Reuben Fast Horse, Hunkpapa Lakota magician. Photo by James Giago Davies
World’s only Lakota magician
Multi-talented Reuben Fast Horse brings street corners to life
By James Giago Davies
Native Sun News Today Correspondent
nsweekly.com RAPID CITY –– In the sound of a flute the ancient past beckons the human ear. Even if you are walking at a distance, that sounds filters through all other distractions, the rush of wind, the honking car horns, the beehive buzz of human activity, even the focused thoughts of your own mind. Somewhere up the downtown Rapid City sidewalk, over the tops of parked cars, and under the jut of business signs and storefront awnings, the sound of a gentle flute draws you to the source, a barefoot man, dark hair drawn back tight in a braid from an intelligent, reflective Lakota face. Beggars and panhandlers and street hustlers have laid claim to city street corners all across this country, but clad in the black robe of the Marist brothers who befriended and inspired him as a youth at Red Cloud Indian School, Reuben Fast Horse is none of those things. You can spend a fortune and a lifetime journeying to the far flung corners of the planet, and you will not find a more interesting man. All you have to do is stop and talk to him, and you can often find him playing his flute downtown, in front of the Prairie Edge building. Reuben is more than just a street corner flutist. He is a traditional Lakota dancer, a juggler, a magician, an educated man with a technically astute comprehension of the Lakota language. If you can’t find something interesting to talk with him about, then there’s probably something boring about you.
Read the rest of the story on the Native Sun News Today website: World’s only Lakota magician (Contact James Giago Davies at skindiesel@msn.com) Copyright permission Native Sun News
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