By Garry Rowland, Sr., Lakota
Censored News
I am a descendant of Chief Fire Lightning who was one of the principal chiefs when the Oglala settled the Pine Ridge Reservation.
I come from a long line of traditional family and Treaty people and was given a good upbringing.
In 1887, when the Allotment Act was passed, Chief Fire Lightning was given the land where the mass murder took place. After the massacre of our relatives, the U.S. government asked Fire Lightning if they could bury them on his land and he said, “Yes. Those are our relatives.” My maternal grandfather, Alec Ice was a well-respected person and as a Full Blood he owned a small ranch and was self-sufficient and a devout Treaty person. Growing up as a child there were many Treaty meetings held at my grandpa’s house and I remember many old chiefs and old traditional people.
In 1887, when the Allotment Act was passed, Chief Fire Lightning was given the land where the mass murder took place. After the massacre of our relatives, the U.S. government asked Fire Lightning if they could bury them on his land and he said, “Yes. Those are our relatives.” My maternal grandfather, Alec Ice was a well-respected person and as a Full Blood he owned a small ranch and was self-sufficient and a devout Treaty person. Growing up as a child there were many Treaty meetings held at my grandpa’s house and I remember many old chiefs and old traditional people.
