{"id":11757,"date":"2021-05-21T09:37:58","date_gmt":"2021-05-21T13:37:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indianz.com\/News\/?p=11757"},"modified":"2021-05-21T09:37:58","modified_gmt":"2021-05-21T13:37:58","slug":"native-sun-news-today-city-welcomes-lakota-people-for-days-of-76-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/indianz.com\/News\/2021\/05\/21\/native-sun-news-today-city-welcomes-lakota-people-for-days-of-76-event\/","title":{"rendered":"Native Sun News Today: City welcomes Lakota people for Days of ’76 event"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\r\nFamily members of the late Days of ’76 Parade Grand Marshal David Bald Eagle continue to take part in the annual tourism and history event in Deadwood, South Dakota. Photo by Talli Nauman \/ Native Sun News Today<\/figcaption><\/div><\/div>\r\n
Days of \u201976 includes Native focus<\/div>\r\n
By Darren Thompson<\/div>\r\n
Native Sun News Today Correspondent<\/div>\r\n
nativesunnews.today<\/a><\/div>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nDEADWOOD, South Dakota — The Days of \u201976 Parade and Rodeo<\/a> here has been growing over the years, and now its sponsors\u2019 interest in the inclusion of Native American culture is, too.

<\/p>\r\nThe annual event began in 1924 to feature Deadwood\u2019s history. It tells how gold seekers and their followers founded the northern Black Hills mining town in 1876. Thousands of people rushed in here during the 1875 Deadwood Gulch stampede when prospectors hit pay dirt. These settlers named their camp Deadwood after the dead trees in the gulch.

<\/p>\r\nThe storied past comes to life at the Days of \u201976 through a week of events featuring parades, a nationally acclaimed rodeo, and recently, a stage venue focusing attention on the Native Lakota culture. For the July 26-31, 2021, celebration, the city has booked Native talent at centrally located Outlaw Square, a new public venue on the corner of Deadwood and Main streets.

<\/p>\r\nIn the future, Deadwood hopes to host a powwow during the week of Days of \u201976, giving participants heightened opportunities for immersion in Black Hills history and culture, according to Mayor David R. Ruth Jr.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n \u201cIt\u2019s important to understand, especially for visitors, that Deadwood is very supportive of the Lakota people,\u201d he told the Native Sun News Today.

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<\/P>\r\nPrior to the 2020 completion of Outlaw Square facilities on the former site of Deadwood\u2019s City Hall and the Deadwood Theater, Lakota and other talent performed next to the rodeo grounds at Ferguson Field \u2014 the home the Lead-Deadwood Gold-diggers football team –, and a long walk from downtown.

<\/p>\r\n\u201cHaving our Lakota talent featured at Outlaw Square gives visitors a chance to experience Lakota culture who might not make it to the rodeo,\u201d said Deadwood Historic Preservation Officer Kevin Kuchenbecker. \u201cIt\u2019s important to the city, our residents and visitors to experience Lakota culture during our biggest event of the year, and I think we will continue to see that grow.\u201d\r\n

<\/p>\r\nIn recent years, the event committee has ramped up its planning with local talents such as Dallas Chief Eagle, Warren \u201cGuss\u201d Yellowhair, and the family of late David Bald Eagle<\/a>.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n\u201cI like to participate in the Days of \u201976 event to give visitors a glimpse into our past as Oceti Sakowin Oyate, better known as the Great Sioux Nation,\u201d said Oglala Sioux tribal member Yellowhair. \u201cWe need to show them that we are still alive in the Black Hills area and it is important for people to know the descendants are still here representing\u201d the People of the Seven Council Fires, also known as the Lakota, he said.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nYellowhair takes part in the Days of \u201976 parades with his family, always singing the American Indian Movement song as the processions move along Main Street.\r\n

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David Beautiful Bald Eagle, 1919-2016. Photo by Steven Lewis Simpson \/ Neither Wolf Nor Dog<\/a><\/figcaption>\r\n

<\/p>\r\nFor his part, David Bald Eagle dressed in full ceremonial regalia to lead the parades for at least five decades until his passing at the age of 97 in 2016. Chief David, as he liked to be called, was a decorated Mniconjou Lakota warrior and part of an ample cast of local characters who formed the image of an Old West frontier town that sustains the tourism industry of the locale.\r\n

<\/p>\r\nLong before gold prospectors, the Black Hills were the homelands of the Lakota people. At the time of the town\u2019s founding, it was in Indian Territory as recognized by the 1851 and 1868 treaties of Fort Laramie. The United States signed the treaties with the Oglala, Mniconjou, and Brul\u00e9 bands of the Oceti Sakowin, as well as Yankton Dakota and Arapaho, to end the Indian wars.\r\n

<\/p>\r\n The negotiation established the Great Sioux Reservation including Native jurisdiction over the Black Hills. The U.S. government agreed to punish anybody who violated the terms that reserved the territory to its original population.\r\n

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