In Her Own Words, a Volunteer Shares What Drew Her to the Race to Winterize and an Enduring Memory:

I was drawn to this as there is some history of my family coming out as settlers to the far-west and some interaction there that I took for normal growing up - not really realizing the history. As I’ve learned more about that it’s led me to feel that I have a debt here. So, I poked around trying to find appropriate opportunities because I have a sensitivity of groups that go into communities to impose what they think is best for them. Tipi Raisers sounded to me like it was making efforts to be grounded in cooperative decision making with those who live here on Pine Ridge and has a track record of having been here for quite some time.
The highlight of the weekend for me was having Mary Weasel Bear join us as we delivered donations across the reservation. Mary provided an informative tour and was able to convey how to honor the space. She shared her family history and expressed her hurt - the personal and historical hurt. But she also expressed hope in the sentiment that “We’re here, yes this all happened but we’re here in modern times and we’re here to stay!” Mary stressed how important it is that people are properly educated on both the past and the current realities on the reservation. It was a tearful moment for me, hearing Mary speak at Wounded Knee, both heart-breaking and heart-opening. – Karen, Volunteer from Boulder, CO