Chief Arvol Looking Horse

5 Plain Questions

Chief Arvol Looking was born on the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota. His primary responsibility is serving as the 19th Generation Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe – a role he was given at the age of twelve making him the youngest pipe keeper in Lakota history. As keeper of the sacred Pipe he also serves as the spiritual leader to the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota Nation and advocates for the restoration of the Lakota Nation’s rights to the Black Hills—as guaranteed by the 1868 Laramie Treaty.

He grew up in an era of religious suppression, where traditional Lakota ceremonies were outlawed in both the US and Canada from the early 1900’s until the Indian Religious Freedom Act in 1978. His family was forced to hold Sundance, sweatlodge, vision quests, and healing ceremonies underground for fear of arrest by the police.

Arvol’s advocacy of environmental and Indigenous rights and issues has been recognized globally as a recipient of the Wolf Award of Canada, the Juliet Hollister Award, a Non-Governmental Organization with Consultation Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council. He is also the author of White Buffalo Teachings and a guest columnist for Indian Country Today.

Since 1990, Arvol has also devoted himself to facilitate healing to all people and cultures through several sacred Prayer Rides on Horseback including The Annual Wintertime Chief Bigfoot Memorial Ride to Wounded Knee in order to mend the Sacred Hoop that was broken during the Massacre in 1890, The Unity Ride from B.C. to Six Nations in the early 2000s whose purpose was to heal historical trauma through the land and animals, and since 2005, he has supported and participated on the Dakota 38 Ride that takes place every December from South Dakota to Mankato, Minnesota to honor the memory of the 38 + 2 Dakota men who died under order of President Abraham Lincoln the Day after Christmas in 1862 in what was the largest mass hanging in U.S. history.