In the Dakota tradition, the number four represents a completed cycle.

So the fourth year of the Reconciliation Ride is special numerically, and geographically: At 340 miles, it’s the longest. On Dec. 10, the group set out on horseback on a ceremonial ride to help heal the wounds that remain after the Dakota War of 1862 and the subsequent execution of 38 men in Mankato on Dec. 26, 1862. The ride ends in Mankato on Dec. 26.

Blizzard conditions have so far harried the riders and forced them to stop occasionally.

Sheldon Wolfchild, former chairman of the Lower Sioux Indian Community in Morton, said the ride began this year near Crow Creek in South Dakota, where his relatives were forced to move in the spring of 1863.

The war inflicted what he calls “generational trauma” on his people.

“Psychologically, that’s been affecting our people, our children,” he said. “In order to heal in the future, we have to go back and remember the past.”

This Dec. 26 will mark the 146th anniversary of the executions.

It may seem like enough time for healing, but Wolfchild says that isn’t so. Colonists’ land grabs and theft brought starvation on his people and shattered their community, he said.

The tradition dates back to 2005, when Dakota descendant Jim Miller recounted a dream of a series of horseback rides that would raise awareness and help bring reconciliation.

Wolfchild said there may be a ride next year, but it will be different — perhaps more of a ride to give thanks for the opportunity to go on the rides.

On Dec. 26, the riders will gather at the hanging site where the existing library is to hold a ceremony. Later, the riders will eat dinner at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Mankato. Mayor John Brady is writing a proclamation to be read by him or Councilman Jack Considine.

A group of Dakota Indians also makes an annual run from Fort Snelling in St. Paul to Mankato, leaving midnight Dec. 25 and arriving in Mankato at about noon. At the time of departure a vigil fire is started at Land of Memories Park. The run has been held since 1987.

At A Glance
This week’s Reconciliation Ride schedule:

Today — gathering at Lower Sioux Agency in Morton