Dakota 38

History of the film:

330 mile horseback ride to honor 38 Dakota men hanged in 1862.

In the spring of 2005, Lakota Spiritual Leader Jim Miller had a dream where he rode 330 miles on horseback. He eventually came to a river bank in Mankato, Minnesota where he saw 38 of his own ancestors hanged. Jim soon discovered that he had dreamt of the largest mass hanging in United States history ordered by Abraham Lincoln in 1862. In December of 2008, Jim and many others retraced the route of his dream on horseback as a means of bringing healing and reconciliation to all. “DAKOTA 38” is a feature length documentary film by Smooth Feather Productions which tells the story of this powerful 330 mile journey.

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Over the next few months we’re working towards bringing together the following elements. Everyone involved with Smooth Feather Productions has donated their time to create “Dakota 38” and the $20,000 we’re looking to raise will go towards the following expenses.

-Creating an original Soundtrack.
We’re planning to head out to the Dakotas and record many traditional songs with some of the riders from the film. We’re creating a musical team of both Native and Non-native musicians to have a reconciliation process within the music. We’re working with a NYC based string quartet & composer, a guitarist from DC, a violinist from Bermuda and many singers and drummers from South Dakota & Minnesota.

-A Sound Effects track.
We have some friends in NYC who work for one of the best sound effects companies and they’ve offered to lend us a hand. Although the studio time we need to rent is quite expensive. Our goal will be to enrich the sounds of the horses riding, the wild storms and the many voices you hear throughout the film.

-A Western Film Tour.
We’re looking to take the film on the road as soon as it’s finished and screen it along the route of the ride to the many small towns and reservations we rode through. Earlier this year we bought Winnie, a 1972 Winnebago Indian, and now we need to get her out to the plains for a first film tour.

These are our main expenses that any contribution would greatly help us fund.

We look forward to being in touch with everyone and hopefully we’ll see you down the trail.

Thanks so much,

Silas & The Smooth Feather Team.

For More information visit, http://www.smoothfeather.org

If you are not able to make this please consider donating online at this URL.
http://www.smoothfeather.org/index.php?pg=backer