In the Shadow of Wounded Knee

Contemporary Issues, third prize stories

February 13, 2013

Devil’s Tower, Wyoming, USA Wakinyan Two Bulls (9) places prayer flags in a tree, near Mato Tipila (Devil’s Tower), a place of Oglala ceremony in Wyoming.   The Oglala Lakota people of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota live near the site of the massacre of over 250 Lakota Sioux, at Wounded Knee Creek (1890). They recount a long history of violated treaties and broken promises on the part of successive US governments. Pine Ridge is seeing an upsurge in resistance movements, and a revival of traditional spiritual ways. The sun dance has returned, after nearly disappearing, and people are teaching language, horse skills, and ceremonies to the youth.

Commissioned by: National Geographic magazine

Location: Devils Tower, Wyoming, USA

Photo Credit: Aaron Huey

Aaron Huey is a National Geographic photographer, and a Harper’s Magazine contributing editor. He is only the second photographer to occupy the Harper’s masthead in its 162-year history. Huey was a 2012 Stanford Knight Journalism Fellow, where he worked on new media models for community storytelling. He is widely known for his 3,349-mile solo walk across America (with his dog Cosmo). The 2002 journey lasted 154 days. There was no media coverage; they walked every step. He now lives in Seattle, USA.