May 11: Bismarck
D,R
- Independent arrivals into Bismarck. Transfer to the Radisson Hotel Bismarck, located in the heart of downtown.
- Accompanying the group from Bismarck to Denver will be Dakota Wind Goodhouse. Dakota is an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and a Native American Studies instructor at United Tribes Technical College, which is owned and operated by the three Affiliated Tribes of Fort Berthold, the Spirit Lake Tribe, the Sisseton-Wahpeton Oyate, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, and the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians.
- Meet in the lobby at 2:00 p.m. to drive to the North Dakota Heritage Center & State Museum.
- Enjoy a welcome reception and dinner with fellow travelers.
May 12: Bismarck
B,L,D
- This morning drive approximately one-hour to Knife River Indian Villages National Historic Site. This area was once a major trading and agricultural area and preserves the historic and archaeological remnants of bands of Hidatsa, Northern Plains Indians. After watching a short documentary, explore the site including taking a 1.3 mile loop trail.
- Driving back towards Bismarck, stop at the Double Ditch Indian Village, a large earth-lodge community inhabited by the Mandan Indians for nearly 300 years (AD 1490 - 1785), and once a center of trade between the Mandans, their nomadic neighbors, and later Euro-American traders.
- Enjoy lunch at Frieds restauarant.
- After lunch drive to the Bismarck Public Library to meet with Dr. Tami DeCoteau, an enrolled member of the Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara Nation and a descendant of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa. Dr. DeCoteau is a clinical psychologist and a Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) practitioner and will discuss historical trauma in indigenous communities.
- Drive a short distance to visit the offices of Cheryl Kary, co-founder of the Sacred Pipe Resource Center (SPRC), a home-away from home for off-reservation Native Americans living in the area. The founders realazed the need for an organization to assist Native people and families who are living away from their homelands, while respecting the sovereign nature of their individual Tribal citizenship.
- Head to the United Tribes Technical College to meet with college President Dr. Leander R. MCDonald.
- Stop at Alley 5.5 and meet artist Melissa Gordon, who created a powerful Sitting Bull image in collaboration with local artist Butch and late local artist Sheila Rieman.
- This evening enjoy dinner at Peacock Alley.
May 13: Keystone
B,L,D
- After breakfast head to the Standing Rock Reservation, home to the Lakota and Dakota people. The reservation consists of a land base of 2.8 million acres spread over North and South Dakota.
- Travel along Highway 1806, the Standing Rock National Native American Scenic Byway, an 86-mile route that climbs up and down the Missouri River breaks, and runs past buffalo herds and eagle's nests. Unspoiled by much of anything man-made, the road winds around hills and knolls and offers sweeping vistas across vast swathes of golden-colored fields.
- Stop at the community of Cannon Ball and meet with Phyllis Young, a former council member for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, she was one of the principal coordinator/organizers for Central Oceti Sakowin camp, the main camp of Water Protectors at Standing Rock. She is currently an organizer for the Lakota People's Law Project, a nonprofit law firm providing legal defense to water protectors in the aftermath of the Standing Rock DAPL struggle.
- Walk together to a viewpoint and see the statue that was installed to honor all those that made Sacred Stone Camp their home. The movement that camped here became the largest historical inter-tribal alliance in American history, with over 200 tribes represented.
- Visit the original burial site of Sitting Bull, who was assassinated on the western part of the reservation on December 15, 1890. Sitting Bull was a strong advocate for maintaining the land, rights and ways of the Lakota people.
- Close by is Standing Rock Monument. The name of Standing Rock derives from a stone held sacred by the Dakota/Lakota people. There are many stories about the revered stone, but all speak of it as a woman or woman and child who turned to stone.
- Drive to Fort Yates, the main town of Standing Rock, and enjoy a locally prepared lunch at the Community Center. We have invited members of the Standing Rock Tribal Council to join us.
- Later pass through the Cheyenne River Reservation and stop to meet with Julie Garreau, executive director at the Cheyenne River Youth Project, which was founded in 1988. This grassroots, not-for-profit organization is dedicated to providing the youth of the Cheyenne River Reservation with access to a vibrant and secure future through a wide variety of culturally sensitive and enduring programs, projects and facilities that ensure strong, self-sufficient families and communities.
- Continue on to Keystone and the K Bar S Lodge, tucked deep in the Black Hills. The hotel has views over Mt. Rushmore, an iconic symbol to many, but a painful reminder to the original inhabitants - the Lakota - of sacred land illegally annexed and as a celebration of presidents involved in the destruction of tribal life.
May 14: Keystone
B,L,D
- Depart this morning for the Pine Ridge Reservation. Stop first at Kyle, and the inspiring Thunder Valley Community Center, which began 10 years ago when Jerome and Nick Tilsen and several of their peers decided they wanted to "create models of change that will overpower intergenerational poverty and build momentum towards regional equity." Meeting the group will be Antone Morrison, the new Community Engagement Coordinator at Thunder Valley.
- Head toward the town of Pine Ridge, stopping at the site of the Massacre of Wounded Knee in 1890. The "battle" was actually a massacre where hundreds of unarmed Lakota women, children, and men, including Big Foot, were shot and killed by U.S. troops. The history of Wounded Knee would spur American Indian Movement (A.I.M.) activists to occupy the site in 1973.
- After lunch meet with Chase Iron Eyes, a Native American activist, attorney, politician, and a member of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. He is also a member of the Lakota People's Law Project and a co-founder of the Native American news website, Last Real Indians.
- This afternoon meet with members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe at their tribal council offices. The Oglala Sioux Tribe has about 48,000 tribal citizens. Approximately 32,000 OST citizens live on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, one of the nation's largest reservations.
- Stop at the Red Cloud School, a private, Catholic, K-12 school run by the Jesuits in Oglala Lakota County. It serves Oglala Lakota Native American children on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Although the campus will be closed, the Heritage Center hosts an annual Red Cloud Indian art show, which brings together indigenous artists from all over the country. The Heritage Center will be open and we will stop to look at some of the art they have on display.
- Return to Keystone passing through the Badlands National Park.
- This evening meet with Sequoia Crosswhite, an enrolled member of the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and a descendant of Chief War Eagle and Chief Swift Cloud. He is an accomplished musician, grass dancer and historian, and his handmade flutes and musical recordings uphold the traditions of his Lakota ancestors. There will be a chance to share his music with him tonight!
- Dinner at the hotel this evening.
May 15: Denver
B,L
- Stop at the Wind Cave National Park, an important spot in the Emergence Story. In Lakota culture history is passed down to new generations through the spoken word. There are many different versions of the Emergence Story, varying from band to band and family to family.
- Prior to entering the cave, we will be able to watch a recorded presentation by Sina Bear Eagle, a member of the Oglala Lakota tribe, about the cave as the site of the Emergence Story, which is part of the larger Creation Story.
- Continue by road to Torrington, Wyoming for lunch with the Bread Doctor.
- After lunch drive for about another two and a half hours to Boulder to meet John EchoHawk, a Native American attorney, founder of the Native American Rights Fund, and a leading member of the Native American self-determination movement. The Native American Rights Fund is a non-profit law firm dedicated to protecting indigenous rights in the U.S. and around the world. EchoHawk has centered the Fund's focus around preserving tribes, protecting tribal resources, protecting human rights, ensuring government responsibility, expanding Indian law, and educating people about Indian issues.
- Continue on to Denver and the Downtown Renaissance Hotel, which was once the Colorado National Bank and features a series of murals focusing on early Indigenous history painted by mural painter, Mr. Allen True.
- Dinner is at leisure.
May 16: Del Norte
B,L,D
- Dakota Goodhouse will be leaving the group this morning and we will be joined by Bird Red, a Southern Ute tribal member and a Ute singer who works at the Southern Ute Community Center. Bird was part of the documentary Spirit of the Peaks, a film about the struggle for balance between two worlds. Bird Red will be with the group for the duration of the tour.
- This morning meet with Danielle SeeWalker, a Húnkpap, a Lakota, and a citizen of Standing Rock Sioux Trie in North Dakota. She is an artist, writer and activist. Alongside her passion for creating visual art, Danielle is a freelance writer and recently published her first book titled "Still Here: A Past to Present Insight of Native American People & Culture."
- Head to the offices of the American Indian College Fund, which invests in Native students and tribal college education to transform lives and communities. The fund was founded in 1989 and has been the nation's largest charity supporting Native student access to higher education. The College Fund provides scholarships, programming to improve Native American student access to higher education, and the support and tools for them to succeed once they are there. Meeting us will be Janna Steig, who will talk about their work.
- Depart Denver and drive just over an hour and a half to Fairplay for a very quick lunch.
- After lunch drive through spectacular landscapes stopping at the Great Sand Dunes National Park, home to the highest sand dunes in North America. The mountains, forests and dunes in the park are sacred to the Apache, Navajo, Ute, and Pueblo Indians.
- Continue on to Del Norte and the Windsor Hotel, one of Colorado's oldest hotels. Its constructions started soon after the town was founded in 1871.
- Enjoy dinner at the hotel.
May 17: Ignacio
B,L
- This morning drive about two hours to Chimney Rock, an intimate, off-the-beaten path archaeological site located at the souther edge of the San Juan mountains. The site was home to the ancestors of the modern Pueblo Indians 1,000 years ago, and is of great spiritual significance to these tribes. (Our visit is subject to the site being open, which is scheduled for mid-May).
- Continue on to Bayfield and lunch at Hong's Garden, which is located in the heart of the Pine River Valley.
- After lunch head to Durango and Fort Lewis College. About a third of the FLC student body is Native American or Alaskan Native. Meeting the group will be Michael Watchman (an enrolled member of the Navajo Nation) who studied business management at Fort Lewis College.
- Drive to the Southern Ute Cultural Center and meet with museum educator, Raelynn Torres. Designed by Jones & Jones Architects who fashioned the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian, the exceptional architecture and beauty of the building and landscape incorporate cultural symbolism and a connection to the land.
- Continue to Ignacio and check-in to the Sky Ute Casino Resort, located on the Southern Ute Reservation. The oldest continuous residents of Colorado are the Ute Indians, who came into the present day United States along the eastern slope of the Rocky Mountains.
- Dinner is at leisure this evening.
May 18: Ignacio
B,L,D
- This morning meet with Linda Baker, a member of the Southern Ute Tribe and a Sky Ute Tribal Council member. Apart from having a wealth of experience and knowledge about the Southern Ute tribe, Linda is a talented deader and she specializes in Ute regalia and Bear Dance accessories for men, women, and children.
- We will bring a picnic lunch with us to the Southern Ute Community where Bird Red will provide a tour.
- After lunch meet with the staff at the Southern Ute Drum, the tribe's biweekly community newspaper.
- Enjoy a farewell dinner this evening at Fox Fire Farms, a small winery producing handcrafted wines.
May 19: Ignacio
B
- Independent transfers for return flights home from Durango.
Trip Price
Per person double occupancy: $6,120
Single supplement: $1,240
Included
- Accommodations as noted in the itinerary
- Breakfast daily
- Meals as listed in the program including a welcome and farewell reception and dinner with wine
- Sightseeing and excursions as listed
- Entrance fees to all exhibits, museums, parks, etc.
- Transportation in a deluxe motor-coach with air-conditioning
- Services of a tour manager and subject expert
- All gratuities
Not Included
- Airfare to Bismarck and from Durango
- Transfers to and from arrival and departure airports
- Luggage charges
- Drinks excluding at welcome and farewell receptions
- Personal insurance for health, baggage and trip cancellation
- Items of a purely personal nature
- Any items not specifically listed as included
This tour is based on a minimum of 15 travelers. Should we fail to reach that number a small group surcharge of up to $300 per person may apply.