DAY 12 SUNDAY, SEPT. 1 CHAMBERLAIN SD - LA CROSSE WI

Another hot prairie day saw us visit the Akta Lakota Cultural Centre where we saw a very sanitized display of the St. Joseph Catholic Mission School, the site of the cultural centre. I'm sure some good work has been done there in modern times, but there is always a seed of concerned doubt at the back of my mind whenever the topic of education of First Nations kids by white and particularly religious organizations is brought forth. Nevertheless, the facility looks good, and we saw several nicely dressed, well-cared for and quite happy First Nations kids proceed along the pathway to church on a sunny Sunday morning. The Lakota Cultural Centre had many fine displays of traditional life and historical artifacts.

This created a rather late start to the driving day for us, but we put the pedal to the metal and saw the temperature drop to more comfortable levels as we headed east. The miles sped by and the prairie of South Dakota melded into softer prairie in south western Minnesota. About 150 miles into Minnesota, the wide open and mostly flat prairie disappeared for the last time. As we rolled through Minnesota, trees became more numerous, the farms slightly smaller and greener: we were solidly in the mid-west. Corn and silos were everywhere, and Minnesota seems to have fully embraced the construction of wind farms: far more of these were in evidence than we have seen anywhere else on this trip. The road was of superb quality and the farms looked prosperous: Minnesota seems like a place of some wealth and solidity.

We put in to La Crosse, Wisconsin, on the east side of the Mississippi River. It is a geographical and psychological border. The west is now behind us for the trip: the Great Lakes lie ahead. La Crosse is a cool little college town, which we have learned is a phrase in the US for a town that is rather liberal, tolerant, safe and fun. We found a nice bar/restaurant in the old centre of town that was vaguely reminiscent of Durango, Colorado: old buildings that used to be warehouses or small factories are now the site of a vibrant night life. A band was playing on a downtown street, which was closed to traffic, to a raucous crowd of college kids obviously just back in town for the upcoming school year. We learned from a waitress that the town's sports namesake is indeed played here. In fact, entering town one is greeted by a fine statue of three First Nations playing the Creator's Game.  A barrier has indeed been crossed, because, earlier in the Lakota Cultural Centre, I searched for evidence of lacrosse being played by that First Nation, but found nothing to indicate they knew about the game. So, we are truly in familiar territory.