MANDERSON, S.D. — Descendants of a Native American man who died more than a century ago while touring with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show gathered Sunday to honor his life and celebrate his remains coming home to a South Dakota reservation.
About 75 people gathered at a gymnasium on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation to take part in a traditional Lakota funeral for Albert Afraid of Hawk, who died at the age of 20 at a Connecticut hospital in 1900. A ceremony at a nearby cemetery followed Sunday’s service.
“He’s going to make his journey today after over 100 years,” said Lakota medicine man Rick Two Dogs.
Afraid of Hawk died after a bout of food poisoning while traveling with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show and was buried in an unmarked grave in Connecticut.
Family members weren’t sure where he was buried until Connecticut history buff Bob Young uncovered records of the Oglala Sioux member’s death and burial.
