Stephanie Hope Smith

Erecting a Peace Pole at Bdote (photo used by permission)

My mom is my hero because she helps other people to help other people. She would be my hero even if she wasn't my Mom, but because we spend so much time together, I really know how she spends her time and why she chooses to help. And that makes me even more proud. She is really good at talking to other people and getting them involved so that its not 1+1+1+1 it's 1+2+4+6. And more people get to help. She does things behind the scenes that no one else will do. Other people take credit for all her works and she just smiles.

She is a neutral mediator. That means she doesn't pick sides. She jokes and says she messes things up equally for everyone. And that's true sometimes. But she also makes things better -- lots better. She helps get permits for groups when they can't get permits like when World Peace and Prayer Day horse ride wanted to go from South Dakota to Bdote in Minnesota. Each city would say "fill out these forms and go to meetings and pay lots of money." I don't think you should need to pay money to pray or to placed that are sacred or your homeland either. So she goes and tries to get people to understand that American Indian groups are coming to pray --that it's not a parade or picnic or family reunion. And she helps to find ways that are safe and good for the city too. American Indian churches aren't built by people like my church is -- Instead they are mountains and lakes and rivers, mostly in big parks. So she helps to find ways for people to pray at their sacred site and still keep the laws. And sometimes we need the laws to change.

My family is not from any tribe. But that's probably why she can do such a good job -- She can be neutral and that's what is needed. Now it's not like there are fights and they need a referee, but sometimes things just get stuck and you need someone to unstick them. My mom says it's important for everyone to pray and then God takes care of the rest after we do our part. It has taken months and lots of meetings. I hate meetings. She is a hero for going to all those meetings. On and on and on. Meetings and meetings. It's ridiculous to need to have that many meetings to let people pray without the risk of getting arrested. It shouldn't be so hard.

Not everyone goes to a church or temple or mosque. Our American Indian friends pray at Bdote and the Black Hills. They collect water and pray. They have a horse dance. They make prayer lodges. Others have become other religions and don't pray in those traditional ways anymore. I think about it this way: if God tells you to do it, you need to do it. My family doesn't pray on a horse and I don't smoke canupa (pipes), but we can be respectful and let other people do that if that's what God told them to do. She helps make it so that others can pray their way at the places that they think are sacred. That's cool. I would be angry if you told me I had to pay park fees to go to my church, or if someone gave my church an evil name like Devil's Tower, or if someone went mountain biking through the middle of the sanctuary. That's the kind of thing that my mom helps to bring people together to talk about.

She was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by my other hero who is Chief Arvol Looking Horse. He already has a hero page or I would write about all the super things he does. He brings people of all faiths together to pray for healing. He really helps to bring peace. What I learned is that he would risk getting arrested to pray, but it shouldn't be THAT hard. Getting permits and going to meetings and trying to get people to talk, that doesn't sound all that important, unless you were the one who wanted to pray. She doesn't have a neat name badge and no one knows who she is because so much is done quietly and she doesn't get credit. But God knows, and I know. And that's why she's my hero.