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Do you know anyone who had influenza this past year? Chances are you do not. Sure, plenty of people had the “stomach flu” with vomiting and diarrhea, otherwise known as gastroenteritis. Some people had colds and others had COVID-19. But cases of influenza this season have been exceptionally low.
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Last summer we heard the prediction that by the end of 2020, we would have a safe, effective vaccine to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which had only been discovered, of course, in December 2019, before causing countless deaths and mayhem in the world as we knew it. I must admit, I was skeptical.
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Last week’s column told of the low morale of the Sioux people in 1882 at the Standing Rock agency and Major James McLaughlin’s effort to improve the morale by instigating a buffalo hunt on the western edge of the Standing Rock.
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I’ve learned a lot from my patients over the years. Sometimes, the lessons are learned as I walk beside them through struggles, both medical and non-medical.
Read morePSALM 139:1-14 "O Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. Thou knowest my down sittings and mine uprising, thou understandeth my thoughts afar off. Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways. For there is not a word in my tongue, but ,Lo, O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me. Such knowledge is to wonderful for me; it is high, I cannot attain it. Whither shall I go from thy spirit? Or whither shall I flee from thy presence? If I ascend up to Heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in Hell, thou art there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee. For thou hast possessed my reins: thou covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvelous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well."(KJV)
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Allow me to throw a little history at you today. It’s about what was unquestionably the greatest hunt ever in the history of the Dakota Territory. I’m neither a historian nor an authority on Sioux Indian culture, but I do have a personal copy of James McLaughlin’s My Friend the Indian that was given to me by my grandmother in 1954. From that volume I’ll paraphrase McLaughlin’s account of the buffalo hunt on the Standing Rock reservation.
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Many people are familiar with the classic Abbott and Costello comedy skit “Who’s on First?” For those who are not familiar, the routine is a hilarious interaction between the two comedians as they discuss players on a baseball team while using confusing references such as “who’s on first” and “what’s on second.” The audience can see that Abbott believes he is clearly communicating the player names to Costello, but it digresses into a laughable experience of misunderstanding and frustration for both parties. The men become increasingly angry as the conversation goes on and each feel that the other is not listening.
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No South Dakotan alive today shook the hand of our first governor, Arthur Mellette, or stood with Valentine McGillycuddy atop Black Elk Peak. But we can still gain insight into the men and women who helped shape our state through the people who study and portray them today as historical re-enactors.
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