Crazy Horse Memorial hosts veterans honor ride

Lakota horseback riders from the Pine Ridge, Standing Rock and Cheyenne River reservations teamed with non-Native American riders to lead a July 4 ceremony at Crazy Horse Memorial that honored military veterans and service personnel.

The commemorative event, the first of its kind at the memorial, saw the group carry U.S. flags presented by families wishing to honor one or more living and deceased relatives. The roll call included 64 names, a partial listing of a long line of people deserving recognition, said group spokesman Charles New Holy of Oglala.

The ceremony capped a 120- 140-mile ride that started June 29 from Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and other points by members of the A’ki’ci’ta Sung’akan O’kola’ki’ciye (Lakota for “Warrior Horse Society”) and the O’maka Tokatakiya (Future Generations) riders.

“It was a hard journey and you know it was grueling, but we made it,” said one of the organizers, Jeremiah Young Bull Bear of Kyle. “We’re a family in a way. It’s those hardships that bond us together. It’s what creates that social connection. They always say those (hard) situations either bring out the best in you or the worst in you, and in this sense it brought out the best in everyone here that rode, in the families and everybody who participated because the one goal was to reach this mountain. We did it with honor, we rode with honor, and we did it for our veterans and for the people who couldn’t be here.”