Vietnam and Wounded Knee veteran Anthony Bush with his sacred pipe. The Lakota tradition has it that the White Buffalo Woman brought the Chanunpa to the people, to serve as a sacred bridge between this world and Waken Tanka, the “Great Mystery.”

Two Lakota men return from collecting water from a nearby stream in preparation for the second sacred Lakota rite, the Inipi; the rite of purification.

The Inipi (Sweatlodge) is the second sacred Lakota Rite. Inipi means "to live again” and it is the rite of purification. This particular rite is done before any significant undertaking to cleanse the mind and spirit. The Inipi rite will help the vision seeker to enter a state of humility, thus undergo a spiritual rebirth of sorts.

Dorothy Sun Bear lives in a small trailer on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. Since the untimely death of her oldest daughter, Dorothy helps care for 8 children, three of which are her own. Her monthly income is $623 from a disability check. As a life long resident of Wounded Knee, she flies her American flag upside down which signifies a nation under distress and also in defiance towards the U.S. government for not honoring the Black Hills Treaty of 1868.

Painted over graffiti of a grim reaper with the words "Lakota, Death Ahead." Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, SD and Whiteclay, NE border

Whiteclay was originally part of a 10-mile-wide, 5-mile-deep buffer zone created in 1889 to protect the reservation from whiskey peddlers. President Theodore Roosevelt returned all but one square mile of the land to the public domain in 1904, and alcohol merchants flocked to the area.

Until 2017, Whiteclay, Nebraska had the highest per capita alcohol sales in the U.S. The village has only 10 residents. Yet its four beer-selling stores sold about 4,500,000 cans per year. That’s over 1,200 12-ounce cans per resident per day. Beer sales equaled over a quarter million dollars per resident per year. And some years much more beer was sold. This income and profit was made possible by the self-imposed alcohol prohibition at the large Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

The “Skid Row of the Plains” is now a dry town.

Suicide attempts mark the wrists and forearms of this Lakota teenager.

"Gin Rich," is painted on the ceiling of a former alcoholic and Vietnam veteran suffering from PTSD.

HWY 18. Pine Ridge, SD. The Pine Ridge Reservation occupies the entirety of Oglala Lakota (formerly Shannon) County, the southern half of Jackson County and Bennett County. The total land area of the Reservation is 2.1 million acres, with 1.7 million acres held in trust by the United States government. By land area, the reservation is the seventh-largest in the country

Moses, the grandson of a Lakota medicine man harvests the Y shaped "man" which will mark the entrance to the Sundance circle.

Homeless veteran shelter.
Pine Ridge, South Dakota.

At the center of a sacred circle stands a cottonwood tree that was harvested a few weeks prior. The now sacred tree was carried to the site and lifted to where it now stands. Native tobacco known as Chanshasha as well as offerings of flesh are wrapped in clothes of red, yellow, blue and white hang from the branches and are tied with a prayer. Various ropes are tied around the tree trunk; these are used by the dancers when they pierce themselves during the 4th sacred rite of the Lakota - the Wiwangwacipi (Sun Dance).

Sundance scars. The Sundance is one of the Seven Sacred Rituals of the Lakota.

A sacred Buffalo (Tatanka) is bled during a Releasing of the Spirit Ceremony 2-days before Sundance, which is one of the Seven Sacred Rituals of the Lakota. Because of the Tatanka’s great importance to the Lakota, a buffalo symbol or skull is present in all sacred Lakota rituals. The Tatanka stands as a symbol of self-sacrifice, as it gives until nothing is left, a trait that is found in the Lakota warrior. The Sundance signifies the cycle of death and rebirth. This ritual is performed as a sacrifice to help keep the world in balance and to ensure health and happiness within the tribe.

Basil Brave Heart, a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe and a Korean War veteran holds a copy of War and the Soul.

A vast and beautiful land, rich in history and spirituality; where Crazy Horse and Red Cloud once led their people, the Pine Ridge Reservation is the home of the Oglala Lakota. A space larger than the state of Connecticut, many Lakota struggle to retain their heritage, culture and their sustenance.

The late Peter and Paulie Catches. Peter V. Catches (Zintkala Oyate) has put on and conducted the Spotted Eagle Sundance for the past forty years; the longest running sundance in Lakota country. He has conducted over 55 sundances. He has spent his life creating educational materials to preserve the Lakota language and culture.

Kyle. Pine Ridge, SD.

Little Alfie in his sister's room.
Pine Ridge, South Dakota.

A Wacipi (Pow Wow) participant. Each summer, thousands of Native American peoples across the country celebrate their connections to tradition, spirituality, the Earth and to one another, in a social, personal and spiritual meeting: the Pow Wow. For many, these gatherings are an integral component of the Native American existence. More than a homage to a great ancestry, the Powwow is an event of contemporary significance for the individuals and communities making up the hundreds of Native American nations.