Welcome to Prairie days.

I'm Michel Martin.

Whenever you attend a big event like the annual sidewalk arts festival here in Sioux Falls, you're sure to meet a lot of different people.

With a wide range of backgrounds.

In French, English, an Indian, Irish, German, and a little bit of Bohemian.

I'm Irish, German and Dutch.

Those different backgrounds are what this special edition of Dakota Life is all about.

Our crews recently traveled across South Dakota in search of heritage celebrations along the way.

We found entire communities that keep centuries old customs alive.

We also met a lot of people with a passion for their past.

Our first segment takes us to the rich farmland of southeastern South Dakota.

We're heritage celebration that is drawing visitors from around the world for over half a century.

Once a year, the calm of this quiet countryside gives way to the spirited sounds of celebration.

In town.

Main Street is a mix of festival standards the crowds, the floats and the food.

But what everyone here knows is that this gathering has more meaning than most young or old, local or visitor.

They're here to pay homage to the unique history from the first settlement that came here.

They were all Czech people.

Actually, we are almost 100% true people, and our ancestors were all true.

But we continue to keep some of the habits and we talk the language for two days each June.

Taylor's population swells from just over 400 to nearly 10,000.

As folks gather to celebrate Czech news, working a local corporation helps a lot.

Everybody in town get involved and we all help each other.

Every January, we hear one translation and promote our celebration, and we hand our free classes to all the legislators and lobbyists.

I believe last year we had like 29 states and six foreign countries register.

So they come from all over and we get telephone calls from all over because the phone calls come.

The Chamber of Commerce phone number happens to be our home.

So we send out brochures and those go all over the United States.

Actually, planning for this celebration of Czech heritage starts weeks, even months in advance.

And one of the things that really needs to be done is the baking of tens of thousands of these traditional Czech pastries called whole ashes.

Cultures and and sure, people are a combination.

And we never have a problem getting rid of them.

We can always have more romantic days, but Arlene Kernodle and Mildred Simple learned the art of making collages from their mothers.

And I think last year we had like 1500 dozen.

It was more than that, I thought.

And they sold them off the sugar in here.

Only sold.

Two eggs.

And we're going to beat this up over here.

I put it in my bowl, and then it'll start rising.

You just tell how soft it is.

And I just needed a little bit.

And this will rise up again.

And then.

Then it goes to this stage right here.

Oh, now, my little ones have gotten to where we can make the ingredients in there to put the filling in.

The variety of fillings has changed.

Yeah.

Used to be basically Greenland ice cream and maybe cottage cheese, maybe cottage cheese.

And now it's everything.

The appetite is prepared.

And the poppyseed the cherry.

I made my own kind of filling.

Our altar society was expected to donate and.

And then note the donation is five dozen.

In a matter of fact, we make enough money to keep our organization functioning for the whole year without doing anything else over ten days or a serving of food.

And I'm also part of the original story, and we can see the same thing here.

We do not have to do any other fundraising.

Like the right ingredients turned into Czech delicacies.

So too raw talent is trained for another important part of Czech Ambassador Band's release of the music.

That's in a means company.

As you would see if I. If I'm going to your place, I'd be company one.

That would be best seller.

This was brought over to the United States by the of the immigrants as they came here.

They got it all the way back in 1936.

They started with one group of eight people, and from then on it has grown.

And it is, basically it's a dance of waltzes.

And so there's many dance movements in the dance.

World.

Where kids of all ages dance the best of them.

It's an older generation that prepares the pageantry platter.

Here.

In its home.

We're just a group of, old timers that are hanging in there, and, so we have a float, and we do quite well and must see a lot of trophies.

You know, some of the towns don't have that many floats anymore.

They'll maybe just have some decorated pick up, you know, put a sign on it or something.

But our town is a place we are noted, I think, for the floats here at Grand Old.

These are the members of tables Czech Heritage Preservation Society.

We're going with an old custom here.

We make noodles so we noodle time, and we're kind of old fashioned.

The ladies have, old fashioned dresses and so on, and they'll be making lots.

To do.

Once the coal washes have all been baked and the dancers have practiced each and every step.

It's time for the celebration to begin.

The.

So many of our young people all come home at this time.

And if you want to see a lot of people from long ago, you just sit on a bench on the street and you'll see and meet a lot of people that you knew a long time ago.

There's still some of us here that speak the language.

You talk to a lot and different advice.

Everybody says we welcome you.

And then there's little things you tell.

Do.

Reading would be your next clue that know till we meet again and things like that when food around where we were saying Czech words as we along.

What kind of Czech words?

Mommy for mother.

Something that her father, her grandmother.

The grownups for the day.

And so for that reason, we're proud of our heritage here in Tabor and the Czech heritage, and therefore, we try to teach our younger people to follow in the footsteps of what we're doing.

It's a kind of a reunion for all our kids.

From the time they were little up and going about their jobs around the world.

We still like to come back here for two years, because they know we're going to be here till we come back every single year to 34 this year.

And at here it's, it's I guess it's at this time because our parents did it.

Our grandparents did it.

Their parents, I'm sure it had something to do with parents.

I mean, in the casting this year, I got a chance to see what everybody thinks of it.

All the children want to know heritage.

This is my first year, but, some of the other children have been here before, and, we've been to it for going to the museum and to the Catholic Church.

And then there's a cemetery, and we're going to go see that tomb.

Pretty cool, pretty cool.

What do you like best about it?

The parade.

I like Indiana Jones.

Soon we're going to go on the ride.

What's the back of your shirts off?

Well, united we stand.

Clutches.

We love during Czech days.

Being of Czech heritage is nice, but not necessary.

Visitors find that welcoming, small town feeling no matter what their ancestry.

You know, in a small town people, they care more.

You find comfort in your neighbors.

Whereas, like in a big city, you don't see that much.

You don't see the whole big city getting together.

And know the uniqueness about a small town is big.

Everybody gets together.

And that's like the festival turns out, so wonderful.

I think that's very sad that people lose their heritage.

I don't care if they're German or Swedish or whatever.

They are, what?

They should be proud of, their heritage.

Yes, we are proud of our heritage.

One of the elements that makes Czech Day so successful every year is the dedication of the organizers.

Most of the people we interviewed for that story have been involved in the celebration since the very beginning.

What's your ethnic heritage?

German and Irish and Chinese?

German.

Norwegian, Swedish, Danish and maybe more.

I don't know.

Well, some festivals honor individual ethnic heritage.

Some celebrate our common past when we travel to the western part of the state.

We came across the festival that welcomes people of all ethnic backgrounds.

It seems appropriate that each July 4th, cowboys and cowgirls celebrate their independence by kicking up their boots.

Putting on their nice blue jeans and breaking out their best hats.

It's about who can ride the longest, who's fastest, and two of the things Americans love most.

Family and friends.

We.

You've got your world champion cowboys that show up to this rodeo.

July 4th is called The Cowboy Christmas, and we have a lot of world champion cowboys passing through from here, going on to another rodeo.

This is one of the best country western, festivals, if you want to call it that.

Tours.

We love to see the Western atmosphere.

You used to be an announcer here by the name of Duane Peters when he told me.

He says, when you think of rodeo, you're going to think about boots.

It's the Black Hills Roundup, once known as the Tri-State roundup.

It started in 1918, in the midst of World War One, as a Red cross benefit for the boys overseas.

82 years later, the event still takes place next to the Bell River and centers around the 4th of July.

Although the date and location have not changed.

There have been a number of changes to the festival itself.

There are a number of activities.

I think the main thing with the Black Hills Roundup is that we're truly trying to to have a family focus.

The rodeo, is something that of course has has been in place for 82 years.

But over the course of the years, we've expanded, where there have been carnivals, there used to be street dances.

We have fireworks at Ormond Dam that are a major family, activity that people attend.

We've expanded into the arts festival in the park, and we have just tried to broaden, the activities so that we can draw more people into the community for our celebration.

I think a lot of it is the tradition and the fact that many people have families here.

And as a young people, they've been involved in the Black Hills round up.

Each year it's been a celebration from this community and people have been attracted back.

One major event that, on the 4th of July that has been ongoing is, our 4th of July parade.

And I would say that we attract, probably over 10,000 people into the community for that parade here.

And Wagner will be the first woman to chair the roundup.

And her daughter, Samantha explains, there has only been one thing that's kept her mother from attending.

They were going to the parade, and then, my mom said that she's going have me.

So we had to go to the hospital, so we never made it to the parade.

In 1989, I was expecting Samantha, and, we predicted that probably she would be due on the 4th of July.

And, but we had planned to attend the parade here in Belfast for the roundup.

And, that morning I went into labor and instead of making it to the roundup, we ended up in the hospital and we had Samantha and my husband, as I was in labor, continued to encourage me that if I hurried, we could still make the parade.

And.

The carnival used to be on Main Street, the main, very main street.

And then they also had a dance floor.

There.

And that was the big event after the rodeo with the dance, the open air dance and the big orchestras and, I worked at the theater for time, and I didn't get off work till about midnight or so.

And, so we danced most of the night and then went to bed during the 4th of July.

And I remember walking home one night barefoot, and my feet were so tired.

I know Main Street no longer has the street dance.

The street is still filled with lots of kids laughing, adults having fun, and lots of rides.

Of course, no celebration would be complete without good food.

And a place to shop set up in the park downtown.

Roundup goers can see some of South Dakota's own artists, along with their artwork.

Whether it's the parade, the carnival, or the art festival in the park, it's the rodeo that attracts round up goers from all over the country to Bellevue, South Dakota.

But the Cowboys know they have one main goal, and it only lasts eight seconds and.

Luckily, the bull riding for the Cowboys.

Now let's go check out the rodeo.

We.

Do.

Oh!

Here.

You.

Go!

A lot of towns.

We'll have a big PRCA rodeo, and most of town won't even hear anything about it.

But this town rallies around it.

The volunteers that make this happen, you know, it's just amazing.

So overwhelming is really actually refreshing to me.

As a professional rodeo announcing PRCA to work with such a great group of people, this.

The cowboy band has been performing at the roundhouse since 1931.

This colorful group not only brings music to the celebration, it brings a piece of patriotism, but to get these rodeo fans on their feet, it takes a little rock'n'roll.

Now who's coming here?

Wow, this.

First time I performed here was probably in, I would guess was probably in 52.

The first time we came to the rodeo, we were here with the first dark horse.

I do remember that night.

And then.

Then since that time, a lot of I wasn't even.

I was still in high school when I joined the first time and and then maybe later years or third contest clown fight bulls.

And then my dad heard just a buffalo.

And there are two buffaloes out here, the Murgon ranch program.

And they got them started.

Music and history.

After that.

Jerry Olson, a son of Bill food, was a world renowned entertainer and often provided the entertainment during the roundup rodeo.

Jerry was inducted into the Royal Rodeo Hall of Fame in Colorado.

Like Jerry, there are so many that bring color and history to the roundup.

I don't remember this, but my mother told me that we always came for the Black Hills Roundup.

We came in a covered wagon, and we camped out behind these bleachers that we're sitting in.

Because these are the original bleachers that the museum.

And then we camped from all the days that they had the rodeo.

And it was just part of our life.

Everybody came.

We at that time were the only rodeo in the area.

And, of course, this is the granddaddy rodeo of all.

But we were the granddaddy of South Dakota, and we drew from all over the country.

Rodeo has changed immensely.

It's here.

And of course, there's old timers and we like to hang on to the past, but it's great.

There's more.

We've got the national finals as well as Vegas now, and they win as much fun as they win all year.

One rodeo and rodeo has become a professional sport, and we used to be a part time playing group for people, you know, and it's it's gotten great.

I met so many great young guys and South Dakota right here.

We've got some of the greatest rodeo.

For three days, this sleepy little town of Memphis comes alive.

The tired cowboys, dusty summer here and excited rodeo fans bring a sense of freedom and honor for us who participate, making it a true All-American festival.

It's amazing what started out as a fundraiser during World War One turned into over 80 years of fun, food and games.

The round up now attracts close to 10,000 people and organizers expect it to keep getting bigger.

What ethnic heritage are you?

I'm German.

I'm a lot of different things.

Not one more than the other.

From India.

I'm German.

Born.

Next story.

We went to the northeastern part of the state for another All-American celebration, this time in honor of South Dakota's agricultural past.

We met some dedicated folks who, for one week and a year, use traditional farming methods and vintage equipment to celebrate the culture of the plains.

Those places are great for breakfast.

In 1913, Russell, like many South Dakota communities, got its start as a railroad town founded to help farmers get their grain to market.

Nearly a century later, egg producers continued to deliver their products to the still active rail line, but farming methods have greatly improved.

I think the community involvemen the old timers tell about when they used the fresh that that that was the highlight.

It was one of the harder parts of the year as far as the labor goes.

But but the neighbors all got together and they came together and worked together.

They did a lot of hard work, but they had a lot of fun.

And that's what we find with our threshing bee.

We have members from three states North Dakota, South Dakota and Minnesota because we're right in the corner.

We all work together for one common cause, to put on the show.

And it is a lot of work, but it's a lot of fun.

So it's nice to see people working on the same project to get it, get it to work.

For the town of just over 400 people, has hosted up to 5000 visitors for the annual event.

Many of the volunteers who organized the parade operate the Threshers and come to side with horse drawn plows, and remember attending threshing bees as children.

Westby hopes that younger Wausau residents will keep those memories alive for years to come.

Through the festival.

Well, we hope that it will continue and get passed down, but I tell you, work.

It is a concern because a lot of our members who did you feel more senior today are retired?

Plus, our grand marshal is 86 years old.

And his wife is close to that.

But, Wally McKee is 86, and, Kelsey Lee's birthday is today, and he's also 86.

They're two of our senior members.

And we need young people to replace these people as they retire and are no longer involved with the show.

So we hope that there's going to be enough young people to continue this tradition.

We have a lot of young people, a lot of young members now.

And, it's surprising every year we get a few more young people involved, and we get a lot of people that have never been associated with it before, and it find it fun.

So we hope that we can replace the people as the age, with the with the younger people.

We need to do that or otherwise it'll die speaking to the younger people.

What do you hope they're taking away from this celebration?

Well, some some, history.

How things used to be done in the old days.

We hope they take with them, how much we all rely on, on nature to harvest the crop, to raise a crop, and to harvest it.

We hope they take home, working together to achieve a goal and, sharing in the hard work and, and the fun and the laughter, both your farmer.

Do you think that the couple of days you spent working at the threshing bee Festival gives you an appreciation for what you have to do on a daily basis on your farm or what?

You don't have to do these after this.

Yes it does.

We, we take a lot of our machinery nowadays for granted.

Years ago it was all labor intensive.

And when you look at the numbers back in the, in the early 1900s and, how things have evolved from labor intensive to machine, man, replaced manpower, it's unbelievable what technology and machinery has done.

So it does make us appreciate we always joke about when we're loading bundles that that, if we had to do it this way with our whole operation, we.

None of us would be farming that much land.

Because it is very labor intensive compared to how you sit in the new combine.

Sounds.

Men aren't the only ones providing a helping hand during the two day festival, the women of the rural area pitch in just as ladies did during threshing.

Bees in the past harvest Brandon Berger is a member of the board of directors of the Russell Thresher Men's Association.

Her job is to maintain and operate the car well that usually went along with the threshing rig.

They had a steamer or whatever.

Many bundle teams went with it.

There were a lot of hired men, and there were usually two ladies in the car that went with the machines and the horses.

Every morning they would cook breakfast, a big breakfast.

It was hash browns, meat, whatever eggs.

And then they had to have the bread baked for the day.

They bake bread every day.

Then they'd have to have the you couldn't serve a meal without pie.

So they make the pies, and they'd probably have 2025 to cook for.

And they did it all with a wood stove hotter than the Dickens in there, and they'd have to carry the water.

And then after the after the breakfast, they cleaned up.

They made the forenoon lunch that was taken out to the threshing rig.

But that time they had their dinner going.

I got that cleaned up.

Then they would have their afternoon coffee.

They're ready to go.

Then they do the supper for all of them, and after they clean that up, then they'd set their bread for the next day and get things lined up for that.

It was it was a very hard chore.

And they would sleep right in the car.

They had their medicine folded up against the wall during the day, and that night they drop down, make them up and sleep.

This has been on the board of directors for the past eight years, she says.

More ladies and more young people join the group each year.

At the last meeting before the festival, over 60 members attended and many more residents volunteered their efforts.

And they come.

They're willing to work.

We don't have any one more.

We can say Rodney Westby is because he's our president, but nobody is the boss.

They throw everything in a half and discuss it and change it, and if they don't think it'll work, it's fixed.

And it's just it's fun.

The only requirement to be a member is a good sense of humor because, boy, if you haven't got it, you're going to be in trouble.

What do you think it does for the community of Russell?

Does it does it bring you closer together?

Yes it does.

And it's not only Russell.

We have people from New Effingham, Wheaton and Fairmont that come, and we even have some from of them.

And it's just it's just great to see everybody working together.

It's, you know, you don't see that much anymore.

But when it comes crashing me time, everybody is there.

If somebody isn't done harvesting well, then I'm going to help them get done harvesting so they can come to us now.

But it really works nice.

An important element in any celebration is food.

The Russell Threshing Bee and food standard junk food such as hamburgers, hot dogs and walking tacos.

But the most important food at the festival is lesser.

I guess it's because this is, well, it's traditionally, Scandinavian and German, and we have a lot of Scandinavians that have grown up with it, probably don't know how to make it, and they just lament.

And we have tried to get somebody from, the German descent to do something ethnic for us, but nobody knows what.

To me.

The only thing that I'm in Wisconsin.

Well, no, that's not true.

But, you know, they just don't come forward to to do it for us.

People do come forward by the thousands to enjoy the food, watch the parade, and appreciate the lifestyle of their forefathers.

Well, we usually come every year.

It's a family event and Vanessa usually goes in the tractor pedal form in the hay.

She looks for the coins in the hay and we enjoy the parade.

Also, does it bring back any memories in particular?

Oh yes, a lot of hard work.

It makes it a lot easier nowadays.

Makes you feel better about living in the new century.

That.

Yeah.

Vivian riding air conditioned tractors instead of in the hot heat.

And.

Yeah, and we had a lot of old friends and people.

And you come every year.

We have been.

Yeah, yeah, we always have.

Modern egg producers are interested in harnessing horsepower with the turn of the key.

Yesterday's farmers were also interested in how both horses and steam.

Joe Stein Hagen A parade in Minnesota has been showing his steam powered engine at festivals for over eight years.

It's a popular attraction in Russell.

It's far different than a gasoline engine.

You've got a completely different ballgame to work with.

And that's what, I just had to know what made him cool.

And once I found that one.

Tell me about the year, the model, everything about them.

The engine, 1913 K 60 horse.

It weighs about 21,000 pounds.

When it was new, it was sold for approximately $2,000.

This one, I think, seen a lot of sawmill work in its life because it gering on it is pretty good.

It was saved during the war, I think probably was actually used somewhere during the war.

And collector sold it to a man in Glenwood, and I bought it from him about ten years ago now.

So I like helping all the small towns.

I don't know, one of the big ones is my engine, because then you're just a number.

There.

Many small towns you get involved with everybody.

That's part of the show.

It really works out well.

You meet a good bunch of people, and.

And, you're just friendly, and it works.

Well.

Everybody does multiple jobs, so it's it's it's a good atmosphere.

I like working with them.

And and.

And.

The town of Roswell is vibrant for its size.

The townspeople work to provide for the future, preserving their heritage and passing on the past.

And so this land, rural people, the homesteaders, I feel, are probably the backbone that built this country.

And hopefully we can carry some of that history on to our children and their children.

And and that's why I'd like to see this continue in the future, just for that reason, to preserve some heritage here.

And with farming methods improving so much over the last several decades, you might expect interest in the old ways to fade away.

Not so, say the organizers in Russell.

We've seen larger and larger crowds every year.

What else MC heritage are you?

I'm half Danish and part German, and I'm not sure what the other half or the other part is.

Half Dutch, half Danish, and German and Dutch.

German and Norwegian and South Dakota cultural festivals.

No one in the southern part of the state has stayed true to its origins for well over 125 years.

Sure, there have been a few changes in that time, like the addition of carnival rides and food vendors, but the core of this celebration is, and always has been, a three day gathering that allows everyone to enjoy each other's company, share a meal, and celebrate the past year in song and dance.

I a call this from the State Fair visitors who come up here and are this.

But before school and but it's, So it's just a come together thing where we celebrate hard somewhere or somewhere, good crafts and, it's just it's just a fun time.

Everybody comes to have fun.

The annual Sundance used to take place, like, in July, when everything was right, you know?

And there was there was a lot of, the traditional Lakota culture based their lives on, on, hunting and gathering economy.

And of course, the gathering was, you know, picked from, you know, what grew wild, you know, and, middle of summer was pretty much the sort of like a picnic season, you know?

So it was like during that time that we had the, you know, the annual Sundance and the get together.

I think the only reason why they did it at that time, they might have came back something sometime around them.

So it was a time to come back and settle down because they like to migrate.

You know, they used to migrate all around, some of the buffalo and stuff in and around fault.

The coming and so on in this area because, around that time, all the sectors are black and all, plums are getting red, you know, and all these different things that they could, you know, prepare for the winter.

So it's like a harvest.

Harvest time.

The Rosebud affair celebrates a rich heritage and culture.

Included in that is the tradition of providing everyone with free meals for the duration of the festivities.

Workers, participants and visitors are all invited to partake in each of these public feeds.

These meals date back to the very early days of these yearly gatherings, when people were assembled to hunt them and gather wild fruits.

The Lakota believe they should share whatever they may have with their guests.

It's like being designated a chief.

When you're designated as chief, you're required to feed the public.

So.

So all these people get together and they're the ones that collect the food, you know, they get the food and they, you know, it's a great honor to, to be designated, like, for example, president of the, of the powwow.

And what you do is you use just not not just your, your own family, immediate family, but you use your extended family.

You, your, your, we we consider relationship with extended family, not just nuclear family, but it goes out.

So whenever let's see if I was elected president of was Rosebud Fair?

It was my responsibility to feed the people, at least for one day.

Okay.

So I would I would save up for the year and get ready for it, and then gather all the food that is necessary to feed the people on that particular day.

Last year, head cook, when he told us that the last boom of meat and vegetables that he scooped out of the bottom of the pot, the a pretty good size meat in a went to them last person in life, you know, it was you know it's been amazing.

And so this year he says it was it kind of scared me.

He says.

So this year I want to make sure I have more than that, you know, in case somebody else decides to.

And then later or somebody wants more and comes back, you know, or something, know.

One item that there is always plenty of is frybread.

Because of the very basic nature of the recipe and the simple ingredients, frybread is a staple at many gatherings.

Not only is it filling, it's downright tasty.

It's flour, powdered milk, baking powder, baking powder is the best.

The best kind of.

They come up browner, bigger and thicker.

And that's what people like normally are.

You serve the wine and that the flour together more.

But in this case we have to use sugar.

The health specialist comes around and checks our stuff this afternoon.

I mean, at least 50 and in the evening time or morning.

It is cooler and it's easier to work.

And it these people we have.

Here I've been trying to make them you know, their bread little bit bigger and we can satisfy the people who.

Are.

I'm not quite you know, that makes me a little bit more time.

I could be big brand all.

I could be careful.

And you can lift up.

You know, brownie and I usually like to leave it that way.

When you put them on the counter.

Stuff in there.

We make it in time.

And that's where you put the hamburger.

Is.

Right?

And then you can just buy them myself and the honey is good.

Like many of the community celebrations around the state, the Rosemont Fair features carnival rides in midway.

But to really appreciate the culture and the heritage of the fair, you need to head over to the Polo Grounds.

Here, visitors will have the opportunity to see the very heart of the fair throughout the event.

The grounds are filled with dancers of all ages, each dancers sharing their spirit as they dance to the sound of the drum.

Spectators will have plenty of opportunity to watch this band, and that's why it gives you an opportunity to see what different kinds of dances there are, and different kinds of costumes.

You know, you have, like the like the women.

Women have, you know, traditional dancers, they have like beaded dress and, you know, lots of costume on.

And they dance in one place or, you know, kind of a full traditional women have to dance, you know, you know, they also have what they call a shawl dance, where there's a lot of costume with the women wear show and they do a little bit more fancy work when they're dancing, you know, fancy footwork, a lot of body movement, you know, so they have a category for that.

They have an opportunity to observe that, you know, and see how that's done.

And then there's another category for women that's called the jingle dress.

Each dress is adorned with hundreds of silver jingles, which are made from Copenhagen time, rolled into the shape of a belt.

One of the more popular categories is the traditional dance.

It can be learned, but it really comes from inside.

Those used to come here and wash them in my house is my grandfather's dance and it was always in me.

I just didn't have no one actually to show me.

When I came back from the service, I really learned.

So they just taught me basic steps and the rest of it.

So your own home style.

But there's basic rules of keeping the time with the drum and the colors on the beach.

You'll notice them when they're singing or hit the drum like the lead singer of the drum four times real hard, maybe six.

And they usually more traditional dances with water similar to like a sneaker.

You get down little sneaking up on the enemy.

The highlight of each performance comes when the fancy dancers take to the ring.

Each contestant creates their own routine and throws their entire body into the dance.

Our elders A long time ago, the younger generation was a generation of traditional dancer who came up with the whole crazy aspects.

That's more or less like this is modern day dance.

A lot of them have their own tribal colors.

Rather than just start putting this together and they come up with their own unique designs and colors and.

Mine and I don't dance.

I do my beadwork, and there's a little bit of orange.

And here.

So I'm going to highlight the orange in my beadwork.

So I come up with a lot of orange and white.

To me it's a really spiritual thing, you know, it's a modern day dance.

It's still real spiritual, comes from my heart.

I'm dancing for all my, veterans, but so that we can be free to push on my brothers and sisters and their families.

Another.

Come on, dance.

My ancestors also.

When you come to the Rosebud there, bring an open heart and a willingness to learn about a people whose culture defines their lives.

There's not a misconception about Indian people in the United States, some of them even coast in crystal teepees and all that.

And, We just invite them here to learn about us.

You know, everybody, every everybody.

Everybody's learning every day.

And they want to come down here.

They're welcome to have some photos.

I'm sure we'll find a place for you here.

It's just that I can see the way I am very, very peaceful when everybody be together as one.

And this is the friendliest place to do it.

And you know how.

The Rosebud Faire takes place the fourth weekend of August each year and everyone is welcome.

What's your ethnic heritage?

Irish and Danish.

Irish and Norwegian.

I'm half Italian and half Greek.

German.

For our final story, we went out West once again to visit a heritage festival that can be heard long before it can be seen.

It's a sound like no other, and seems to beckon all within earshot to come to the northern Black Hills.

This school is the perfect home for the gathering, the gathering of the clans from the north and south.

They'll be coming from the east and west as well.

The clans they are gathering.

They come for the games and camaraderie.

They come for the music and the food.

They come to be together just to understand, you know, you're not in Scotland, Ireland or Wales, but you are in the land of Celts.

This is the Black Hills Highland Festival and Scottish Games, an annual gathering of people celebrating their Celtic roots.

First started in 1897 under the stewardship of Clan Stewart, this festival drew hundreds from surrounding towns eager to share their cultural heritage.

The festival thrived until shortly after World War One and then faded into history.

But fortunately for Sturgis, some people cherish their cultural bonds.

War started a number of years ago when my wife Elizabeth, and I started going to Scottish festivals in the United States.

That interest intensified over the last six, seven, eight, nine years.

And we got very involved in Clan Campbell North America, and I became chaplain for a number of Scottish teams.

And then we moved to the Black Hills and we said, wouldn't it be fun to start some Scottish games in the Black Hills, only to find out that there had been some back in 1897?

So we just started up something and played it out around World War One.

When a person who's trying to say like and they probably are counting hard, if they don't, they don't.

And it's the same way with festivals.

If you get to a festival, you just want to be everywhere all day long.

Just soak it up and another way you can look it, it's kind of like your fix for the year keeps you going.

It makes you feel like you belong somewhere.

So this is just clan Stewart continues to play a role in the revived festival in the person of Barbara Lynch, granddaughter to the festival founder Gregor Cruickshank.

My grandfather came over here from Scotland in 1883 and he started working for the homestead.

The clan people are very and they're very close knit.

They, they, they love to be a, a part of themselves.

So they started the clans and of course, Gregor was not only a dancer, but he was a big piper.

And his two brothers, Duncan and Alex.

Duncan was c bagpiper major.

And Alex was a dancer.

So they had enough additions within their family to get this started.

And there seemed to be a great need for pipers and drummers, singers and dancers.

This festival has it all, including its very own night.

So we need to see who's to the 2001 festival.

I was knighted in the Order of Saint George.

Saint George is the oldest order night in the world.

It was founded in 312 by Constantine the Great.

I was the 32nd American who ever received.

And, that was in 1984.

And my research that I've done on the Celtic families is a calling on the family back together.

And this trend is getting greater and greater in the United States.

I'm glad to see it, because, over the years, I've put over 150 of my family back in communications with each other, like having United States and doing festivals.

I think a lot of the people going to find the same thing.

They're going to find families.

They know existing.

No festival would be complete without food.

And Scottish food not only takes some time to prepare, it takes a bit of getting used to.

The haggis is a traditional meat sausage of Scotland, and the haggis was done inside the sheep's stomach, which was a convenient container in which to cook it.

It was made with lamb, heart, lamb, oatmeal, Scottish oatmeal, which is roasted in market, onions, cracked black pepper, beef stew.

It was used because most people don't like to taste the lanolin, and that you will get if you use lamb stew it and then the other ingredients normally would be in a haggis.

Is the meat or the lungs?

USDA will not approve that in this country.

So we substituted a little beef heart.

And it's a very, very good sausage.

If you're used to eating a hot dog, you've eaten everything that's in a haggis and a whole bunch of things you probably don't want to know about.

In days gone by, the women would put their husbands lunch in a cloth bag and heave it across the river.

Hence the origin of the highest horse that, like the food, the games take a lot of preparation.

At first I have to figure out what to do with this thing.

You're not happy with.

I throw tell you, this is really an excellent competition.

Okay, Wisconsin gentlemen.

And he gets a good one and almost nails one of our officials.

They do get 20 extra points if they wipe out one of the officials.

Come on, you.

You may.

Not.

You know, one of the primary goals of this festival is to keep alive the heritage, history and genealogy of those Celts who settled in this region of the United States have done so much of our history, particularly in South Dakota, the Scottish and Irish immigrants, they came to the hills and helped build a railroad.

They helped the mine and, most of the story, big cattle ranches started before the turn of the century.

So there are a lot of us here.

It becomes a family reunion time when we can really be, in and be recognized by who we are as a people of Scots-Irish descent.

So, that's what it is for me, is a gathering of the clan.

And we are migrating because they're definitely going to go to the highlands of South Dakota, which are Black Hills, because that's what they recognize is home.

Is, the Highlands and I actually, I live in Scotland.

And me and my mom moved here.

I love this festival.

I love the people.

The history here, the the beauty of it.

And, you know, it's growing.

It's growing every year.

It started out very small with, just a few people's dream.

And, it's grown from there.

And every year, better and better.

Look at it this year, it's wonderful.

We've never been here before.

We don't like we've played fairly large festivals throughout the state, and we're not really fond of the larger festivals.

You just kind of get lost in this.

So in a, in the smaller festival situation, you actually get to meet the people and have a chat with them.

And so there's a number of small festivals that we like to go to.

And Tom Campbell, expressed an interest in his coming out, and we knew that we were just returning from Ireland and Scotland, that we would be available.

So a number of things came together to make it happen.

But, we're glad we came out and a lot of fun.

We really enjoyed, audiences, seemed to connect themselves before we played.

You can tell that by the volume of conversation that's going on amongst people.

And we could hear it here.

You know, obviously it's a community that knew each other.

And, we feel very comfortable in that environment because that's the environment in which we live all shared.

So I think it's really important to get to the children.

You know, it doesn't matter whether they're Scottish, an Irish background.

It could be Hispanic, they could be Native American.

Doesn't matter which experience this is in this culture and will experience theirs even no Highland festival would be complete without music, and music to the soul of the state would not be music without the bagpipe.

As the traditional sound of the pipes changed over the years.

We we still have that traditional sound.

The drones are still tuned to a specific note on the bagpipe.

The only thing that we've changed is the the actual pitch of the instrument has risen slightly, and, can be and is tweaked quite a bit higher, than its original pitch.

It creates a bit more of a brightness to the sound, creates a little cleaner sound, a little easier to get a tighter keyboard.

It's not a squeak, squeak.

Oh, this is.

All right.

I think it's a little more practice.

We only do it because we love doing it.

It's.

It's a toll taker.

But this is something I absolutely love.

Our heritage.

We love our festival.

We love the Black Hills.

And we wanted to contribute something to this little town of Sturgis.

And as you probably know, Sturgis has noted for another event during the summer, and we wanted to make sure that people know that Sturgis also has, events like this.

South Dakota should be proud of its cultural diversity.

It makes no difference if you're Norwegian, Russian, German, stout, Irish, or Welsh and the Black Hills Highland Festival and games where, Tiffin can.

With the sound of the pipes and the beat of the drums.

Of your heart pumping.

Perhaps you have a little Celtic blood running in your veins.

Even if you don't, you may want to think about attending next year's event.

You can check their schedule on the internet at Black Hills Highland festival.com.

That's it for this special Prairie Day's edition of Dakota Life.

We hope you find some inspiration in the folks who so actively celebrate their heritage.

We also hope you'll give your own heritage some thought, because by remembering the past, we set the stage for the future from the Sidewalk Arts Festival in downtown Sioux Falls.

I'm Michele Bachmann and thanks for watching.