Rivers West Tour - Day 11

It was another travel day, this time from Sioux City, South Dakota to Oacoma, South Dakota.   There were two planned, but optional stops along the way.  Most of the group, including us, bypassed both of them.  Instead, several of us decided to visit the Corn Palace in Mitchell instead.

We had another minor incident along the way though.  I forgot to lock the dish cupboard and when David made a very sharp turn, the cupboard came open.  Fortunately, we only lost one medium sized bowl.

At the Corn Palace, we were able to park on the street behind it and therefore, got to see some of the decorating process.

Prepping the Dock Weed

A Portion of the Design Wall

After the Dock Weed has been added

The Section They're Working On

The murals follow a different theme each year. The theme for 2022 is "Under the Big Top"

On the way to the campground is a Rest Area with a statue of Sacajawea, a small museum and a view of the Missouri River.  We didn't visit the museum and took in the view from the highway, because of a time crunch, but here's the statue

and the view of the river.

Once we arrived at the campground, we went to the Akta Lakota Museum and Cultural Center which includes an Indian School.  We were fortunate enough to get a ride with another couple so that we didn't have to unload the car from the tow dolly just for that trip.

The first thing I saw when entering the center was a wall of quilts.  The tour guide explained that these are called star quilts and one is given at each life event and every person is buried with one.

 There was also one that I believe was a crazy quilt.

Finally, there was one made up of embroidered squares similar to the quilts I do for charity.

We again saw a movie; this one explained what life was like for the Plains Indians as they followed the buffalo.  After the movie, a descendant of the Lakota gave us a guided tour of all of the exhibits.  I was amazed at the bead work and other decorative crafting that was done.  There was a lot of it since the Plains Indians were known for their colorful celebration attire.

When we left, they gave us each a bag of information about the museum and a couple of dream catchers. 

We've been seeing these signs a lot on our travels, but I doubt you'll ever see one in southern California.  If you did, most everyone would be violating the law during rush hour!

 Tomorrow we travel to Fort Pierre, South Dakota where we'll board a bus for a tour of the state capital and the South Dakota Cultural Heritage Center.