Preview

The Lakota Way

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
510 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Lakota Way
Rachel Hansen
The Lakota Way The Lakota tribe introduced many values in this book. Humility (unsiiciyapi), perseverance (wowacintanka), respect (wawoohola), honor (wayuoniban), love (cantognake), sacrifice (incicupi), truth (wowicake), compassion (waunsilapi), bravery (woohitike), fortitude (cantewasake), generosity (camteyuke), and wisdom (woksape) were among the lessons learned throughout this book in the stories told. These stories have been told by grandmothers and grandfathers to their kin, which is the case with Joseph M. Marshall III, being told these stories by his grandfather. These stories are not just advice or teach morals, they also teach people about the Lakota culture. Right now we live in a very materialist world. Everyone is about success and accomplishment, making sure we succeed in this world. We still look after our families, but we have many more wants than before. Towards the end of the book is what more impacted me by talking about the ritual of the sweat lodge. It represented the womb, which is talking about being reborn. The final words they say when they leave the sweat lodge is mitakuye oyasin which means “all my relatives.” When they leave it is the start of a new beginning for them. The reason for doing this is to feel connection with friends and relatives; they are all brought together to share and help others. There is a variety of what Marshall writes about. He writes about the happiness, sad times, losses, and struggles. For instance, “The Story of the Flute” is one of the stories I really understood. A man runs off into the woods after the loss of a woman he loved even though she chose another man to be her husband. As he was in the woods, he got very tired and fell asleep beneath a tree. When he woke up he heard a very mournful sounding voice which sounded like what his broken heart sounded like. The sound actually turned out to be coming from a hallow tree branch that had been pecked full of holes and when the wind

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    I have seen the Dakota 38 documentary three times now. Each time it is stirred something in me that has no words, but much emotion. The film was inspired by Lakota spiritual leader Jim Miller, who in the spring of 2005 had a dream in which he rode 330 miles on horseback. He eventually came to a riverbank in Mankato, Minn, where he saw 38 of his own ancestors hanged. He soon discovered that he had dreamed of the actual largest mass hanging in the United States, ordered by President Lincoln in 1862. The Dakota Wokiksuye Memorial Ride first undertaken December 10-26, 2008 and held at the same time each year since. As the Dakota 38 riders make their way to Mankato, Minnesota to honor and remember the 38 men who lost their lives on December 26, 1862 in the largest mass execution ever seen in the United States, you may be wondering how you can honor them from wherever you are.…

    • 515 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Crazy Horse (Lakota: Tȟašúŋke Witkó in Standard Lakota Orthography,[2] IPA:tχaʃʊ̃kɛ witkɔ), literally "His-Horse-Is-Crazy";[3] c. 1840 – September 5, 1877) was a Native American war leader of the Oglala Lakota. He took up arms against the United States Federal government to fight against encroachments on the territories and way of life of the Lakota people, including leading a war party to victory at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in June 1876.…

    • 137 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the environmentalist and local citizens raised high concerns about the potential health and environmental consequences of oil spills, because after many research’s pipelines always leak. The pipeline can contaminate the Missouri River, which supplies drinking water for millions of Americans households and irrigation supply for thousands of acres farming lands. The Native American tribe is concerned about the vicinity of the pipeline to their reservation. They are also concerned that the construction could disrupt their sacred ancestral burial grounds, [and some other cultural significance.]…

    • 841 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The vast expanse of water below you, you're dangling on a large chain of gold, sweat dripping off of you into the water, the only sound you can hear is the plop plop of the water hitting the ocean below you, you think back to only minutes before, reach into your satchel and drop some sand into the water, the sand slowly expands outwards, reaching farther than your eye can see, you drop onto your newly created land. The two creation stories are very similar but they are more different than you think.…

    • 498 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Sitting Bull was Native American chief of the Lakota tribe. He was born 1831, Grand River. Sitting bull happened to be a leader and a hero to many of his people. During his time he did so much for his people such as carrying out many acts of bravery.…

    • 195 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    First, Cuyloga, True Son’s Indian father, kidnapped True Son when his own son died from yellow vomit. Cuyloga taught True Son virtues on how to be a strong Indian. In the winter, Cuyloga taught True Son to sit in ice cold water teaching him the value of patience (C.R. 1). Along with patience Cuyloga taught True Son to hate the Whites, even though True Son was White by birth. Another trait Cuyloga taught True Son was the love of nature…

    • 446 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Family is a big deal when it comes to the Chippewa tribe. “The Chippewas worked hard to care for one another” (Ditchfield 20). The Chippewas strongly believe that each member born into the tribe is a gift. When children were born everyone in the tribe would pitch in and help (18). Elder tribe members were very popular for telling stories. Children and adults would all gather around the fire to listen to these ancient stories (24), as shown in Figure 1…

    • 933 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    However, the Lakota tribe lived on much more tight budget with scarce food and there homes took place in disastrous slums. Aaron Huey is well acquainted with the tribe and is treated like family and known as their “brother.” “I will always be what is called "wasichu," and "wasichu" is a Lakota word that means "non-Indian," but another version of this word means "the one who takes the best meat for himself" (Huey). This exemplifies how the whites are greedy and always take the best part of everything for themselves, and save the lousy scraps for the minorities of America, the Lakota tribe included. The Lakota tribe is constantly being forced to give up the little that they have to Americans even though they had been promised their share in the past. The reservation the Lakota’s live on is deeper in poverty than Detroit or Flint, Michigan. Alexie makes sure to address this, “Unemployment on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation fluctuates between 85 and 90 percent…. 39 percent of homes on Pine Ridge have no electricity. At least 60 percent of the homes on the reservation are infested with black mold. More than 90 percent of the population lives below the federal poverty line… School dropout rate is up to 70 percent” (Huey). These statistics obviously show how hazardous the Lakota’s housing is. The houses are minuet and discombobulated with their possessions…

    • 735 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The tribes were made up of sub-tribes, which then were divided into other clans and bands of Sioux Indians. Each tribe was assigned a chief, who was chosen by their successfulness in war and by their ability to gain the public’s acceptance. The issues were dealt by the council in the tribe, which was made up of the community and elders. The moral codes of these Natives Americans were immensely important. The single act of being morally right could elevate a man into higher position of leadership. In each village, there were a set of “holy people” often called medicine man or priests. There were two different kinds of holy man; one could heal, bring good weather, or make the days hunt prosperous. The others could communicate with the spirits, andforesee the future, called shamans. Unlike the chiefs (that were always men) shamans or healers could be women. (galafilm.com). Popular culture has affected the governance system of the Sioux by spreading out the idea of “holy man” and “shamans” as uncommon or unreal. This could be seen as bad, because they lose some their earliest governance beliefs that were once the foundation of the…

    • 978 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sioux Nation Case Study

    • 760 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The United States v. Sioux Nation of Indians was a case that was decided in the Supreme Court in 1980, but really goes back to the events surrounding the Fort Laramine Treaty of 1868. The events that led up to the Sioux Nation pursuing legal action can pretty much be summarized as the United States government using their military power and governmental law as a means to wrongfully and/or immorally take away land that was promised to the Sioux Nation in the Fort Laramine Treaty of 1868. The treaty stated that the Great Sioux reservation, including the Black hills, would be “set apart for the absolute and undisturbed use and occupation" of the Sioux Nation (Sioux), and that no treaty for the cession of any part of the reservation would be valid…

    • 760 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dozens of native nations lived on the Great Plains including the Sioux Indians, also known as the Lakota or Dakota. The name Sioux means "little snakes". These Native Americans were nomadic and occupied territory in Minnesota, Wisconsin, and North and South Dakota, however they were also known to live in parts of Nebraska, Illinois, and Montana.…

    • 265 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Choctaw Culture

    • 189 Words
    • 1 Page

    They live by the mississippi river and there not surrounded by mountains. The Choctaws place is 83 degrees, It's usually less than 90 degrees so it’s warm at choctaws but at summer it’s gets really cold. The choctaws live in the Mississippi and they live close to the lake so the Choctaw men could get water to drink fish to eat.…

    • 189 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Sioux Tribe Research Paper

    • 1664 Words
    • 7 Pages

    It has been over 400 years since white settlers came to America and claimed land originally belonging to the Native Americans. Indigenous peoples of America, including the Sioux tribe, have suffered continuously because of the settlers and eventually their government. The Sioux tribe is recently taking a stand by protesting the plan for the construction of an oil pipeline in North Dakota that could seriously jeopardize the water supply of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. This pipeline also would cross through sacred ancestral lands of the Sioux tribe. Leaders of the Sioux tribe explain that they did not properly communicate with the people planning for the pipeline. Since spring, protesters have gathered peacefully to show their disagreement with the pipeline plan, but recently blocked the pathway for construction, which led to violence. The Sioux tribe have an inherent sense of duty to perform a…

    • 1664 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    The Cherokee are perhaps one of the most interesting of Native American Groups. Their life and culture are closely intertwined with early American settlers and the history of our own nation 's struggle for freedom. In the interest of promoting tolerance and peace, and with regard to the United States government 's handling of Native affairs, their story is one that is painful, stoic, and must not be forgotten.…

    • 3023 Words
    • 13 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Traditional lands and modern day standards of living have diminished tribal reservations creating conflict between native Indian tribes and industries. The Great Sioux natives have inhabited lands in the U.S for centuries therefore, I believe they have the rights to keep their lands reserved and separated from modernization of our country. The Standing Rock reservation has been home to native Indians and has been threaten to be modernized by oil industries and pipeline that will run through their lands and impact the way of life. The Standing Rock protests should be recognized and heard because the destruction industries are creating in our environment should be put to halt. The purpose…

    • 815 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays