Land of ghosts 5

Next up was a visit to the Black Hills Wild Horse Santuary

The guy that founded the place, Dayton Hyde, acquired a sweet piece of land alongside the Cheyenne River. Hidalgo and a couple of other movies have used the property as sets and backdrops. The sanctuary was set up to protect wild mustangs from slaughter, and it now is home to some very rare horse breeds. We took a jeep tour, and our guide talked not only about the history of the sanctuary and the individual horses and their management, but also about the regional plant life and the Native People's use of the land.

We were able to get relatively close to the mustangs. Later, when we rode genuine Lakota Sioux ponies at the Pine Ridge Reservation, we came to a slightly different opinion about the nature and purpose of the sanctuary, and the "wildness" of the mustangs. Nevertheless, the experience was insightful and moving.

The Native People call this section of the Cheyenne the Four Rivers because it flows in all four geographic directions, and is sacred to them.

We were fortunate to be visiting the ranch at the time the Lakota hold their annual Sun Dance. Hyde allows the Native to use the property, which is ironic since they had been holding the ceremony there for centuries before they were forced onto reservations. Standing on this rock outcropping gave me a much deeper sense of the history of North America than any civil war battle field or museum. It's a place where you naturally become silent.

We later learned that there were an number of tribes holding Sun Dances through the region. It's a gruesome test of manhood for the young men, and a chance more generally for the Native People to reconnect and observe their beliefs through ritual. We were directed not to take any pictures as we drove through the encampment.

Mark, our guide, taught us about the importance of prairie sage to the Natives, and he showed us the two varieties of the aromatic herb.

We were also lucky to be at the sanctuary when the foals were still with their mothers.

It was a cool morning.