Oh, Great Spirit
Whose voice I hear in the winds,
And whose breath gives life to all the world,
Hear me, I am small and weak,
I need your strength and wisdom.
I seek strength, not to be greater than my brother,
But to fight my greatest enemy–myself.
Make me always ready to come to you
With clean hands and a clear conscience,
So when the storm comes,
My Spirit may come to you without shame.
Lamentations of Chief Yellow Lark, Lakota Sioux, 1887
Yellow Lark, a Lakota Sioux Chief, wrote this lamentation in the midst of severe persecution by U.S. 7th Cavalry soldiers during the division and segregation of the indigenous tribes who were, at that time, inhabiting the southwestern portion of what is now South Dakota. Unable to come to peaceful resolution, the years-long ordeal ended with the epic massacre that took place at Wounded Knee where more than three hundred Lakota Sioux men, women and children were executed by U.S. soldiers when they refused to be relocated to the Pine Ridge Reservation.
Yellow Lark’s lament was a divine plea to let peace and understanding prevail–even in the midst of severe persecution. Peaceful until the end, Chief Yellow Lark remains an iconic figure among the Lakota Sioux peoples to this very day.
Sadly, Wounded Knee still remains in the midst of the storm. With the average family income hovering near $12,000 annually and an unemployment rate exceeding 80%, Wounded Knee is located in the poorest county in the United States.
Thunderheads on the Great Plains, near Wounded Knee, SD
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