A group of riders rode into Ipswich Monday on horseback. The Native American riders and supporters hope to bring awareness during the week-long ride.

The group, made up of people of all ages, left Crow Creek on August 28. They are planning on arriving at the Whitestone Hill State Historical Site, southeast of Kulm, N.D. on Sept. 3.

Jim Hallum of Santee, Neb., one of the group, said they want to bring awareness and healing during the memorial ride.

The Whitestone Hill Site is called a battlefield, but Hallum said it really was the site of a massacre.

On Sept. 3, 1863, General Alfred Sully's troops attacked a tipi camp of Yanktonai, Dakota and Lakota groups. Many Native men, women and children (between 100 and 300) died or were captured. The attack was part of a military mission to punish participants of the Dakota Conflict of 1862. Approximately 20 soldiers were killed.

Hallum said the ride helps recognize the last time the tribes were together before they were forced into the reservation system.

This is the first year of this ride, which they hope to continue for four years.

The people and horses stayed at the Trail Days Arena in Ipswich on Monday night, after a day on the road from Faulkton, where they stayed on Sunday. Tuesday morning the group continued on to Leola.