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The Red Cloud family of today still resides near
the sacred Black Hills of South Dakota on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
The great war chief Red Cloud (Mahpiuya Luta) rose to prominence and established
himself as the leader of the Oglala people during the mid to late 1880s.
The ancient peyote religion made its appearance to the Sioux territory
a few years after the death of Red Cloud in 1909. The belief in the peyote
religion was handed down to Chief Red Cloudıs great grandson Bernard
Red Cloud Sr. in the 1940s. Bernard Sr. is a strong believer in the peyote
religion, and is himself a Native American Church roadman. At one time,
the U.S. Government labeled peyote as a type of hallucinogen and it was
subsequently banned for a number of years. To Native American Church members
peyote is a divine herb and is used as a holy sacroment in prayer services.
In 1994 Bernard Sr. was invited to lobby on behalf of the 2nd Amendment,
the Freedom of Religion Act at a special Senate select hearing in Minneapolis,
MN. The outcome of the hearing finally allowed the free and legal use
of peyote within U.S. borders. Bernardıs entire family is actively involved
in the Native American Church. His grandsons Bernard III and John II are
direct descendants and are of the 6th generation from Chief Red Cloud.
Bernard and John have been singing together since 1990 and have been involved
in the church all their lives. Both singers are enrolled members of the
Oglala Sioux Tribe and are full - time students at the university level.
Bernard III is a junior at the Oglala Lakota College on the Pine Ridge
Indian Reservation. John II is in his junior year also and is pursuing
his Bachelor of Arts degree in History at the University of San Diego. |
