Bismarck Tribune - North Dakota News - Grave site at Fort Yates in proper hands

Grave site at Fort Yates in proper hands

Jan 08, 2007 - 01:02:02 CST

It was an appropriate act of respect on Friday that the North Dakota Historical Society transferred the rights to a 5-acre plot in Fort Yates to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, with the United States as the trustee.

The site is one of the two locations where the remains of Sitting Bull, a Hunkpapa Lakota holy man, may be buried. No one really knows.

Tatanka Iyotaka’s own people should be guardians of the Fort Yates site, as they were until 1956.

People have differing views on how much reverence to show toward a place, particularly a grave site. There are places that reach out to the human spirit. Bear Butte, in South Dakota, to cite a prime example, is not itself an object of worship so much as it’s a venue of spiritual uplift, as many people would find in a cathedral.

That Sitting Bull’s remains perhaps were moved in 1953 matters, in a sense. Then again, probably not. Graves should be safe from tampering. Whatever happened more than 50 years ago, it’s not the presence of physical remains in the ground at Fort Yates or near Mobridge, S.D., that invokes the memory of a great man.

It’s admirable that the tribe wants to maintain the Fort Yates site in a condition indicating profound respect, and that perhaps the spot could be enhanced in some way while being preserved as a historic site. That’s for the tribe to decide. Plans are being formulated.

Also it’s commendable that two individuals are putting themselves out to improve the other possible grave site, the one near Mobridge. It also should be kept in a condition that honors a connection with Sitting Bull. Whether or not there should be a visitor’s center of some sort on the 40-acre site is debatable. But what shouldn’t even need to be considered is whether the site should become a tourist trap. The owners’ respect for the Lakota spiritual leader, indicated by the fact they’ve committed money and work to a site they want to represent the memory of Sitting Bull, is enough to indicate they wouldn’t come up with anything that’s insensitive or downright tacky.

Alas, other sites with associations to famous personages have not been so fortunate in how their developers have desecrated them. Short of establishing an Office of Good Taste with law enforcement powers, there’s little that can be done about what’s built on private property.

But the memory of Sitting Bull and his spiritual leadership of his people should set the tone for how sites represent him.

The Standing Rock Sioux are in the best position to interpret him to people from all over the world who have a lively interest in a towering historical figure, even 116 years after he was killed so tragically.

News > Opinion

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Comments

Nina Raymond wrote on Jan 16, 2007 6:44 AM:

" Who knows the most accurate account of Sitting Bull's life; I've read several. I want to visit his original burial site, where he was, according to this book, put into the ground with no ceremony. Was it near where he was shot? I am not a tourist, but I feel closely connected to Sitting Bull in many ways. "

ignorance is bliss wrote on Jan 8, 2007 5:28 PM:

" It's no surprise that people would comment on how Native American's should handle certain situations with regards to burial sites. . .I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that both people making comments are Christian's? Correct? With that said, there is also the comment on the gravesite being a "major tourist draw down the road." Of course, this is coming from a people whose forefathers robbed gravesites in the name of science, archaeology and research. Deb. . . thanks for the pat on the back and the supposed sound advice. . . you have it all together, don't you? . . . as for Harold comparing roosevelt's grave to that of a holy Lakota man. . . you've no clue what kind of comparisons you are making. . do you? ? ignorance blinded by your own self-righteousness. . . oh. . and thanks for again for the unwelcomed guidance. signed, a Native who's had enough of self-righteous Christians. . . "

Harold wrote on Jan 8, 2007 11:26 AM:

" Before anyone spends any money on these sites, I think I would want to have the gravesites tested to find out who actually holds the remains of Sitting Bull to make the site legitimate. I'm guessing this could become a major tourist draw down the road, but doubt people are going to venture to a site if they are not sure who is even buried there. Kind of like I build a gravesite in the middle of North Dakota and say the remains of Teddy Roosevelt MIGHT be there...I doubt people would come to my site to honor Roosevelt if the site is not legitimate. "

Deb wrote on Jan 8, 2007 11:00 AM:

" Is it me, or is this editorial a little patronizing, if not down right condescending? "Hey, congrats on getting your sacred site back. Now don't screw it up." "

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