Day 3...Full moon...adam

Chris, Luis, Janice, Jim, Billy Ray, David, Bill, Orville, Sarah, Jesse, Gus, Kevin, Tyrone, Jason, Craig, Evelyn, Mark, Harold, Dallas, Silas, Pancho, Julian, JB, Andy, Mark from the gas station, Claire, Harvey, Peter, are just some of the wonderful people I've gotten to know over the past week. These are the names that I remember, there are some riders/supporters who I've shook hands with, shared meals but have yet to get their names. I wanted to start out with them on this blog tonight because they are the ones who are really making this ride come alive. From the riders who are logging 30 miles a day on horseback, to Janice/Luis who prepared all of the food for the nights we were staying in Ft. Thompson, to Julian and Dallas who are camping out every night in a tepee to watch over the horses at night, everyone is playing a part in this truly amazing journey that I am so happy and proud to be part of and also a witness to. I spent the night in the tepee with Julian, Dallas, and Pancho and wanted to wish them well as they are sleeping there again tonight. I look forward to other opportunities I have to spend the night there. The last few days have been difficult. A lot of riding, confusion at times about when to have the camera on/off, which ceremony's could be filmed which could not, discussions about our own production team coming together with people from different backgrounds, what we saw the film as, getting to know the riders, excitement, exhaustion, I'd say the emotions ran the gamut. What I do feel today though and I'm confident that the riders/supporters feel the same way is that this film and the ride are coming together as one. We're not making a film about this ride, we really want this group, community to feel that they are part of the film making process as well as it has been evident that the riders/Native American community want us as the film crew to be a part of the ride. The word that has been used a lot is family. We all have a new family. Sound Utopian? Pancho will I know be able to link this Utopian ideal scientifically and all that really means is communication, honesty, amongst people of different backgrounds. On some level we all know this, but watching it unfold in practice in the middle of a small town in South Dakota is amazing and even more inspiring to be a part of. It makes me miss my family, my loved ones and makes me want to reach out to those who matter most in my life.

Some specifics about the ride today. Great shots all around today culminated by Silas jumping a fence to hang with some wild horses and donkeys to get a ridiculous sunset and simultaneous moon shot over a rolling hill. Sitting on the side of the road was never so gratifying. According to Sarah, Silas has horse medicine in him, which at this point I'm bound to believe as he truly has an amazing way with the animals and enjoys getting the shots with no fear. To make sure the 30 or so miles was achieved today, there was a relay happening with the riders/horses. 3 or 4 groups would take turns riding throughout the day with the thought that smaller groups could cover more ground as well as keep the riders/horses safer as we approach towns with more traffic on the roads. All of the riders have been fantastic and what they are doing for themselves, their families, and the Native American culture is more and more inspiring everyday. I know I'm using that word a lot, but it's the best description I could come up with. I can't wait for everyone to see this footage and to be able to truly appreciate the dedication and commitment that it takes to organize, feed, shelter, ride over 16 days for 330 miles in cold weather and possible dangerous conditions.

I wish all who are reading this a safe day, night and wherever your journey takes you. By the way it's a FULL MOON tonight, go outside and howl at it, I promise you you'll feel good.

Day 1 of the ride: Adam

It's 7am and we're in Lower Brule getting ready to go to breakfast. In various states of getting up, getting ready, and meditating Silas, Pancho, Jesse, Sarah and myself are at the beginning of the journey. Last night the riders were assembled here in Lower Brule at The Golden Buffalo Casino convention center. Thanks to everyone in the community here for providing the convention space, the food for the riders and supporters. There were very moving speeches last night including that of spiritual leader Jim Miller who's dream the riders will be following starting this morning. After last night's dinner, there was a sweat lodge, and then back to the hotel for a quick sleep. To say our crew is excited is an understatement. I was thinking last night how amazing it was to hear from Jim especially last night. He has this amazing natural leadership quality that has been developed over a lifetime and I'm also sure was naturally always there. He said something that really struck me. He said he'd never done this before, and he was going to need everyone's help. There will be times during the ride that he'll need to make speeches in communities, at colleges and it will be time for others to take a leadership role. He demanded it and expected it. It was really inspiring to hear someone ask for help in that clear a way and express his own fears at the same time. That is definitely one of the things that I took away from all of the amazing speeches last night, Jerry, Mark, Harvey and others, (sorry if I'm forgetting names) as well as the sweat lodge experience. That was my first sweat since last summer and jumping in from the cold weather to the heat was quite a shock. At first the sensations are quite uncomfortable and the fear of not being able to breathe is immediately present. I knew it was coming so it was much easier to be with that fear and I did what I needed to do to be with my breath, lower my head and sit with my fear while participating in this very important ritual. The feeling after the sweat is an amazing one. Prayers are offered during the ritual and not only the physical sensation of moving from the heat to the cold but the experience of moving from a spiritual ceremony back into "life" is amazing. I'm enjoying how I take things with me now. I'm bringing more of myself wherever I go. From breakfast to sweat lodge, from the spiritual to the neutral, more of me shows up each time. I think previously I was compartmentalizing situations, and trust me I still do this but I definitely am seeing progress. Alright enough of me, back to the ride. The roads are icy so thoughts and prayers are going out to the riders for a safe journey. I enjoyed the children last night, just running around, having fun at the dinner. There was a common theme of this ride and the documenting of the rituals on film is for the youth, to continue traditions within the Native American community and promote healing not only within their own community but across communities and cultural lines as well. My horse "bucking off" was shown last night and got quite a laugh. I'm happy to provide some humor:)...Jesse sang beautifully again last night and I do believe the journey has begun. Special thoughts,prayers and love to the riders, supporters and tarheir families and to everyone reading this blog for a great day. In the words of the Dakota/Lakota language Anpetu which means "today is a red day" (a holy day, sacred day

From wild horseback riding to 5th place in a Potato dance, a wild and memorable weekend in Canada...:Adam

So how I want to begin this blog post is through something that happened to me over the weekend. I rode a horse to a ceremony that we filmed. Now I don't mean one of those "dude ranch" horses that I rode when I was 13 years old that I could kick countless times and it would still walk...This is a horse raised on the land of the Canupawakpa Dakota Nation reserve (Canadian term for reservation)...and let me tell you, these horses are ready to run...All started out fine when Gus who we went to visit asked me if I wanted to ride over to the ceremony. I felt honored, here I am an outsider being asked to ride with three "first nationers" (Canadian term for Native Americans) to a very important horse ceremony for their people on their reserve. I was excited, I had ridden horses before, not many but I felt confident I would be able to ride up to the ceremony and look like I knew what I was doing...So Gus hands me my horse a beautiful brown horse named "Spirit"...I was given the instructions that "Spirit" was a good horse and without hesitation I jumped on. I mean, I'd done this before, I just rode a horse this summer in the Hamptons and felt extremely comfortable why would this be any different. Foreshadowing much? So we take off literally across the plains with myself on Spirit, and Gus, Tyrone, and Kevin taking the lead. Now let me continue to say we're taking off across the plains, this is Canada in the dead of winter, snow is on the ground, a stray dog from the reserve is following us and the whole time I'm thinking this is pretty awesome. Our horses mainly walked for the beginning of the trip and an occasional trot was a a welcome change. But not too fast I thought, there's no trail, keep pulling back I thought, don't let this horse get away from you. The best example I can give of the difference between the "dude ranch" horse and one raised on a reserve is akin to going from driving a 4 door safe sedan to jumping
behind the wheel of a really nice 6 cyl sports car. Once you get behind that engine you can really feel the power of the vehicle. It was the same with this horse. Ok, so the ride continues, and all is well. The air is cold, I can see my breath and it really is an amazing scene one I'll always remember. Over the horizon I can hear the sound of a truck, I look to my left and it's a few of our friends with Silas riding in the back of an open pickup getting ready to film us as we're riding to the ceremony. This promises to be a pretty great shot as the light is perfect and the new camera we're working with does amazing things with slo motion...Riding past the truck are Gus, Tyrone, and Kevin with me in the rear. There's laughing and all is well, now here's where it gets interesting...Gus, Tyrone, Kevin, split the truck which leaves me behind the truck and to the left. I guide "Spirit" to the right directly behind the truck to get a good shot and then eventually reunite with the other riders, what ends up happening next was a complete shock...no sooner than Silas said "Mastrelli!!!" in a very this is awesome type way, did the truck hit the gas and to my surprise spooked my horse "Spirit". Now in case you're wondering, we do have that footage and let's just say it's hilarious. So, the horse gets spooked and basically takes off!!! Now the best analogy I can come up with for the distortion my face went in to takes us back to Chevy Chase in European vacation as him and his family are running away from the German hordes who are planning to kill them...My face was a cross between that and Jerry Lewis screaming "LADY,ahhh!!!, "Spirit" was kicking, bucking, twisting, trying to get me off...All I could hear through my panic was everyone screaming "Pull back, pull back", so in my best cowboy voice which I'm sure sounded more like Santa saying "Ho,Ho,Ho", I started pulling back and shouting "Whoa, Whoa, Whoa!!!" and after a good 10 seconds (that's right I lasted more than 8 seconds) I was able to control the horse and bring him to a stand still. Kevin grabbed my horse and we quickly switched horses. I rode a different seemingly calmer horse up to the community center and although I was still excited to be a part of the ceremony, my confidence was shaken. We arrived to the center and tied the horses off. We then went on to bless the horses and the riders for a safe ride, sing songs, share stories of the Dakota Nation, (Lakota, Dakota, Nakota) and listened to Gus and the eldest tribe member Albert express their desires for their people moving forward. A really moving moment for me came when Gus' daughter Jesse got up toward the end of the afternoon and sang an amazing rendition of Mariah Carey's HERO. Her voice is beautiful and the lyrics took on completely new meaning for me. I felt tears welling up in my eyes and began if only for a second to be a part of the tribe. After a full day of singing, speeches, food, community and conversation, it was time to ride the horses back to the house. I was less than thrilled to get back on a horse. I didn't feel confident and thought it best if I took the car. It's funny though what happens when simply asked, did I want to ride?...My response, yes, so I literally got back on the horse. The ride back was fairly uneventful, I was now on Rudy, a much calmer horse and although I wasn't confident I did have moments where I really appreciated the beauty of the ride. We returned safely and it got me thinking. I've heard people tell me that phrase "When you get knocked off of the horse, get back on"...for my whole life. People say it so matter of fact that it's actually lost it's meaning. I wondered how many of those people who've told me and I include myself telling others, have ever ACTUALLY gotten kicked off of a horse. It's a completely different feeling. That was the closest I ever got to getting kicked off a horse and let me tell you it's a completely different feeling than anything I've ever felt. I wasn't sure I was going to be safe when I got back on. Everyone one of us has our own horses to fall off and I'm pretty sure they all feel intense when getting back on, we're not sure if we're going to be safe or not. For everyone who's ever felt that way, (which I hope is everyone at one point) I'll share what everyone at the dinner table that night shared with me. They said..."We'll it's not whether or not you're going to fall or get kicked off, when you're training wild horses that's bound to happen. You know you're going to get back on but the important part is HOW YOU FALL..." I thought about that really hard. It's about HOW YOU FALL, knowing that I'm going to fall and then just protecting myself the best way I could so that I could continue. I loved that, I felt it really empowering to hear after a day when the last thing I wanted to do was get back on a horse. We all had a good laugh about it, and although I didn't feel completely comfortable I wasn't hurt. I'll always remember it.

After the day we took a drive to Saskatchewan that night to participate in a round dance which is a community even with singing, dancing and amazingly enough Santa Claus. I never realized how much of a part Christianity played in the Native American community. It makes sense as missionaries continued to move west brought their religion into the native communities. Gus had given Silas and I white cowboy hats so we were really playing the part when we arrived at the dance...Gifts were given out, and we were honored as the film crew from New York. There's still to this day an amazing sense of ceremony that remains. The footage will show this more clearly. The highlight of the night came when Sarah and Silas participated in a "Potato" dance the winner getting $100. (which we found out later) The point of the dance is to do a step type dance while keeping a potato pressed between two people's foreheads or third eye shakra's for the Yogi's who may be reading this. Easy you say? Money in the bank? Think again, these potatoes were misshapen and the pressure was on for Sarah and Silas to perform well. A few minutes of warm up S&S tried different strategies, talked through hand signals and made me laugh so hard I didn't know what to do with myself. After the practice round the whistle was blown and it was time for the event...There was 10 or so couples dancing and the formidable team of Sarah and Silas really started off strong thanks to a combination of arm lock started by Sarah and Thighmaster inspiring deep knee bends by Mr. Hagerty. After a strong start I knew they wouldn't last long, they were dancing too fast. The other more experienced couples were barely moving and it seemed like there was a little inside knowledge of the judges. I'm not calling for a fix, I'm just saying...The last final flourish to stay in the game resulted in the potato being pressed directly into Sarah's left eye by Silas' forehead while they maintained a slow turn to the left. They both knew it was over but watching them try to keep it together was priceless. I have footage oh yes, I have footage. Eventually the potato dropped to the floor. The result. 5th place, a respectable showing for their first dance together. I have high hopes for this team in the future.

We said our goodbye's to the people at the dance and basically slept on the hour and a half car ride back to Gus' house. We had a full day of traveling (12 hours back to Flandreau, SD) the next day so sleep was needed. The next day we woke up, quick breakfast, added a passenger, Gus' daughter Jesse and headed back home. After an entertaining stop at the border in which we saw some deer and Silas was questioned about traveling to Denver, we made it back last night safely and feeling inspired about the upcoming trip. Silas and I had great conversation in the car about his vision for the film, and what's inspiring him these days. It's very needed to check in like that to keep people going as the road can become exhausting.

We pick up Silas' friend Pancho from the airport today, show some clips from previous Smooth Feather productions tonight at a school and then take off for the ride tomorrow morning. In honor of yesterday Dec 7, I would like to give special recognition to all the lives lost on that date in 1941 at Pearl Harbor. Also a birthday wish to a very special girl Kristin who's birthday also falls on Dec 7. That's all for now from snowy SD. See you on the road!

Post by Adam

So let me reiterate how cold it is here in South Dakota. The temperature at it's lowest was a whopping 5 degrees...This got us on the crew thinking about specifics on the road and how we'd best be able to hold interviews with the riders, with the least amount of time spent on set up as we know the weather will be a factor. Solution. An RV, that's what where looking for. An RV for the crew to set up camp with that will be a roving production office/spot for interviews/place to sleep for us. The quest begins...Today was a productive day at times and very relaxing with needed rest at others. Time has seemed to slow already and the day seems longer with conversations moving in and out of specifics about the ride to the history of the Native American people as a whole, is that Pineapple ripe and can we have it for desert tonight. Pretty standard really. Today's first stop was to interview Sid Byrd who is the eldest male at 90 years old of the Santee Sioux Tribe here in Flandreau, SD. "Sid was raised on a reservation in South Dakota, where, early on through the guidance of his grandfather, his life became a bridge between worlds, that of his Lakota people and that of the white man. Later, as his life unfolded, he came to hold the common ground among some native peoples, marrying a Hopi wife. The path of his heart, which Sid has pursued through his deep Christian conviction and his work as a Presbyterian missionary, has been his way. His stories and education are an inspiration..." (introduction from Stories of a Lakota Elder)

Silas, Sarah and myself went over to Sid's apartment and set up the camera. He was very enthused to be speaking with us and embarked in the telling of a slew of jokes throughout the morning and breakfast at the retirement home where we originally met him...The session and the stories lasted for an hour and a half and his stories ranged from the Great Wars of 1862 and the Dakota 38, to larger thoughts on Native Americans and their history here on this their original land. There were many touching moments, many passionate moments, and I look forward to looking at the footage in the near future. Before I move on I do want to mention one point that he mentioned that stuck with me. Out of the 38 men that were hung on Dec 26, 1862, 36 of them had converted to Christianity during the time of their imprisonment.

After we packed up the gear, we next moved on to Sarah's high school alma mater The Flandreau Indian School. There we met with Stuart Zephier the acting Principal of the school. After showing him the promo video, it became evident that he had never heard of the "Dakota 38"...The story was not a part of his history. I had naively assumed that all native american history would be universal and would be reproduced in the same way that my version of American History was in textbooks when I was a kid. This is not so. There are so many different tribes with so many different written and oral history's that it makes sense that not every story would travel across tribal lines. As I learn more, I'm getting the feeling that every tribe will have their own similar stories of triumph in the face of great adversity as the Native people have had that heaped upon them truly not shortly after the first Thanksgiving.

Stuart was excited about the project and the conversation got rolling with ways of getting the school, the community and most importantly the youth involved in this historic ride.

Dinner tonight was a chicken salad, Apple juice, followed up with Pineapple. An interesting mix indeed, but it all seemed to come together nicely. There was doubt in what we both wanted to eat but Silas just started moving forward and pretty soon something was there to eat. I like that. Moving forward, taking an action, even if that action is nothing. But choose it. If you want to relax, relax, if you want to run, run. If you want to be indecisive, then that's fine too. There's a time and a place for every emotion, every feeling that you have within yourself to just be and for you to be ok with it. I needed to hear that today so I'm glad I wrote it.

Tomorrow we leave at 6am for a 12 hour car trip, (Sarah bought the new Honda btw)to Canada to film a very important horse ceremony. Our good friend Jim Miller will be attending a funeral tomorrow and will be unable to attend but a phone conversation that Silas had with him earlier today has renewed the juices in the tank for the team and we're ready to go...

Post by Adam

My name is Adam Mastrelli and I'm going to be one of the crew members, camera/sound here at Smooth Feather on the road with our latest film "Dakota 38." My first involvement with Smooth Feather came through being inspired by "Lusaka Sunrise" and helping to promote the film in various screenings throughout the NYC area. I'm an an actor/filmmaker living in New Jersey.

Alright boys and girls out there of the Blogosphere, welcome to South Dakota!!! First things first and let me get this out of the way, yes it's cold. But it's also flat, laid back and peaceful. There's a sense of the holidays here already, and I've only been here for a few hours. I was picked up at the airport after a missed flight and a delay in Minn., by Silas and Sarah in our friend Jesse's 1990 Pontiac DeVille, two words...a-mazing...Nothing beats driving around the frozen tundra that is Sioux Falls, South Dakota in a this majestic piece of American engineering...I'm currently sitting in a Honda dealership as Sarah is contemplating buying a car and I've somehow lost Silas. Last he was seen walking off to the other end of the store smiling and laughing into his cell phone. He'll turn up. We also stopped for lunch and bought a book about the "Lakota" people for us to read. It's called "Through Dakota Eyes" and is a history of the Dakota people and importantly to this project the Dakota War of 1862. Silas is reading it right now, I look forward to diving in to it soon. A few thoughts about our most recent national holiday Thanksgiving. As is to be expected for me Thanksgiving took on a different meaning this year, a different feeling. A much more somber and real look at what the Thanksgiving holiday represents, what we're celebrating and why there's a huge "Kermit the Frog" float following an Iroquois Indian 3-5 minute song and dance without a microphone. I believe that was the only Native American tribute throughout a parade highlighted by boy bands, Broadway musicals, and larger than life floats...not that there's anything wrong with that...It got me thinking...Why are Matt Lauer and Meridith Viera not talking more about the history of Thanksgiving? Why were there not more tributes and or representatives from the Native American community? Did they reject the parades offer or where they never offered? I began getting curious. I began to wonder what really happened at the Thanksgiving that I learned about in school. What was the rest of the story? What happened before it, after it, specifics...So...I looked it up, I love the internet...There's so much information from so many differing sources it's really an amazing invention, thanks Al Gore. I don't see it being a good use of this blog space to provide specifics and repost history here for you to read, but I do encourage you to look it up for yourself. Google "Thanksgiving"...Get a few different posts, read about different viewpoints of history, I promise you won't be disappointed...

So moving on, I feel like a kid again. Like I'm on a road trip, a journey. It's amazing how that can just happen. Things can be going one way for so long and then all of a sudden...boom...things can just change...I had been sick for the past 3 days and had to postpone my original Nov 30 flight. I'm so lucky that I had my mother and father with me for those three days to help get me to the doctor...ends up I have some sort of virus that at it's peak had me jumping into a tub of ice cold water to cool myself off from a very high 103.8 f fever...My fever has gone down since then and although I'm still running a fever and have a sore throat, I feel like a kid! I continue to take two Amoxicillin, and Prednisone...On Friday we drive to Canada to film a horse cermemony and I believe we're also going to attempt to film Sarah's brother Josh who is the Tribal leader of the Santee Sioux Indians. He's a great person to speak with about Indian affairs and politics as he and the rest of the tribal leaders were present when President Elect Obama, came to South Dakota to meet with Tribal leaders. I'm excited to hear what he has to say and have many questions about politics in the Indian community, how they specifically interact with the US gov't, and challenges they are currently facing...I look forward to being of help and am off to take my medication...Also Sarah's back from her test drive and is smiling widely, we may have found a winner...ADAM

Our latest film "Dakota 38"

Hello all, It’s been a while since I’ve written on this blog yet I’m back on board.
Currently I find myself in rural Flandreau South Dakota with 2,300 fellow residents. Smooth Feather has rented a nice 2 bedroom home on Pipestone Avenue and we’ve got a 1990 Pontiac Bonneville parked out front. :) The Pontiac is courtesy of my great friend Jesse who is letting us borrow the whip for the duration of our time filming here. Jesse, once again, you’re the man.
Our latest film, “Dakota 38” started over 4 years ago after I experienced my first Native American Sweat Lodge at my good friend Jeff Galuzas place in Maine. The sweat was lead by Lakota Spiritual Leader Jim Miller who was visiting Maine from South Dakota. Over a Dinner afterwards Jim asked me if I would help him create a film in 4 years. He said that he wanted to ride 330 miles on horseback to honor a dream that he’d had that would bring healing to his people. I was very intrigued by the opportunity and agreed to help him create a film. And so today, 4 years later, after many hours of travel, contemplation & growth from this project, we’re gearing up to film the ride across South Dakota and Minnesota.

The past couple months have been very intense...That seems to be the best word to describe it. I recently got back from visiting my family for the Thanksgiving holidays in San Francisco and I found it difficult to put my experience living in South Dakota into words. And so I guess I’ll leave that description for the film :) It’s always been the best way that I’ve been able to express my thoughts.
So we’ve got an amazing group that is coming together to create this film. Sarah Weston who is a member of the Santee Sioux Dakota Tribe here in Flandreau, is co-directing the film with myself. We’ve also got Adam Mastrelli who is flying in from New York to assist with camera work & sound. J.B. & Andy Weston will also be filming from the saddle throughout the entire ride and Jay McKay has already fired up the keyboard for an original score. Zach Graber emailed yesterday and will be lending his post production magic during the editing of the film and there are many more members of the Smooth Feather posse who will be taking part in some way.

So as I write, my ears are popping at 20,000 feet as I approach the Omaha Airport. Adam flies in this week and then Sarah, J.B, Andy, Adam & myself will be assembling for a week of pre-production in Flandreau. Then on Friday we head 12 hours north to Manitoba Canada for our first shoot which will be filming a horse ceremony. Because many Dakota elders from Manitoba will not be able to make the long trip south, this ceremony will allow them to offer their prayers and support. After that we’ll head back to South Dakota and gear up for the 330 mile ride. We'll be sure to update both this blog and the one on www.dakota38.com for the duration of the ride.

Sending big smiles from open Skies,
-Silas

Back In Life Featured on YouTube

Checking my email last night was quite a trip,....I all of a sudden had about 300 new emails from YouTube in my inbox :) It's such an honor to be a part of this film and to see Zack's inspiring message spread to so many folks around the world. Last night Zack and I had a chat on the phone, and we were both floored by the news. If anyone would like a DVD of this film to pass onto someone who could benefit from it, feel free to give us a shout.

Thanks also to all of you on YouTube who have shared your thoughts and emotions regarding the film, I can't tell you how much of an honor it is for all of us to read them.

Big Smiles,

Silas