Post by Ingrid Schneider

The most peaceful man I ever knew lived in a shack with no electricity and no running water. He died July 11, one day after his 73rd birthday. His name was Bernard. Michael Bernard Running Eagle. Barney, we called him. For years, one of the best jobs I ever had took me up to Pine Ridge, working for a nonprofit called Love Light + Melody . That reservation is where I met Bernard. He and Irma lived out in the middle of a field behind the Bluff, nothing around them for miles. Bernard taught me about silence. Bernard taught me about contentment. Bernard taught me about peace. Bernard taught me about adversity. Bernard taught me about his people. Oglala Lakota. Bernard taught me that Sioux was never their name. It was given to them, and it wasn’t kind. Bernard taught me about history. Bernard taught me about love. Bernard taught me about giving things up when you love them. Bernard taught me about simple pleasures. Bernard taught me about breakfast. He played guitar. He sang. He grew a tiny garden in the middle of nowhere. He didn’t say cool. He said coo. No L. Everything was coo with Barney. One of my favorite memories: Peter Newlin brought the burger buggy up to Pine Ridge, and Bernard ate FOUR Park Burgers off it and called them the best in the world. He was right. I spent more hours with that man than I can count. Driving across the reservation. Sitting with him doing nothing worth writing down. Which is exactly why I’m writing it down. He made it to 73 on a reservation where the life expectancy for a man is 47. YOU DID WELL BARNEY- Most people don’t even know Pine Ridge exists. Bernard never let me look past a person, or a place, the world had already decided to skip. That work, and that man, changed how I run a business. Stay in Your Lane stands up for people on the margins. If that makes us the wrong fit for someone, good. Bernard changed more lives than I can count up there. Everybody loved Bernard. Travel well, Barney. I’ll be chasing your kind of quiet the rest of my life.