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Jerome
Kills Small, Red Robin, of Pine Ridge, South Dakota
We have asked Jerome
to come after hearing from Ray Buckley that he could come because of health
concerns. Jerome will participate in the following: Opening
prayers, Opening Ceremony, Panelist, Preaching and teaching at First Christian,
Closing Ceremony.
Jerome is Oglala Sioux. Jerome's great grandfather's name
was Old Man Afraid of His Horses. He had four sons; Young Man Afraid of
His Horses, Red Star, Black Mountain Sheep and Clown Horse. Red Star is
the father of Jerome's Mother. Old Man Afraid of His Horses chose his
son's names by experiences he had during Hanbleceya (vision quest ceremony)
at Grey Horn Butte (known as Devil's Tower). He is the oldest of eight
children and was always raised by his grandparents. He was blind as a
child until a medicine man, Jess Steed, healed his eyes. He attended Holy
Rosary Mission and spent summer vacations in Porcupine, South Dakota.
Originally the Oglala occupied land west of the Missouri to the Big Horn
Mountains south to the Platt River and north to Montana. The Lakota treaty
land gradually shrank to the Black Hills area for a short time until the
discovery of gold and then the reservation system was developed. Today,
the reservation is next to the Badlands. The terrain consists of range,
valleys, meadows great for alfalfa, fields of corn and sugar beets, creeks
and streams and the hilly higher altitudes have lots of pine trees.
Currently on the faculty of South Dakota State University,
Vermillion, Jerome is the recipient of the Distinguished Scholar Award
from South Dakota Humanities Council, Reconciliation Award from the Governor
of South Dakota, George Nickleson, University of South Dakota Poet of
the Year in 1994, and he has awards and certificates for speaking at Red
Road Retreat and the Building Bridges Conference. He has been in several
videos for Iowa State University.
Jerome has
many talents and as a traditional storyteller and oral historian, he presents
workshops for both adults and children. Presently he portrays Tecumseh
and Dr. Charles Alexander Eastman, the first medicine doctor of the Lakota
people, for the Nebraska and South Dakota Speaker's Bureau and Chautauqua
Series. He knows the origins and stories behind the flag song, patriotic
songs of the Lakota, ceremonial songs, songs of the Little Big Horn, Wounded
Knee and Big Foot. He is an arena director, conducts ceremonies, and explains
cultural protocol. He makes drums and drum sticks, does feather work,
made the staff for the first sun dance at Vermillion and constructs sweat
lodges. Jerome and his wife grow and harvest foods and medicines in the
Lakota tradition.
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