FYS: Storytelling, Identity, and Social Change - The Pine Ridge Community Storytelling Project lyrics

Aaron Huey has been photographing life in South Dakota on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation for the last eight years. He started the project when he was thirty and finished at approximately age thirty-eight. The project is a "Witness of Life" posted on the Cowbird website. Huey hopes to inspire other artists to give communities a voice by the production of his project. This community based storytelling project is unique to others because the people who are writing these stories tell us of an event that their ancestors lived through instead of a direct experience. The Battle of Wounded Knee was an event from the 1800s, and the people of this reservation tell stories of how this day effects their lives in the present. The storytellers speak of the difficultly to preserve their native culture. Some people, especially the Elders, are still angry and hostile towards what the government did to their people. "Reservations are the government's last laugh... They left us to rot, and wither away... It is a constant struggle to keep out culture and language." This quote is taken from the project and clearly portrays the anger this woman felt about the history of her people and connects it to her life in the present. The quote below starts to introduce some old forms of respect. The respect is crucial to the community, and the Elders are in charge. Inclusion of close friends and relatives is highly encouraged in the Pine Ridge community as seen in the quote, "It was a perfect day... It was her first birthday. Food: One table was just the elders. I called it the Elders Council. Another was Grandmothers mix up!... The reason for the day, the food, the gathering and the relatives laughing and joking. It was to celebrate the first year of her being among her relatives." The people in this community come from centuries of traditions and culture, they have been brought together during war time when they are having to defend themselves. For the project, people of all ages are interviewed and asked questions about their lives on the reservation. Along with each story comes a picture to match the story's description. It gives spectators of the project visual cues of the community on the reservation. Stories of creating life, becoming one through marriage, traditional hand games, and the conflict of Wounded Knee all contribute to the authentic feel Huey brings to the project. However, to give the project a modern spice, Huey incorporates some newer lifestyles of today's teens like the game of basketball. Many different stories are added to the community storytelling project. Some shorter than others, but people of all ages were able to step forth and speak their minds and add their personal voice. "We were on our way back from Wounded Knee. Cruising by the Ma**acre monument was an everyday thing for those of us growing up here. I thought I should take a real picture with the snow blowing so cold, just like that day, just like the day my people were slaughtered... I caught 2 warriors, modern day warriors as we rode around the reservation. 2 long haired Lakota boys... still alive. They were alive. We are alive... The Lost Boys of Wounded Knee shall always live." The presence of their ancestors is still evident through the picture captured. The story the quote is taken from shows the connection people feel with their ancestors. The men described in the story above are detailed as true warriors from the Sioux Indian Tribe centuries ago. The people of the community chose the story they wished to tell, and each deals with the history or the making of history of this tribe. People great and small can read about this project and learn about these people as a whole. They can see what the natives are like and how the Indians interact together, and the traditions that still hold from long ago. A camp incorporated young children with the old art of bow making. Colliding the two aspects of the reservation helps continue and maintain old traditions and customs. "Oglala Lakota College put on a bow making camp for kids in the area...It was amazing to see their creations and to watch them get really into it. It made me feel extremely happy to see the youth getting involved in our culture." The quote gives an adults perspective on the mixing of young children with old traditions and lifestyles. The stories the people in the community tell suggest they want to relieve themselves of the anger they have kept within for so many years. They hope to let the world know what happened to them as a people and community. While Huey shows the beauty he finds while on the reservation through his pictures, he also hopes to inspire the world to create these projects for other communities lacking a dominant voice.