Amelia Schafer
ICT + Rapid City Journal
PINE RIDGE, S.D. – On Saturday an Oglala Lakota veteran walked 22 miles in the summer heat carrying an American flag, a tribal flag and several weights inside a rucksack.
Marcus Palmier has completed this between seven and nine-hour journey once a year every year for the past three years. He walks 22 miles from his home in Batesland to the Pine Ridge Powwow arena to honor the 22 veterans who die by suicide every day. Palmier’s walk runs in conjunction with the annual Oglala Veterans Powwow, which was started in the 1980s as a place to honor Vietnam veterans when they returned home.
“At one point in my life things weren’t going well for me, I was struggling with adjusting to civilian life after living in the army for so long,” Palmier said. “There’s a lot of struggles my family helped me with and I’m grateful for that… they made me see the brighter side of the dark thoughts that I have. I want to be that support for other veterans, to let them know we’re not alone in this hard walk we do every day.”
In 2023, the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs began offering suicide prevention services at all VA clinics, which over 50,000 veterans utilized. Unfortunately, for veterans on Pine Ridge the closest VA hospital is in Hot Springs which is 64 miles from the Pine Ridge community and even further for those living on the eastern side of the reservation.
Between 20 and 22 veterans die by suicide every day according to research from the Suicide Prevention Resource Center. Substance abuse disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, physical health problems and other mental health disorders all contribute to the epidemic.
Native Americans as a group are disproportionately affected by suicide, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Native people die by suicide at a rate higher than any other ethnic or racial group, and Native American veterans even more so. The VA’s 2023 yearly report found a 51.8 percent increase in suicide among American Indian or Alaskan Native Veterans.
Palmier walks 22 miles in one day every year to represent the roughly 22 veterans of all races who die by suicide every day.
Palmier carries weights in his rucksack, symbolizing the weight that he and his fellow veterans carry with them every day.
“It’s about PTSD, carrying the weight of that every day,” Palmier said. “I want to bring awareness for the other veterans, the people who struggle every day. This (walk) is just to kind of get the word out, let everyone know that we all struggle in our own ways.”
Native Americans are believed to be among the highest-serving demographic group in the U.S. military, according to the United Service Organizations. Native women in particular serve at a much higher rate than women of any other demographic, with 20 percent of all Native veterans being women as opposed to 15 percent of other groups.
On Pine Ridge, 797 people, or 6.4 percent of the reservation’s population, are veterans. A survey by the Oglala Lakota Housing Authority found that about half of veterans said they were not aware of the services and benefits they’re eligible for and were uncertain what was available to them.
“Sometimes it’s hard for many vets to access these resources,” said Shawnee Red Bear-Keith, Oglala Sioux Tribe Veterans Officer. “This way we bring it to them and they don’t have to travel to Hot Springs or Rapid City.”
On the first day of the Oglala Sioux Tribe Veterans’ Powwow, the tribe held a Veterans Stand Down, an event meant to bring services to the community that are generally difficult to access.
The fourth annual Stand Down offered free clothing, food, access to VA benefits, legal assistance, employment services, housing referrals and more.
The tribe also worked to bring a mobile optimist and health clinic to the Stand Down.
The veterans’ powwow as a whole is meant to provide a space for socialization, resources and support for veterans, not just Native American veterans, Red Bear-Keith said.
“This is a way to give back to vets and their families,” Red Bear-Keith said.
Palmier’s walk has grown in support, he doesn’t walk alone anymore.
Over the past few years community members have joined him on the walk, carrying banners or photos of loved ones who have died by suicide.
Palmier and his group began their walk west of Batesland at 9 a.m. on Saturday and arrived in Pine Ridge around dinner time.
This story is co-published by the Rapid City Journal and ICT, a news partnership that covers Indigenous communities in the South Dakota area.
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