Father’s Day & The Red Road

George Washington is sometimes called the Father of the Country. By presidential descent, what does that make Trump, who has the slave-holder’s racism without any of Washington’s courage (Donald dodged the draft) or restraint (George refused a third term). Trump is the embodiment of the worst of us, untouched by what Lincoln called our better angels. Where does that leave American men on Father’s Day?

Near the end of his life, after a heart-breaking search for a refuge where his hunted and starving Lakota people could live free, Sitting Bull knew he had to surrender to save them. There is a scene THE MORE WE TAKE where historian Josephine Waggoner describes those final moments of freedom before Sitting Bull is taken into custody and put on a steamship that would take him, effectively, to prison. Would he put down his rifle or, his people seemingly safe, would he choose to die in a final act of resistance rather than be captive? At the riverside, he sees his daughter. She’s dressed in red, representing endurance and wisdom in the face of adversity. She opens her arms wide as if to embrace her father. Stay with us. The Chief of Chiefs hears her silent prayer and surrenders himself. He’s taken by U.S. cavalry and confined to Standing Rock Reservation where, years later, he would be killed by police.

There are many Lakota fathers I was not taught about in school. Crazy Horse, untouchable in battle, was murdered in his mid-30’s while jailed at Fort Robinson. Spotted Elk, along with 200 or more of his people, many of whom were unarmed women and children, was gunned down by the 7th Cavalry at the Wounded Knee massacre just two weeks after Sitting Bull’s death.

On this Father’s Day, with the sins of our “forefathers” having taken new root, I’m thinking of how we can learn from the wisdom-keepers of the past, resist the tyranny of today, and for the sake of our children have courage enough to fight for a better tomorrow.

The Lakota call it Chanku Duta, or the Red Road. Walking the Red Road means living a purposeful, virtuous, spiritual life grounded in patience, inclusion, hard work, generosity, honesty, and a respect for the interconnection of all living things past and present.

May the Red Road rise to meet you.

Kevin