Gabriele and Nick examine the nature of memorials and gravesites. The tipi on The Hill was both a memorial commemorating the centenary of the Wounded Knee Massacre and a political statement about homelessness. But it was also a deeply personal endeavor, especially for Nick, whose deceased brother had struggled with heroin addiction. 

Harriet Cohen, from her official capacity in the office of Ruth Messinger, the Manhattan Borough President, phoned Nick regularly querying about the nature and condition of The Hill and discussing the politics of homelessness. The conversations sometimes turned personal. “Nick, I am trying to understand what your motive is in all this, is it political or spiritual?” 

With the prevalence of drug sales and the violence that now defined The Hill, the question was, Why stay? Part of the answer had to do with not abandoning your chosen family, but a stronger unconscious drive steered their (non)action. In naming their project “Thieves Theatre’s Last Stand,” Nick and Gabriele were subconsciously signaling that they were willing “to die on this hill.” Their three-week road trip to Nevada and Pine Ridge was an attempt to escape this fate. 

With their trip out west, they wanted not just to visit the Wounded Knee site; they hoped to gift the tipi to the Lakota tribe who would be better able to represent the dead that it memorialized. And most importantly, they wanted to bring the memorial to the land, to the earth, where it truly belonged: the land of the Lakota. 

#conceptualart #guerrillaart #homelessencampment #homeless #nychistory #1990s #activism #woundedknee #pineridge #memorials #gravesites #wovoka #ghostdance #ghostshirt #leolaonefeather

For extensive documentation and to purchase the book, "The Hill": thievestheatre.org  

Contact Nick and Gabriele: podcast@thievestheatre.org  

@tipionthehill  

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