SIOUX FALLS, SD (KELO) — Over a century ago, nine children from the Rosebud Sioux Tribe died while attending the Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania. Now, so many years later, those children have now been returned home.
The children were brought home July 16, and that same day an event was held in their honor.
Delmer Forgets Nothing is the co-founder of the local Rosebud running club Sicangu Oyate ki Iyanka, which means ‘Run For the People.’ The club organized a 100 mile relay prayer, and Forgets Nothing says the purpose was to honor the nine children who were brought home.
The relay run began in Whetstone, SD and ended at Sinte Gleska University in Antelope, SD on the Rosebud Sioux Reservation.
“We started in Whetstone, SD where the 9 children were taken & put on a barge and sent to the Carlisle Indian School in Pennsylvania, where they died away from home, away from their families.”
Delmer Forgets Nothing
Those children: Lucy Take the Tail (Pretty Eagle); Rose Long Face (Little Hawk); Ernest Knocks Off (White Thunder); Dennis Strikes First (Blue Tomahawk); Maud Little Girl (Swift Bear); Friend Hollow Horn Bear; Warren Painter (Bear Paints Dirt); Alvan (Kills Seven Horses); Dora Her Pipe (Brave Bull).
Forgets Nothing says that the youngest members of the club started off the run, and the club was joined for the final mile or two by members of the Boys and Girls Club of Rosebud, the youngest of whom were a pair of 8 year olds, Cecilia and Justin. “It was fitting,” he says. “Kids running home for the kids — helping bring their spirits back home.” Forgets Nothing says the oldest runner was 60-year-old Ben Smith of Pine Ridge.
“It was tough and emotional,” he says “but we helped each other get through it.
Forgets Nothing says that they even had runners help from different reservations, such as Pine Ridge and Standing Rock.
“We want to thank all the runners who put in miles, all the supporters who gave us rides when needed, the supporters who gave us water or Gatorade & snacks or cheered us on when we ran by. The police escort we got from Winner, SD. It was all very appreciated.”
Delmer Forgets Nothing
