Member of the 13 Grandmothers Council
Rita Long-Visitor Holy Dance is one of the 13 grandmothers of the International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers, a global alliance that teaches ancestral ways of prayer, education, and healing. Rita is involved in the 13 grandmothers’ efforts to encourage the Vatican to rescind several papal bulls and edicts that set the stage for the “doctrine of conquest” that has had such far-reaching effects on the treatment of indigenous peoples.
Rita is an Oglala Lakota keeper of the traditional ways, great grandmother, Native American Church elder, and bead worker. She is descended from Long Visitor and is a member of the Crazy Horse Band, named for the great warrior, Crazy Horse. She lives on the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota with her sister, Beatrice Long-Visitor Holy Dance. Together they initiated a Youth Ambassador program that reminds Lakota youth of their sacred rites, the Sun Dance, and the connection to the source of being.
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