I remember so clearly the many summers we visited Unchi Martina and the Sherwood Clan at Wakpala, on the Standing Rock, where my beloved father grew up, as well as, White Swan, at Yankton.
I especially remember the summers, June-August, 1954-1956, when I was 12-14. This included rounding up almost 400 head of cattle and flanking calves. Riding a bale sled, that sometimes baled rattlesnakes, was like learning to eat dirt and being vigilant for rattlesnakes. I started to bail and put up hay when I was 12, in Walla Walla, but without rattlesnakes.
And best of all, personal stories from my Unchi Martina, about Chief Gall, Sitting Bull, the Greasy Grass, and many other great Lala’s, Unchi’s and relatives, who have now been lost in the memory of many.
We too, who are currently alive in this fleeting, physical world, will be forgotten, slowly, but surely, in time! That’s life in this physical plane of time and space.
This picture was taken when Unchi Martina came to visit us in Walla Walla for some months. She is here with my Mother, Dad and Sister Deloria.
Unchi Martina was almost 98 Winters at the time. She passed shortly after and I was thankful and honored I could attend her Funeral at St. Bedes, at Wakpala.
