No, Doris, people who do these things (and lie about the events of that day) are not “heroes” nor are they “warriors.” We delude ourselves. We’ve been doing it for years. We can keep complaining about the government and all we’ve been wronged — or we can move on, build our lives, and bring pride to our people. (For that matter, nobody else is forcing us to spend our money on cigarettes and booze, and showing so little respect for our bodies and our community that the remains of both are scattered about.)

And if you don’t want helicopters landing near particular sites, tell the leaders not to invite the military and/or courteously inform them where you would like them to land. Nobody was trying to make anybody angry. No, they were expending man-hours and expensive flight hours in an educational event of mutual benefit. Our people made us all look like frightened children.

One more time: Telling lies about these events honors no one.

And though I suppose frustrated and relatively powerless people have to imagine some sort of “victory” by “chasing off” military helicopters, we all know what really happened. As the commander stated in a press release — and as tribal leaders confirmed — they were concerned for the safety of the people running around on the ground and simply canceled the landing. (If someone feels powerful in their own fantasies simply because they touched some part of a military helicopter, good for them. Does it make me feel proud as a Lakotah? Hardly. The ridiculous statements of various people present at the time embarrasses me.)

If we are going to keep these webpages about the event online, at least correct the nonsense and stick to the facts. (The claims about the 7th Cavalry being present were and are LIES.)