The letter arrived from Brittany, France, written in a gentle mix of English and French.
A relative there wanted to tell me a story. During the First World War, he wrote, a young German soldier faced an attack by Canadian troops. He fired at one man charging toward him. The man kept running. He fired again. Still the man ran. Only the third shot stopped him.
When the fighting was over, the German soldier went to see who could carry two bullets and keep running. He found the courageous soldier, and discovered he was a Native man.
The letter ended simply: We were free in 1918. Thank you, immensely, to your Nation.
I don't know the name of the soldier in that story. But as I read it, another name rose in my heart, one my family has carried for more than a hundred years. And today, on Veterans Day, the day the world first knew as Armistice Day, it's time I told you about him.
Walking Elk
When the United States entered the First World War, my ancestor Chief John Grass encouraged the young men of Standing Rock to serve. His son Albert Grass, whose Lakota name was Hehaka Mani, Walking Elk, was among the very first to volunteer.
Albert became one of the early Lakota code talkers, carrying messages in our language that the opposing side could not understand. He served a country that did not yet recognize him, or any of our people, as citizens.
On July 18, 1918, his company was dug in along the road between Soissons and Paris. Albert volunteered to go for water for his fellow soldiers. He never came back.
He was the first son of Standing Rock to give his life in that war, and he rests in the earth of France still.
Less than four months later, on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, the guns finally fell silent.
From Armistice Day to Veterans Day
That day, November 11, 1918, became known as Armistice Day, a day to honor those who served in the First World War and to pray for lasting peace.
After the Second World War and the Korean War, veterans' groups asked that the day honor everyone who had served, in every war. On June 1, 1954, President Eisenhower signed the law that changed its name in the United States to Veterans Day.
In France, where Albert rests and where our friend in Brittany lives, November 11 is still called Armistice Day. So whichever name you know it by, it is the same day: the day the guns fell silent, and the day we remember all who served.
A Bridge Over the Cannonball
In October 2023, the State of North Dakota dedicated a bridge over the Cannonball River, near Standing Rock, as the Private Albert Grass WWI Bridge.
My niece Marina, daughter of my late brother, Chief Richard Deo Grass, and I traveled all through the night to be there. I encouraged her to bring her two young daughters, so they could stand on that bridge and learn who their relatives are.
Relatives of the Grass family gathered from everywhere, most of them still living at Standing Rock. Many of us were meeting for the very first time. Marina introduced me again and again as "Auntie," and there were a LOT of introductions that day.
With my blue eyes and blonde hair, I stood out in that crowd. But my face carries the features of John Grass, and my curly hair calls to mind one of Crazy Horse's boyhood names, Curly. Stereotypes aside, I am family there. And I was welcomed as family.
Together we carried the banner of Richard, the last traditional, spiritually appointed Chief of the Grass family line.
Together we carried the banner of Richard, the last traditional, spiritually appointed Chief of the Grass family line. (www.LakotaDakotaNakotaNation.org)
The Dance and the Prayer
At the meal after the dedication, Marina stepped into the circle and performed a hoop dance, the hoops turning and joining as the generations do.
Behind her, a large screen showed Albert's name and old photographs of the battles he fought in, telling of the bravery that earned him medals after his passing. Our girl danced in front of her great-grandfather's courage, and the two stories became one.
Then she offered something even more beautiful. Using the old form of sign language carried in the Grass family, she signed along to a musical recording of the "Our Father" prayer.
The room went still. There was not a dry eye in the building.
More than one hundred years after he walked away for water and never came home, Albert was still gathering his family together.
From Both Sides of the Ocean
Isn't it something, how the circle works? A man in Brittany, carrying his own family's memory of 1918, reaches across the ocean to say thank you. And his gratitude lands in the heart of a descendant of the Grass family, nine miles from Mato Tipila, just as November 11 comes around again.
This is what Nature's 4 Steps of Healing teach us. When we remember well, Balance returns. When we honor one another across every border, Harmony grows. When we receive gratitude with open hands, Abundance flows. And when we gather, as families and as nations, Peace finds a place to rest.
The Mothers Who Planted Peace
Far to the east of Standing Rock, the Haudenosaunee, the six nations many know as the Iroquois, carry a teaching called the Great Law of Peace.
Their story tells of a time of endless war, when a messenger called the Peacemaker walked from nation to nation. One of the first to receive his message was a woman named Jigonsaseh, who kept her fire burning beside a warriors' trail and fed travelers from every side. She became the first Clan Mother.
When the nations finally agreed to peace, they uprooted a great white pine, and the warriors threw their weapons of war into the hole beneath it. The tree was planted again on top. Its white roots stretched to the four directions, so any nation seeking peace could follow a root home to its shade.
An eagle was set at the top to watch over it all.
And here is the part worth holding close tonight. Under that law, it was the Clan Mothers who chose the chiefs. They had watched those boys grow up. They knew which ones carried a good mind. And if a chief stopped listening to his people, the mothers who chose him could remove him.
Our Lakota way remembers a woman too. It was White Buffalo Calf Woman who brought the Sacred Pipe to our people, and with it the way of prayer and right relationship. Different nations, different songs. Yet the thread runs the same: the way of peace has always been carried home by the women.
The Protectors the Mothers Choose
So on this Veterans Day, a word to the men.
Wopila. Thank you to every man who walked out for water so his brothers could drink. To every man who stood watch so the camp could sleep. To the Akichita, who kept the buffalo hunt in good order so every family ate. To the fathers, sons, and grandsons who choose, again and again, to be a shield and not a sword.
A true protector does not rule the circle. He serves it. In the old way, his strength was given its purpose by the women who knew his heart, and he carried that trust like a sacred bundle.
And to the women: have you noticed how often the world has asked you to forget this? Your wisdom does not need to shout to be heard. It only needs to be remembered. When a grandmother speaks from her connection with Mother Earth, something in all of us grows quiet and listens.
Women and men, mothers and protectors, side by side around one fire. This is how the hoop is mended.
Now Is the Time to Pray and Live for Peace
Look around at our world tonight. So many relatives are weary, frightened, and grieving. Can you feel it too?
This is why Nature's 4 Steps of Healing exist, and why IndigenousHealing.io is free and open to all. Each step is a preparation. We find Balance within ourselves, so we can offer Harmony to our families, so Abundance can flow through the daily practice of hospitality and reciprocity within our communities, so Peace has somewhere and some practical, ripple effect resonance energy, to land and spread naturally, globally.
And these steps are preparing us for something. On the Summer Solstice of 2028, on World Peace and Prayer Day, we will gather in a great circle around Mato Tipila, a circle around the fire of many hearts, resonating our peace practice through living BE-ings livestreamed so relatives everywhere can stand and resonate with us from wherever they are. In a week or two, I'll share the whole vision with you, and the full picture of how this circle will mend.
Until then, the medicine is simple. Pray for peace. Not only for your own family or your own nation, but for ALL our relations: the two-legged and the four-legged, the winged ones, the waters, and the stones. Pray for the young soldier and the old grandmother. Pray for every relative on every side of every ocean.
Albert went for water. A family in Brittany remembered. Marina danced. Each of them, in their own way, prayed for peace. Now it is our turn.
If you'd like to hear the Great Law of Peace spoken about by those who carry it, Mohawk Bear Clan Mother Louise "Mommabear" McDonald Herne sits in circle with Onondaga Chief Spencer Lyons, Tuscarora Chief Brennen Ferguson, and Mohawk Faithkeeper Sandra Fox in Hidden Roots of Democracy, from PBS's Rematriated Voices with Michelle Schenandoah.
An Invitation for Today
Today, as you go about your day, I invite you to pause at the eleventh hour, wherever you are, for one quiet minute.
Think of someone in your own line who walked into a storm so others could live in peace. Say their name, out loud if you can. Names are medicine. They keep our relatives walking with us. Then add one more prayer, for peace among all our relations.
And if a story rises in your heart, bring it to our Community Room. Stories like these are exactly what our circle is hungry for.
If you'd like to learn more about Albert, you can read about him at the North Dakota Department of Veterans Affairs and the Doughboy Foundation.
Wopila, Albert. Wopila to every warrior who walked into the storm for all our relations. And merci to our relative in Brittany, who reminded us to remember.
The hoop that was broken is being mended, one remembered name and one prayer resonance and living "random" (yet courageously purposeful) act of kindness at a time.
Come walk with us in the peace of wellness, with and for all our relations
Mitakuye Oyasin🌿
Mitakuye Oyasin🌿
Bunny Sings Wolf is a Dream Song Carrier, Stone Medicine practitioner, and Ambassador for the Lakota Dakota Nakota Nation, descended from Chief John Grass. She lives nine miles from Mato Tipila (Devils Tower) in Hulett, Wyoming, and is the founder of IndigenousHealing.io — a free global healing community walking Nature's 4 Steps together toward the Circle the Walk of Peace Path, Summer Solstice 2028. All are welcome. The circle path is always open.
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