Riding under a new name

Minn. (KEYC) - The Dakota 38 +2 Memorial Ride was started 19 years ago by Jim Miller to honor the Dakota lives lost in the mass execution 162 years ago.

“All of his, his want for it had been realized,” Todd Finney said.

Miller ended the ride after 2022 and passed away in 2023.

“So it was kind of that was the first chapter of a book,” Finney continued.

The community surrounding the ride did not want to see it end completely, so they began the journey to create something new. It is now called the Mahkato Reconciliation and Healing Ride.

“To bring not only advocacy, but to give people something to hope for,” he said.

The new ride will have route changes, but it will still be a 16-day, 330-mile ride from South Dakota to Minnesota.

“So that that the Dakota 38 + 2 Ride could rest and the next generation could begin,” he said.

The route will hit new towns and landmarks such as Sleepy Eye and Jeffers Petroglyphs.

“Just to expand on our, you know, people’s awareness and knowledge of the other things that are all around our great state where things happened.”

The journey is long and tedious.

“It’s a prayer journey. We understand the necessity of it,” Finney said.

But it’s like what Miller wanted to teach with the Dakota 38 + 2 Ride.

“To forgive everyone everything and move on and find those ways to move on. And for us, one of the many ways of finding that ways is doing this because it helps us remember our identity, who we are,” he continued.

Anyone is welcome to join the ride, but riders will need to bring their own gear and money. Shelter and some amenities are provided by towns along the route.

The ride starts December 10 and goes on until December 26. The ride will begin in Lower Brule, South Dakota and end in Mankato at Reconciliation Park.

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