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Wounded Knee Massacre Victims Commemoration

Quilt Made in Memory   Andrea Lekberg and Frances Davidson
Quilt Made in Memory
Andrea Lekberg and Frances Davidson, Oglala Sioux Tribe
Cotton, wool, linen fabrics, 93” x 93”

Saturday, Dec. 29, 2018 – Friday, Jan. 4, 2019

Event Details

Saturday, Dec. 29 marks the 128th anniversary of the Wounded Knee Massacre. To commemorate the estimated 300 Lakota men, women and children killed that day in 1890, South Dakota Art Museum and the Center for American Indian Research and Native Studies (CAIRNS) invite the public to visit the Campus Green behind the South Dakota Art Museum any time from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on December 29.

Materials will be available for visitors to make 300 “memory sticks” consisting of a black stick and a red ribbon. As the memory sticks are assembled, visitors may place them in the ground in a pattern that outlines the dimensions of the mass grave within which the bodies of 146 Lakota were interred January 3-4, 1891. The memory sticks will be left in place on the Campus Green through January 4, 2019.

CAIRNS Director Craig Howe, Ph.D., and developers of the Takuwe K-12 educational curriculum team will be on hand from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Dec. 29 to share this experience with visitors. Warm beverages will be served. Inside the museum, Takuwe (in English, “Why”), the educational art exhibit curated by Howe about the Wounded Knee Massacre, will be open for in-depth exploration.

The museum will be open 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. on December 29th. Please note holiday closings December 22-25 and December 30 - January 1.

Event Audience

Public includes SDSU Faculty/Staff/Students SDSU Faculty/Staff SDSU Students

Building Access Directions

The Campus Green is immediately behind the South Dakota Art Museum, to the east of the Museum's Anderson Plaza.

Parking Information

Parking is available in the Museum's reserved parking just west of the Museum on Harvey Dunn Street (in front of Scobey Hall). No parking pass for this event. Parking is also available on the street on Harvey Dunn Street.

Wounded Knee massacre victims commemorated: News Release