“The elders remember the Wounded Knee tragedy with the deepest, most profound and unrelenting sorrow, and also with hope in their hearts epitomized by the 75 Takini that made it possible for their descendants to live. They invite all people of good will to remember, and find hope in, their survival as a peoples, and to participate with them in nourishing for future generations, their belief in the interconnectedness of all beings epitomized by their great invocation: Mitakuye Oyasin (all my relatives).”
— Eric Noyes Executive Director, American Indian Institute
On December 29th 2015 the Lakota Traditional Elder Wisdom Keepers Council organized the 125TH Anniversary Commemoration of the Massacre at Wounded Knee Creek. Riders from Pine Ridge, Standing Rock and Cheyenne River arrived on horseback to the site where more that 350 attendees gathered in memory of the tragic day when 200 women and children and 90 mostly elderly men were shot by the U.S. army after they had peacefully surrendered.
The elders commemorated those who died that day and also remembered the courage and sacrifices of the 75 survivors of the massacre who were given an Identity as Takini (“ones who resurrected from death”).
