LAND OF THE RED GIANTS OF IXTLAN

Chapter 2 (continued, page 3)

- - - - - [review in Denver Post, should be copied in

its printed form, for authenticity:
'Bid To Explain Buffalo Bill Fails' ] - - - - - - -

"Hippies playing Indians," you can hear 'em now. But there are Hippies and there are
hippies, just as there are Indians and there are indians. As I delved into history both past
and present after I was cast, I suspected that both Sitting Bull and AIM failed in their
efforts partly because they excluded non-Natives in their struggles, which tended,
erroneously I feel, to turn the struggles into peripheral distractions along nationalistic and
racist lines, instead of focusing on the natural laws of the land and its animistic religion
that is common to all of us, and vitally necessary to all of us. I imagined if I was alive as
me in the 19th century I would have run guns and powder to the Indians as much-needed
ammunition for the unfairly unbalanced fight with the vastly overnumbered and
oversupplied European immigrants invading their Countries - which the best of the
prehistoric chiefs and shamans never claimed to "own", but upon which, for which, they
were serving only as caretakers of the land, spiritual protectors; and indeed, it was just
the same in the 20th century as I would and did help AIM when Wounded Knee exploded
on the scene in 1973. I was no longer quite the unconsciously delusioned white boy
whom my schoolteachers taught to pledge allegiance to the Flag. I was also not the phony
Indian Lover that came along to play out his boyhood fantasies like the movie star Kevin
Costner in 1990 in 'Dances With Wolves', who used the vast profits he reaped from
comforting the comfortable whiteys with that Oscar-winning movie, smug people who
liked to think they were taking care of their indians, to build a luxury resort casino in the
sacred Black Hills, or charge money for sweat lodge ceremonies, or sell Pipestone Pipes,
or cheer for Chief Wahoo of the Cleveland Indians and claim they were doing it out of
respect. I was not even saying what my father said when he came to the play several
times, "If I was Sitting Bull I would have fought Custer too." Hippies tried to transcend
even the race card by growing our hair long and wearing beads, joining Sitting Bull,
changing our appearance a little to experience a little of the discrimination.
Joey introduced me to Fools Crow on opening day. "Sir, this is the boy playing Sitting
Bull."
I winced at the word "boy" as we shook hands. "Hello," was all I could say.
"Tatanke Iyotake. Lela wakan, Wicasa Wakan. Big Medicine."
I had no idea what he was talking about, far above and beyond our "beautiful long hair
blowing in the breeze" as the song from 'Hair' went:

"By the end of 1905 I was experienced enough and mature

enough to be interested in and understand some of the things
the older people talked about when they gathered for various
purposes. Many of their conversations included references
to the legend of the Sacred Calf Pipe of the Teton Sioux. This
really fascinated me, and in time I learned the legend by heart.
And, from the moment of my first hearing it, I had a burning
desire to see the great pipe, which was and still is in the
possession of a keeper on the Cheyenne River Reservation.
The seven sacred tribal ceremonies that feature the pipe were
given to us and practiced after our Sioux nation was settled
on the Plains, and many, many years after Calf Pipe Woman
first appeared."
- from 'Fools Crow' as told to T. Mails (7)

- - - - - - - - PIX
Sitting Bull

1910 departure of Chiefs for D.C.

Gall

tipi and cabin

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