I ended the night around a lantern talking with a few of the others & learning of their stories.  There was one gentlemen in particular that speaked of seeing through a white eagle, black matter oozing, black eagles, being recognized by a red-tailed hawk, being followed by a red tailed hawk (b/c he had a hawk feather in his headband), stealing a bulldozer & driving it to his house, & getting fined for having a turkey vulture in the bed of his truck.  Now who am I say if this really happened?  He also mentioned his 8 yrs in a mental hospital.