It’s been a few months since my return from South Dakota. My memory is a bit foggy on the chronology, but the faces of the people I met and the stories they shared have not faded. My adventure began when I signed up for a domestic immersion trip through my college’s (Spring Hill College in Mobile, Alabama) campus ministry program. This is not a story of my visit to Mount Rushmore, Badlands National Park, Custer State Park, Black Hills National Forrest, or any other of those tourist spots. This is a story about the Lakota people who welcomed me and my service group with open arms.

Silently sitting, stone cold, and apprehensive are two lone tombstones by the University of Alabama’s biology building. These are the graves of slaves Jack, who was buried in 1843 at an unknown location, and seven-year-old Bosey, buried in 1844. Both were finally marked at a memorial service held behind the biology building on September 29, 2004.