Museum Front View The Lakota Dream Museum and Monument depictions. These designs show how the museum will look once it has its permanent location settled. It will open in September at a temporary location in downtown Rapid City.

PINE RIDGE – The Lakota Dream Museum & Monument is set for a Grand Opening next month in Rapid City.

Organizers say that the Lakota Dream Museum and Monument is set to be the first “Lakota owned and operated, museum and cultural education center”, ever. While this fact is a wonderful accomplishment. Adonis Saltes, of the Wicahpi Dopa society, and one of the driving forces behind its creation says that the value of having a place like this is bigger than any accolade.

“We will have contemporary exhibits about modern-day Lakota figures including one on Pete Catches Sr.,” said Saltes.

Saltes is from Pine Ridge but spent his high school years in Albuquerque where he was one of the top basketball players in the state. He has now returned home to from Southern Utah University to help with several local projects in his community.

“I am so happy for the museum to finally open. I truly believe, whoever walks through that door, will see life in a whole new way. They will understand why us, the Lakota people are special people straight from the creator. It will be a new day, a red day for the world to fully embrace,” said Saltes.

Museum Theater depiction

The inclusion of modern leaders in the museum’s plans for exhibits is part of the effort to create a place where Lakota people can celebrate their own stories, traditions and influencers, according to Saltes.

On September 15, 2018, the doors will officially open at a temporary location in downtown Rapid City at 629 Main Street. The original plans for the location included the purchase of Sitting Bull Taverns.

“We still have plans for Sitting Bull Taverns,” said Saltes. “But we will be in this location for a couple years while we continue to fundraise.”

While the location of Sitting Bull Taverns is ideal, it sits alongside one of the main tourist routes leading in to the Black Hills from Rapid City, the inclusion of the Lakota Dream Museum and Monument in downtown Rapid City will provide organizers with access to an extremely active business district that is visited by hundreds of thousands each year.

“Indigenous Peoples have long been denied their histories, their traditional territories and access to thousands of their sacred sites. The Lakota Dream Museum and Monument aims to be the first Native owned and operated museum and cultural education center that will facilitate the return and long-term protection of sacred artifacts that were stolen or otherwise unjustly taken from Indigenous Peoples,” wrote Saltes. “As the only museum of its kind, we will honor the living memories of Indigenous peoples by providing cultural, social, and educational programs grounded in the oral traditions and traditional knowledge systems unique to their communities.”

At the event, there will be performances by local musical artists, educators, and activities for the children who attend. Admission will be $10 at the door for adults and $5 for students.

Museum Interior depiction

For more information please visit www.lakotadream.com

Lakota Dream Museum & Monument
Providing an accurate interpretation of The Great Plains tribes through documented resources, artifacts and local historians with the intention to instill knowledge, strong sense of identity, and hope into the Lakota and all Native people.
https://lakotadream.org