Tatanka Story of Bison — Attraction in Deadwood

I had a very moving experience today at Tatanka. We were unsure what we were getting into when we first saw the sign and drove up the hill, but it turned into an eye opening experience. We saw the film for Kevin Costner’s vision, while a hotel would’ve been great, Tatanka is exactly what needed to be there. I had seen Dances with Wolves and I’ve seen Bison at the state park in Custer but it was insightful to get to hear their origins to the plains. Of course they have an amazing sculpture that truly takes you back in time, but the true highlight was the presentation given by a young Lakota named Ryan Little Eagle. He spoke with such passion when telling his stories and I truly felt on an emotional journey, especially when he told the origin story of the bison and Lakota. A roller coaster of emotion I found myself feeling the emotions of the people in the story, I just got lost in time. I could imagine being around the fire and listening to Little Eagle like in the old days . All in all, what really stuck out about his presentation was his talk about relationships and relations as “two leggeds,” he put into perspective how we as people aren’t so different from each other and that we really need to try and come together with an open mind and willingness to listen to each other. As he said so passionately, “We are like these mountains, made of different plants, trees, animals, and rock. So vastly different but when put together we build and make the land we love and call home, as a community we have the power to make change for the better. Though it might not seem like it, a ripple in the water starts out small but in time grows bigger.” Truly has an amazing way with visuals and words. I as so many people in the presentation were moved to tears. I wish Little Eagle the best in all his adventures and highly recommend going to Tatanka. Learn about the history of Lakota and Buffalo, and of course see the amazing sculptures, but stay to visit with Little Eagle, you won’t regret it. Totally worth the $12, though having been in that “moment” as Little Eagle says, was truly...

The woman, Susan, working the front desk and what seemed like the space in general, was incredibly rude. As a Lakota person visiting and appreciating a space dedicated to sharing awareness around our local indigenous culture, I felt very unwelcome. I rode my bike up from spearfish wanting to soak in the land and to visit a space that celebrates who I am and where I come from. When I arrived I was surprised to see it was open as I saw it listed for sale. I walked in, there was a man at the front cleaning windows and that’s it. I spent about 10-15 minutes walking around, glad to find out it was still open and excited to share and promote it on social media. I then walked outside to see the sculpture. As I walked back towards the gift shop Susan stood outside staring me down and yelled, “are the you the woman on the bike?” To which I respond, “Yes” which was then met with a very rude, “there’s a fee $12 entrance fee that you need to pay,”. Because I did not realize should have done that, I politely responded with, “oh, okay, I’m sorry i didn’t know” and was thinking how I was happy to use my money to support Tatanka. She then, in another rude tone, asked me about my cycling shoes and then tells me that I can’t walk around inside because they will tear up the carpet. To which I respond with, “oh should I take them off?” She says yes and then I let her know that, “oops I already walked around inside—the carpets seemed just fine.” Her final reply was, “oh good god,” in a deeply annoyed voice, which just felt super misaligned with the energy of what the place stands for. I encourage people to still visit as it is a valuable piece that honors Lakota culture here in He Sapa, but I hope someone subs Susan out or can educate her on how she represents the space and maybe give her some pointers on how to make people, especially native Americans, feel...

DON'T WASTE MONEY OR TIME. It was 3:30pm when we arrived. We were the first customers for the day and the last tour was to be at 4:30. We were taken into a very small room to watch a very boring video of Kevin Costner talking about himself. But the lady who was the only person working told me to wear my oxygen pack on the front of my chest and not on my back as it is designed to be worn. That offended me greatly. We were left on our own. Never given any instructions as what to do after the video. We wandered through the exhibits which were mostly movie memorabilia from Dances with Wolves. We weren't given any type of tour. We went outside. The Indian village was half put up. We walked around and saw the statues, which were a great piece of art. But that was it. We noticed some speakers placed around the walk way but there was no sound. When we went back inside to exit this place, the curator came out. I asked if there was supposed to be sound at the statues and she said yes but she forgot to turn it on. I did address how she treated me as a disabled person and she said the exhibit was small and didn't want me to break anything and she didn't want to argue about it. I was not arguing. So if what we saw was all there was to it, we wasted $30 on the last stop on our trip to South Dakota. Addendum- went to the restroom. Only half the lights came in. They forgot to install toilet paper holder so they drilled a hole in the tile, stuck a stick in it and glued around it....