"The first of five forums and discussions on American Indians issues is done. I left the discussion table feeling after all these years the secret is out, and the story is told.

Yet, the book, "The Dull Knifes of Pine Ridge," which was the center of the discussion Thursday in Barnes and Noble University Bookstore in Grand Forks, barely pricked the surface of what happened to Indians historically.

Joe Starita's book is agonizing and raw. It is the story of a Lakota-Northern Cheyenne family, the Dull Knifes. Chief Dull Knife rode with Crazy Horse, escaped from forced relocation in Indian Territory (what is now Oklahoma) and led his followers on a desperate, 600-mile flight back to his Dakota Territory homeland. The book also is about George Dull Knife, who survived the Wounded Knee Massacre and toured with Buffalo Bill Cody's Wild West Show; Guy Dull Knife Sr., who fought in World War I and took part in the siege of Wounded Knee in 1973; and Guy Dull Knife Jr., who fought in Vietnam."

Get the Story:
DORREEN YELLOW BIRD COLUMN: Seminars on Native culture launch vital talks (The Grand Forks Herald 1/24)

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