Manchester & Pine Ridge
An ocean separates Manchester and Pine Ridge, yet journeys and personal encounters have brought people from these places into one another’s lives.
For Eagle Feather, this connection has both historical and family meaning. It is a story of people meeting far from home, discovering unexpected ties, and imagining what might grow from them.
The following chapters trace those encounters, an unfinished exchange, and our hopes for the future.
Lakota History & the Manchester Connection: A Photographic Collection
A Shared History
Lakota performers travelled to Manchester and Salford with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West on three separate occasions between 1887 and 1903. Their presence forms part of the historical connection between these places and Lakota communities. The first residency took place at Manchester Racecourse in Salford, in the area now known as Salford Quays, from December 17, 1887, to April 30, 1888. Later engagements took place in Manchester from July 19 to August 8, 1891, and at Brooks’s Bar, Manchester, from April 13 to May 2, 1903. Behind these dates were people who crossed an ocean, carrying their own languages, experiences and ties to home. Their journeys are part of the history we remember today.
The history already connects us. Eagle Feather is building what comes next.
A Bridge Interuppted
Salford & Pine Ridge - 2005
More than a century after Lakota people traveled to the Manchester area with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West, another connection began to take shape.
In 2005, Stephen Coen worked to create a reciprocal youth exchange between Salford and Pine Ridge, South Dakota. Young people from Salford traveled to Pine Ridge, with the understanding that Lakota youth would later have the opportunity to make the journey to England.
The connection continued when Colleen Brave, co-founder of Eagle Feather, visited Manchester with a group and met Stephen Coen. During that visit, Stephen shared the story of meeting her brother Tony in Pine Ridge years earlier, a personal link that now helps connect Eagle Feather’s founders with their UK collaborator. Colleen and Leslie hope to visit Manchester together in the near future.
More than two decades later, Eagle Feather seeks to build on these connections through reciprocal exchange, Native leadership and lasting relationships.
The Bridge Continues
More than a century after Lakota performers travelled to Manchester and Salford, we look toward these places with a new hope for what might grow between our communities.
We imagine stories, finding new listeners, friendships taking root across the ocean, and future generations adding their own chapters to a history already shared.
For Eagle Feather, this bridge reaches across distance and time - honoring those who came before us while making room for those still to come.
The next chapter is ours to create together.
