The Grapevine Art & Soul Salon

Presentations:Anne Fields

While visiting the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota I was privileged to watch a Lakota horse race event. It took place on rough, unimproved prairie grass with a couple of men holding flags to mark the finish. There were races for men, women, boys, and girls over distances of up to a mile. Many used only a blanket or rode bareback. It was late in the afternoon and the sun was low in the sky. The races started from the direction of the setting sun, and the first indication that one had begun was a cloud of dust in the distance. Then there was a thundering noise as the horses came towards us at a full gallop. It was an amazing sight. The next day I wrote this poem.

Lakota Horse Races

Out of the sun they came,
In a cloud of dust they came,
Across the plains they came,
Pounding the ground as they came
Thundering out of the sun.

Without saddles they rode,
One arm in the air they rode,
At a full gallop they rode,
In a cloud of dust they rode
Thundering out of the sun.

Young and old they raced,
Just for fun they raced,
On Lakota ponies they raced,
Across the plains they raced
Thundering out of the sun.

Photos of original artwork from a collection by Anne Fields:

^{Landscape with Galloping Horse by Merle Locke}

^{Horse and Teepees, painting by Merle Locke}

^{Lakota Painting on Rabbit Skin by Merle Locke}

^{Pow Wow Parade Horsemen, photo by Richard Fields}

A native of England, Anne has a PhD in physics and worked in research at Cambridge University in England and at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Gaithersburg, MD on projects involving deformation, fatigue, and fracture of metals.

Since retiring and moving to Georgia, Anne has switched her focus to the arts. She volunteers at five Atlanta area theaters, writes and tells stories and poems, and takes nature photographs. She has had her work hung in seven juried photography exhibitions, and five of her pictures were chosen by Governor Nathan Deal to hang in a year-long exhibition at the Georgia Capitol.

Anne has spent more than eighteen months on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota where she works with the Lakota people. She collects clothing and other donations and sends them directly to families in need. She has written a series of short stories about her experiences there and has held storytelling events for local audiences. She says that she hopes to help raise the veil that seems to be making the poverty-stricken area and its struggling people invisible to many Americans.

Anne can be reached here: annefields1@yahoo.com.