The Glasgow Ghost Shirt returns home

This is the speech Marcella LeBeau gave at the Wounded Knee Massacre cemetery at the commemoration the day the Sacred Ghost Shirt was returned by the Kelvingrove Museum to the people at Pine Ridge, South Dakota.

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August 1, 1999

Cante wasteye nape ciyuzape – I shake your hand with a good heart.

We stand here today on hallowed ground—our Lakota ancestors lie here in this mass grave. They were innocent men, women, and children who were massacred under a white flag of truce on December 29, 1890.

The Sacred Ghost Dance Shirt is making a full circle today – returning from whence it came. The Lakota spirit was broken here that fateful day.

This is historic for us to come together here on this hallowed ground to witness the return of the Sacred Ghost Dance Shirt.

We give out heartfelt gratitude to our friends from the Kelvingrove Museum, Glasgow, Scotland, the people of Glasgow, Scotland, and many others who made this possible.

Lila Wopila Tanka – it is a great thanksgiving. This will bring about a sense of closure to a sad and horrible massacre in the history of the Lakota Nation – now healing can begin.

Gratitude goes out to Mario Gonzalez, a champion in this effort, John Earl, Allen Duke, Ian Sinclair, and many others who supported us overwhelmingly.

My family, Diane, Richard, Tom, Gerri, Kathy, Donna, and my grandchildren are all descendants of the Wounded Knee Massacre. My son, Richard, traveled with me in 1998 to Glasgow, Scotland and stands by my side.

Our youth must know our history and not forget. Our lives are affected by broken treaties, land loss, poverty, unemployment, alcoholism, and all the associated ills and dysfunction. We have within ourselves the power to change. We look for healing. We look to our youth, the 7th generation to rise with vision, cast aside despair, build self-esteem, and combat the ills of our society so that the spirit can soar once again.

Cemetery and Memorial at Wounded Knee

Postscript (from Marcella's autobiography):

I’ve been involved with the story of the Massacre at Wounded Knee for many years now. A pervasive sadness exists on our reservation because of Wounded Knee, an unresolved grief over what happened there.

At Wounded Knee, the Seventh Cavalry killed 250 to 300 men, women, and children, and then gave 20 Medals of Honor to soldiers for their bravery. That gesture has affected people from our reservation, as well as those from Standing Rock, who also lost relatives killed that day in 1890.

For many years the Tribal Council from Cheyenne River, as well as people from elsewhere, have been requesting the government to revoke those 20 Medals of Honor. Lately, the bill is called “Remove the Stain,” and the number is House Resolution 3467. Right now, that bill is making its way through the legislature.

Initially, we met with Rep. Deb Haaland*, of New Mexico, from the Laguna Pueblo, and two other congressmen. They are working, and the bill is moving ahead, but I don’t know where it is today.

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*In the Biden Administration, Deb Haaland has become the Secretary of the Interior.

In this picture, Rep. Kai Kahele (D-Hawaii), the tall man at the center of the program, has his hand on the shoulder of Marcella LeBeau. The Remove the Stain Act, despite wide support, still has not been passed by the U.S. Congress.