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 “Several years ago, I was at a charity event in South Dakota. Strangely, the event took
place in December, not the warmest time of year for the that part of the country! After
the event, our plane was delayed, and I had another day in town.
I had always felt
a great affinity for the horrific tragedy of the massacre of Sitting Bull and his Sioux
tribe at Wounded Knee. I realized I was not too far away from Pine Ridge, where the
massacre took place. Throwing all reason to the wind, I braved out in sub-zero weather,
rented a car, and drove to the Indian Reservation.
Standing
outside in the freezing cold, I felt the sorrow of that fateful day. As I
read the historical landmark , an even colder chill went through me. I suddenly realized
that I was standing there, exactly 110 years to the day of the Battle of Wounded knee when
the 7th Cavalry massacred hundreds upon hundreds
of innocent men, women and children.
It was at that moment that the idea for this
knife, “The Spirit of Sorrows” came to mind, and I worked on it as soon as I
came back to the studio. I wanted something that would show, in the face of the
beautifully carved Indian Maiden, the unique curve of the handle, and the power of the
blade, both the pain of the Sioux, and their external spirit, which no cowardly force
could every destroy, not then, not now, not forever... I hope I succeeded.” |
