We found a walking path in Chamberlain along the Missouri River that allowed us to walk to the Alta Lakota Museum and Cultural Center on the campus of St. Joseph’s Indian School. The museum is dedicated to preserving the rich culture of the Lakota people. The exhibits are organized in a circle (building is octagon-shaped) starting with East – Camp Circle. This depicts life on the prairies before white settlers came to the area. South—Two Worlds Meet shows details of the early 1800s with the first Euro-American explorers, traders and missionaries. West—Broken Promises shows maps of traditional lands, treaties and those reduced current reservations. This shows many quotes from tribal leaders and the involvement of the US government. North—Continuity and Change has many beautiful works of art showing kept traditions and heritage. There was also an exhibit depicting the Indian school and its changes throughout its existence.

The Broken Promises quote that says it all came from Mahpiya Luta (Red Cloud) when he said, “They made us many promises, more than I can remember, but they never kept but one; they promised to take our land and they took it.” This is just one of the four parts of Sioux history in the museum, and it’s a sad one, so it feels good to end on the Continuity and Change to show the resilience of the Lakota people. Their culture and language have not been lost.

After walking back to Usain from the museum, we realized it was 2:30, and we needed lunch. We drove to Oacoma to Al’s Oasis which looks like a big tourist trap. We found delicious food at the restaurant on the east end which had a nice salad bar and homemade pies; Tony had some walleye. The west end had a unique grocery store with many displays of area wildlife taxidermy. I’ve never been in a grocery store that looked like a Cabela’s.

Our evening stroll found us in the Chamberlain Recreation Area further down from our campground. It’s a place where people could use off-road vehicles and get down to the shore of the river. This place is full of UTVs rather than the golf carts we usually see in campgrounds. These can be driven on the roads as well as trails. If I wanted to pull something on a trailer behind the van, this would be it; they look fun and useful.