éditions lamaindonne is publishing “Aux Ombres”, a book about the great Lakota horseback rides, by Simon Vansteenwinckel.
For this photographic work, Simon Vansteenwinckel won the La Cense Prize for Horse Photography and is exhibiting at the Polka Gallery since September 11, 2025. The book and exhibition are presented as follows:
Every December, in North and South Dakota, members of the Lakota (Sioux) tribes gather to undertake a 280-mile (450 km) horseback ride over 15 days, in temperatures that can drop to -4°F (-20°C). They follow in the footsteps of Chief Big Foot’s tribe, whose 300 members, mostly women and children, were massacred at Wounded Knee on December 29th, 1890.
Currently, the Lakota live on reservations in extremely precarious conditions, kept dependent by the U.S. government. Parked on barren land in the middle of one of the world’s largest powers, their standard of living is comparable to that of the Third World. Violence, drugs, alcohol, unemployment—the life expectancy of men on reservations is 45 years. In 2024, some families still lacked sanitation or access to running water.
And this is exactly what the international media usually portrays of Native American reservations in the United States: a caricature of poverty. While their resilience is immense, their spirituality intact, and their pride unconquered; a people who have suffered the worst atrocities in history yet continue to live and move forward, united and strong.
Simon Vansteenwinckel: “Aux Ombres”
éditions lamaindonne
Format: 22.4 x 29.5 cm
224 pages
150 two-tone photographs
Hardcover
Hot stamped
ISBN: 978-2-492920-22-6
www.lamaindonne.fr
