The Lakota's own name for themselves was Ocheti Shakowin, the "Seven Council Fires" or seven tribes who originally made up their nation: The Mdewakanton, Walpeton, Wahpekute, Sisseton, Yankton, Yanktonai and Teton. In time these groups became separated by dialect and geography into three distinct divisions.
The easternmost group, comprising the first four became the Dakota or Santee retaining their agricultural tradition between the forks of the Missouri and Mississippi. The second group moved west and lived between the Missouri and James rivers. These were the Yankton and Yanktonai who became the Nakota. The Teton or Lakota moved even further west onto the Great Plains and divided into a further seven sub tribes: Oglalas (Those Who Scatter Their Own), Brule (Burnt Thighs), Miniconjou (Those Who Plant By The Stream), Sans Arcs (No Bows) , Oohenopa (Two Kettles), Sihasapa (Blackfoot) and Hunkpapa (Those Who Camp By The Entrance). Ideally the seven tribes united each summer to renew the nation's unity but each tribe was self ruling and independent.
The word Sioux is totally meaningless and is a corruption of Nadouessioux, a Chippewa word meaning adders or enemies. This word was corrupted by the early French settlers to Sioux.
The Sioux originated from the woodlands east of the Mississippi, where they hunted, grew corn and foraged for wild rice in the lakes and streams of the region. Their neighbours and enemies the Chippewa acquired guns through trade with the white man through the Hudson's Bay Company set up in 1670. With the balance of power increasing in the Chippewa's favour the Sioux found themselves pushed slowly westward, in turn pushing the Cheyenne before them. Eventually the Lakota arrived at the edge of the Great Plains and ventured onto them. This meant a huge change in culture and also that the tribes already living on the plains had to be moved out of the way. The Sioux were very aggressive and soon pushed tribes such as the Crows west and the Kiowas south. By the early 1700's the Sioux were firmly established on the Great Plains.
When the Lakota first ventured onto the plains they had no horse and so walked everywhere. Their belongings were either carried by themselves or on small "A" shaped frames, called travois, pulled by dogs. With the acquisition of the horse, travel became quicker, hunting for food was easier and the travois could become bigger.
The Original Seven Council Fires
"Oceti-Sakowin"
Mdewakantonwan, Spirit Lake People
Wahpekute, Shooters among the Leaves
Sisseton, People of the Fish Ground (Sisseton)
Wahpetonwan, Dwellers among the Leaves (Wahpeton)
Ihanktonwana, Little Dwellers of the End (Yanktonais)
Ihanktonwan, Dwellers of the End (village)(Yankton)
Tetonwan, Dwellers on the Plains (Teton)
In general, Dakhóta/Nakhóta (easterly) are the woodland and Lakhóta the Plains peoples, so just as there are big differences in those environments and life there, there are big differences in culture and lifeways.
After the so-called "great (Sioux) uprising of 1867) the eastern people merged with the Lakhóta of South Dakóta and Nebraska. The 4 very small plots of land (Upper, Lower, Shakopee, Prairie Island) were essentially farms that were "awarded" to Dakhóta scouts. Later a few others came back to those small patches from the Nebraska Santee Dakhóta. These people tended to be or soon become rather acculturated, in comparison to the much larger groups who remained on isolated Badland camps in South Dakóta.
The "D/L/N" sound-difference is not really a present method of dividing the larger group of "Lakhóta" people from the two smaller ones. The history of the three divisions is the main difference. Lakhota is one dialect of a language widely spoken in the northern plains. It is not easy to find a universally acceptable designation for this language, given the fact that there is no unambiguous native name for it. Nineteenth and early twentieth-century scholars (Stephen R. Riggs, Franz Boas) used the term Dakota both for the language and for its eastern dialect. This is obviously awkward and liable to confusion. Here the designation Sioux is used for the language, reserving Dakota for the dialect.
Many speakers of the language dislike the term Sioux because of its foreign origin (cp. Goddard 1984), its use primarily by non-Indians, and because some do not recognize that all the dialects represent the same language.
The Sioux language is the first or second language of about 10,000-12,000 people in the northern plains and contiguous areas of the United States and Canadian prairie provinces. Some speakers of the language are to be found in other places in both countries as well, such as Los Angeles and Toronto. This is one of the largest surviving native language communities in North America.
Lakhota (Teton Sioux) is one of the five closely related dialects. Parks (1990), based on extensive surveys of all the Sioux-speaking reservations and reserves in the late 1970s, identifies these as Santee-Sisseton, Teton, Yankton-Yanktonai, Assiniboine, and Stoney. The easternmost of these is Santee-Sisseton. Nineteenth-century scholars, following native usage, referred to this dialect as Dakota. The westernmost of the dialects, Teton, is designated by its native name, Lakhota or Lakota. Speakers of the Assiniboine and Stoney dialects call their language Nakoda. The remaining dialect, Yankton-Yanktonai, also located geographically between the Santee-Sisseton and Teton dialects, show affinities with both Dakota and Nakoda, although speakers call their language Dakota.
Each of these dialects has reservation- or reserve-based subdialects, some quite different from the others. The subdialects of Teton Sioux oppose the southwest reservations (Pine Ridge and Rosebud) to those on the Missouri River (Cheyenne River, Lower Brule, Standing Rock). The populations on these reservations reflect earlier band divisions among the Teton Sioux, so the present linguistic differences quite likely reflect differences older than the reservation period, which dates only from the last third of the nineteenth century.
The Sioux language, in one or another of its dialects, but chiefly Dakota, has been written for over 150 years by missionaries, anthropologists, educators, and native speakers, using a variety of writing systems, all based on the Roman alphabet. Not surprisingly, there exists a sizable corpus of Sioux writings (see de Reuse 1987, 1990), some favoring a broad rendering of the language, others a fairly narrow rendering. In most cases there is no indication with or in the document of the intended degree of phonological exactitude, although most are more broad than narrow.
Pilamayaye - Lakota
Pidamayaye - Dakota
Pinamayaye- Nakota Originally the Sioux spoke the same language. Over the centuries as they expanded their territories, this language began to evolve into three major dialects.
Lakota in the West, Nakota in the middle, and Dakota in the East.
At the time of the Sioux migration to the Great Plains, the people were grouped into seven major divisions. Together, they formed the "Seven Council Fires," called 'Oceti Sakowin'.
Many members of these dispersed groups would come together each year to celebrate the Sun Dance. The Lakota belonged to the largest of these groups-the Titunwan, or Teton Sioux. Located in the western-most Sioux territory, they spoke a common dialect and shared certain customs different from their Dakota and Nakota counterparts.
The Titunwan are grouped into seven ospaye.
Each ospaye was further divided into bands of extended family groups, called tiospayes.
A typical tiospaye comprised of a man, his brothers and/or male cousins and their families who travelled together year-round.
Together, each tiospaye numbered around 150-300 people. WARFARE Indian warfare was very complicated and strange to the white man, especially as it was never intended to bring a crushing defeat on an enemy and subjugation of the opposing tribe. The Indian way was to always leave an enemy to fight another day or what fun would there be with no-one to fight. War was there to protect hunting rights and land, steal goods (especially horses) and to prove an individual's courage and bravado. This is best measured by the process the Lakota called Anho, which the white man called Counting Coup, from the French word meaning to strike. This was simply touching an enemy, either with the hand, a bow or a Coup stick, a short stick used solely to touch an enemy. This was considered the bravest of acts, much braver than killing an enemy with a gun or arrow from a distance, and carried much more standing when acts of war were told around the tipi fires at night. Killing an enemy was also considered a coup but of lesser standing. The second and third people to touch a dead enemy called also claim second and third coup. Coups were displayed by feathers worn by the warrior and these were cut in ways that denoted the class of coup and how the enemy was killed.
The magnificent war bonnets of the Plains Indian were not decoration and could not be worn by anyone who just felt like it. Every feather in the bonnet had to be earned, either as a coup or the death of an enemy. Therefore those warriors with the biggest war bonnets, sometimes with two feathered trails to the ground were the most respected warriors in the band. Amongst the Lakota the mark of a chief was a single eagle feather worn at the back of the head. Those who were entitled to wear war bonnets were not always chiefs but were very good warriors. This goes against all that Hollywood ever tried to show us in the films, i.e. the bigger the head-dress, the bigger the chief.
War bonnets, along with a warriors other good clothes and favourite possessions went to the grave with him. His best horse was usually killed at the graveside. The reason for this was that he would need all these things in the next life. Basically if you didn't take it with you, you did without it in the next life. Hence a man who had been scalped in this life would have no hair in the next. Although a lot of the symbols on clothing and weapons gave the wearer protection the basic idea of wearing your best clothes to go to war was in case you died. This way you had something to wear in the next life.
Although each band had a war chief or chiefs these were only really used when the whole band or tribe was at war. At other times any warrior who chose could lead a war party to steal horses, get revenge on an enemy or obtain glory and standing through an attack on another tribe. Naturally this man could only lead if others chose to follow him and he would have been a warrior proven in battle, preferably able to show he had good medicine which would protect himself and those who followed him.
A man who had never led a war party before would be expected to ask the help of an experienced warrior in preparing for his first raid. The preparation would take several days, sometimes weeks. Solemn prayers would be offered, the participants personal medicine invoked or strengthened, the omens read and supplies prepared for the journey. If a member of the party considered he had received a bad omen before leaving, or if he dreamt he would die in the ensuing battle, he could withdraw with no loss of face. If a warrior was to develop a toothache for instance before the battle this was considered a bad omen and the warrior would be sent home.
To really receive the glory a warrior craved his enemy must be considered worthy of the victory. When the white man first appeared on the plains he was not considered a worthy enemy as he was so strange and it was considered to be beneath a Sioux warrior to kill a white. This changed out of necessity later on as the white man hounded the plains Indians from their lands and the Sioux had to fight to survive. The Sioux, like all plains tribes were fairly undisciplined in battle due to the over-riding rule of each man's independence. Each man wanted to be first to count coup or kill an enemy so it was usually a race into battle. Many a trap would be sprung early by a young man wishing to get battle honours, who would thereby ruin the trap.
Only with the emergence of leaders such as Crazy Horse who realised the necessity of discipline and planning did the Indians start to prove themselves an efficient fighting force. The Indians found it very hard to understand the white man's ways of fighting although they did see the advantage in having good guns, especially once they realised how they had to change their fighting methods to stay on par with the white man. Indians preferred the stealth attack or ambush to an all out charge but if there was no choice they would exhibit great bravery in their attempts to flush out an enemy or count coup on him. Unlike in the movies the Indian in general realised the stupidity in attacking a well defended fort or circling around a wagon train just to get shot at like a duck at a fairground rifle range.
The rift between the white man and the Indian grew wider every time they met simply because neither could understand the other. To the white man the Indian was a savage, a thief and a beggar who had no morals and would kill anything or anybody and probably eat it afterwards. Because the white man was used to having people in authority acting for them and telling them what to do they could not really understand the Indian's over riding sense of independence or the roles of the chiefs, who were there to advise or see the wishes of the councils were acted upon. When an Indian signed a treaty it was just for himself. He did not have the right to sign for someone else and neither did he want that right. After Red Cloud's War the white man insisted Red Cloud signed the treaty that followed. This confused the Sioux as Red Cloud was not a chief They actually had to make him a chief so that he could sign the treaty.
Eventually the whites insisted that the Sioux declared one man overall chief of the Sioux nation, a concept that the Indian could not get to grips with at all.
The Indian saw the white man as a lower form of life, big only in numbers. There is an old Sioux saying; "you do not go to the top of a mountain for water or to a white man for the truth" which summed up the dealings they had with the white man very well. Every treaty the Sioux made with the whites was broken and NEVER by the Sioux. The American government would always change it's mind about what it wanted and if a new treaty could not be agreed it would force the Indians to give up land or rights.
INDIAN
1) Based on mutuality and a oneness with the spirit word.
2) Family based but with the band being made up of relatives. Other relatives in other bands helped to join the bands together. Also a strong sense of tribal identity.
3) Tribal councils and chiefs to carry out the wishes of the people, always bearing the good of the tribe and it's people to the fore.
A man's independence and freedom of choice was sacred.
4) The plains Indian can be counted in thousands at their peak.
5) Mainly nomadic, following the food supply. Hunter/gatherers.
6) Designed to gain glory, obtain horses or goods, to protect family and hunting grounds.
The Coming of the Horse
The horse had not been native to America since much earlier times, and then not in the form we know today. With the Spanish going gold hungry in South America, they had horses with them, which either escaped or were stolen. Eventually the trading and the stealing stretched northwards until horses were common across the Great Plains.
This strange creature became known as Sunke Wakan (shun-kah wah-kahn) by the Lakota, which translates as Sacred Dog. This exemplifies their lateral thinking. It could do most things a dog could do, certainly all the useful things, but so much better. The Lakota soon had a plentiful supply of horses, as did their neighbours, and it changed their whole way of life. This is how:
1) Transportation: Instead of having to walk everywhere, with the effort and the time that involved, the horse could carry them and their belongings at a much faster rate.
2) Warfare: As the Lakota mastered the horse (and they did become excellent horsemen) they realised it's potential in battle. You could get to an enemy faster, you could use the horse as a shield, getting him to take you in close, and you could get away quicker should you need to.
3) Dwelling: Whereas before the horse the Lakota lived in rather small tipis this now changed. Before, the size of the lodge poles was dictated by what a dog could pull along behind it when travelling from place to place. With the acquisition of the horse, being so much bigger than a dog, the lodge poles could also become much bigger. The travois too could become bigger enabling more goods to be carried. With bigger lodge poles came bigger tipis. Without the horse, the tipi we know today would probably not have existed.
4) Hunting: Buffalo hunting had always been a dangerous pastime. Creeping up close to what is a large, dangerous animal was something you always did with extreme care and caution. With the horse to ride the hunt developed more into the chase as we know it today. The buffalo were still highly dangerous, and only a fool dismounted near an injured buffalo, but your horse could get you in close to shoot your weapon and then take you away quickly should the need arise. The pony you used for hunting was reserved for that pastime alone and was known as a Buffalo Runner. He was always your best and fastest horse.
5) Recreation: Horse racing was considered a great sport amongst the Plains Indian and betting would take place on the outcome. Villages would travel en masse to race their finest against another village.
6) Personal Standing: A man was judged on how many horses he had and he would boast about this, along with his deeds in battle. Horses became a form of currency, so important were they.
7) Marriage Proposals: If a man wished to marry a woman then he would have to impress her father first. Apart from the reputation that the young man had he would do this by offering gifts to the father. This would include things such as buffalo robes etc but would always include one or more fine horses. The idea was to say that the daughter was worth all these things to you. If you offered old or broken down horses then you obviously thought little of the girl and her father would be bound to refuse you unless he was desperate to marry her off to someone. Thankfully, this rarely happened.
So you can see that the arrival of the horse changed the Plains Indian for ever. A man would look after his horses because they became a necessity of his life. The Lakota mastered the horse, breeding them, breaking them to rider, using them for everything. They would also capture feral horses and break them in. The Plains Indian rode bareback, not needing saddle or stirrups and Lakota and horse soon became so close that nobody could remember the time before they came.
The Pipe Smoking was an important ritual as well as something done for pleasure. A man's pipe was one of his most favoured and treasured possessions. The pipe would usually be made of ashwood, a straight piece as long as a man's forearm. This was split in half, hollowed out and bound back together again. The mouthpiece would be wrapped in rawhide which was allowed to dry and shrink until it became as hard as wood. The bowl would be made from red pipestone, shaped and polished and given a final rubbing with buffalo tallow to seal the porous stone. The pipe would be decorated with the owners personal symbols, feathers or furs from the owners personal spirit helper, strips of buffalo hide and horse hair.
Particularly ceremonial pipes would always be adorned with four strips of buffalo hide dyed red, black, white and yellow, the colours of the four directions. Near the mouthpiece would be four braided strands of horsehair, again in the four sacred colours. Sometimes a strip of red paint ran from the bowl to the mouthpiece, symbolising the good red road of spiritual understanding that was sought by all who smoked the pipe. Around the stem of the pipe was a small circle of black to represent the world of worldly cares. Where the black crossed the red was a spot of green representing the tree of life.
Where men met together a pipe would always be smoked formally before any talk took place. The smoking of the pipe was a ritual which bound all who partook of the pipe to telling the truth and keeping his word on anything said. The pipe would be offered by the host to the four directions, the earth and the sky. He would then pass it to the man on his left who smoked and passed it on to the man on his left and so on. It always went to the left as this was the direction the sun took or its journey around the world. The pipe would be filled with a mixture of dried willow bark, tobacco, grasses and herbs. If the mixture was finished before the pipe had gone full circle the pipe would be tapped and cleaned, the ashes emptied into the fire. Upon refilling the pipe, it would again be offered as before, then it would continue it's way around the circle as before. The smoke from the pipe was believed to carry the words of man upwards to the Great Spirit and all men who smoked the pipe were united spiritually.
After the formal smoking of the pipe the talk would begin and each man would then light his own pipe and smoke through the conversation. Pipes were usually long but if a man had suffered some fall from grace or shame then he was expected to smoke a short stemmed pipe. One way to greatly insult a man was to clean out your pipe and empty the ashes over his moccasins.
Sacred Colors
Red: Luta (Lootah) or S*a (Sha)
Yellow: Zi (Zee)
Black: Sapa (Sahpah)
WHITE: Ska (Skah))
These are the four primary Sacred Colors, and the number four (Topa) is a Sacred Number.
Blue: To (Toh)
Green: Tozi (Tohzee) (Blue plus Yellow)
They are associated with the Sacred Directions and the Sacred Spirits of each Sacred Direction.
Sacred Directions:
East: Wihinapa (Weeheenahpah)
Wiyohiyanpata (Weeyohheeyah(n)pahtah)
South: Itokag*a (Eetohkahg*ah)
Itokagata (Eetohkahgahtah)
West: Wi mahiya (Wee mahheeyah)
Wiyoh*peyata (Weeyoh*pehyahtah)
North: Waziyata (Wahzeeyahtah)
These are the Four primary Sacred Directions, and, ake, again, the number Four, Topa, is Sacred.
Sky: Mah*piya (Mah*peeyah)
Grandfather: Tunkasila (Toonkahsheelah)
Earth: Maka (Mahkah)
Grandmother: Unci (Oo(n)chee)
This makes Six Sacred Directions and Sacred Spirits, and together with Wakan Tanka, the Great Sacred (or Great Spirit, or Great Mystery), representing Everything Sacred, The Creator of Everything Sacred, this makes Seven Sacred Spirits, and the Number Seven, Sakowin (Sahkohwee(n)) is Sacred.
Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota Peoples have many different ways of associating the Sacred Colors with the Sacred Directions and Sacred Spirits. The Sacred Colors go with different Sacred Directions and Sacred Spirits even among one People, on one Reservation, depending on the Wicasa or Winyan Wakan - Spiritual Medicine Man or Woman - or even the individual.
East, Red (Luta or S*a): Sunrise, First Light, Knowledge, Wisdom, Birth, Beginning, Spring
South, Yellow (Zi): Full Sun, Growth of All Natural Things, Material Abundance, Adulthood, Middle, Summer
West, Black (Sapa): Sunset, Darkness, Land of Thunder Beings - Lightening, Thunder, Rain, Power, Strength, Death, End, Fall
North, White (Ska): Land of Cold Wind Beings, Fresh Air, Cleanliness, Purity of Mind, Heart, Spirit, Body, Between Death and Life, Spirit World, Winter
Below: Green (Tozi) for Grass or Red (Luta) or Brown (Gi) for Grandmother Earth (Unci, Maka Luta)
Above: Blue (To) for Grandfather Sky (Tunkas*ila)
Lakota Moons
What is used is the lunar calendar, and also follows the moon cycle, which is 28-29 days. This gives twelve Moons some years and thirteen Moons other years. This is the same as a two-year 25-Moon period. Listed are various Oceti Sakowin (Seven Council Fires: Lakota, Dakota, Nakota Peoples) Moon names, and the European months to which they approximately correspond.
Moon of Strong Cold/Frost in the Tipi/Wolves Run Together
(January)
Raccoon Moon/Dark Red Calves
(February)
Moon When Buffalo Cows Drop Their Calves/Sore Eye Moon
(March)
Moon of Greening Grass/Red Grass Appearing
(April)
Moon When the Ponies Shed
(May)
Moon of Making Fat/Moon When Green Grass Is Up/Strawberry Moon
(June)
Moon When the Wild Cherries Are Ripe/Red Cherries/Red Blooming Lilies
(July)
Moon When the Geese Shed Their Feathers/Cherries Turn Black
(August)
Moon of Drying Grass/When Calves Grow Hair or Black Calf/When the Plums Are Scarlet
(September)
Moon of Falling Leaves/Changing Season
(October)
Moon of the Falling Leaves
(November)
Moon of Popping Trees/When Deer Shed Their Horns/Buffalo Cow's Fetus Is Getting Large (December)
LEGEND OF THE WHITE BUFFALO
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One summer a long time ago, the seven sacred council fires of the Lakota Sioux came together and camped. The sun was strong and the people were starving for there was no game. Two young men went out to hunt. Along the way, the two men met a beautiful young woman dressed in white who floated as she walked. One man had bad desires for the woman and tried to touch her, but was consumed by a cloud and turned into a pile of bones. The woman spoke to the second young man and said, "Return to your people and tell them I am coming."
This holy woman brought a wrapped bundle to the people. She unwrapped the bundle giving to the people a sacred pipe and teaching them how to use it to pray. "With this holy pipe, you will walk like a living prayer," she said. The holy woman told the Sioux about the value of the buffalo, the women and the children. "You are from Mother Earth," she told the women, "What you are doing is as great as the warriors do." Before she left, she told the people she would return. As she walked away, she rolled over four times, turning into a white female buffalo calf.
It is said after that day the Lakota honored their pipe, and buffalo were plentiful. (from John Lame Deer's telling in 1967). Many believe that the buffalo calf, Miracle, born August 20, 1994 symbolizes the coming together of humanity into a oneness of heart, mind, and spirit. The Sundance Of all the ceremonies practiced by the Lakota (indeed most of the Plains Indians) the Sun Dance was the most important.
It was a time of renewal, both of the tribe and of the People and the earth. As many bands as possible would come together for this annual rite.
The village would therefore be huge usually with each tribe camping within their own circle and this circle being part of another circle.
A large circular arena would be cleared and a double ring of sticks would be erected around the outside with branches placed on the top as shelter for the dancers, singers and spectators.
The Holy Men would go into the forest and select a tree to be used as the central pole. A man would then be selected because of a great deed or feat of bravery to ‘count coup' on the tree which would then be cut down. As it fell it was not allowed to touch the ground. The tree would then be trimmed and taken back to the dance site, decorated and erected in the middle of the arena.
The next day the dancing would begin at sunrise. Anyone who wanted to dance could do so. The dancers looked at the sun as they danced. Short breaks were allowed but no food or drink was taken. This part of the dance would go on for four days usually while the self-sacrificers prepared themselves.
These people (usually men - it was incredibly rare for a woman to do this) were those who wanted something in particular; good hunting skills, better fighting skills, or something like the curing of a sick relative.
Their bodies and spirits would be purified before the dance and they would each have a mentor to help them through the ordeal. This would be either a Holy man or someone who had already done it themselves.
The Holy Men would have prepared buffalo skulls and these would be placed around the arena. Long lengths of rawhide would be tied to the central pole. The dancers would wear rings of sage on their heads and maybe around their wrists and ankles. Each would carry a whistle made from the wing bone of an eagle.
As they stood around the arena the holy men would approach them and pierce each side of their chests with a length of bone. The rawhide thongs would then be attached to the bone. The dance would then begin, a slow shuffling dance to begin with. Others would choose not to be tethered to the pole in this way. They would have the bones put through their backs and buffalo skulls would then be attached with thongs. The dancers would then drag these heavy skulls around as they danced.
The whole idea of the dance was to remove the bone pieces from your body. The dancers at the pole would pull themselves backwards, trying to tear their flesh and release themselves. Those with skulls attached to their backs would dance over rocks and through bushes hoping to catch the skulls on something and having them ripped from their bodies.
Any who had not released themselves close to sundown were allowed help from their mentors. These men would grab the dancers from behind and jerk them backwards in an effort to tear the bones from the skin.
At sundown, any not released in this way would have the bones removed by the Holy Men in a reverse to the way they went in.
Those who danced in this way would normally be traumatised by the experience. Certainly shock would set in. They were removed to the sacrificers lodge and tended by the medicine men of the village. The Holy Men would also be in attendance, singing their praises to the gods and praying that they will recover swiftly.
(This is a very abridged version of events. The purification rites and other parts of the process have not been included out of respect) Sacred Symbols
To the Lakota the most sacred symbol is the circle as it represents the Earth, the path of the sun around the Earth and the Circle of Life, through which all things must pass. This is why Lakota villages were always pitched in circles and the tipis themselves were round. The Lakota thought the white man out of touch with the world and not at peace with himself, an opinion strengthened by the white's preference for houses with corners, i.e. square or oblong.
Another sacred symbol was the cross which was sometimes shown as running across the hoop of the world. This represented the four directions and was made up of two roads.
The first began in the east where all the days of man began and ended in the west where all the days of man ended. This road was black and was the Road of Earthly Difficulties. The second began in the south where dwelt the power to grow and ended in the north, the realm of white hair and the cold of death. This road was red and was called the Good Road of Spiritual Understanding. Only by walking this road could a man grow spiritually throughout his lifetime and so acquire the wisdom to withstand the difficulties he would surely encounter. Where the roads met and crossed stood the tree of life. The Lakota considered that the white men only walked the black road and were poorer for it.
Stories and legends Song of the Lakhóta Bear Doctors
Lakhóta Language
Hohwoju oyate eya wani ti pi icuhan
kangi wicasa kin sung manu ahi na óta
mawicanu pi na nakun
Lakóta winyan ko akiyagla pi.
Kangi wicasa ti pi heciya winyan
ki le aki pi ca titakuye wica kiksuye na
lila cante sice na ceya ke,
winyan ki ableza pi na heya pi ske,
"Sina ki le ena, woyute ki lena icu,
na wakpala ta inahma ye."
Hoca mni aglala inahma ke, na oiyokpaza
ca gla cu ke, icuhan sungmanitu
tanka nump el hipi na oksan hlo omanipi
ke, takinnas ena kte pi kta kecin
ke. Sungmanitu tanka ki waste ca pi ke ca
ob wancok wi yohinyanpata kiya si
glu hapi ke. Blaye cokan gla pi ehanl
osiceca tanka wan hihunni na icuhan
sungmanitu tanka a ke numb hel opa pi ke.
Hetan tehiya mani pi eyas
hecena gla pi, kangi wicasa
kanyela u pi k'on hetan kawinga pi.
Wooyake ki le wowas'ake yuha.
Lakóta winyan ki le osiceca ahi ca heon
kpapte. Tuwa osiceca icuhan omani ki
le wooyake ki kiksuye ehantans takuni
toka. Anpetu óta mani pi ehanl "Winuhcala Paha"
eya pica hel ihunni pi, iguga ohan
ohloka wan ca sungmanitu tanka ki winyan
ki etkita agla pi. Ohloka ki tima
iyaia yukan lila sicamna ke, ista ki
ecel itaya ca oksanksan etunwan
sungmanitu tanka ki ataya tima hpaya pi ke.
Tokinnas ahiyu pi na kiza pi kta
kecin eyas etan tahca wan
yaslohan yutimahel icupi ca ob wóta.
Sungmanitu tanka ki lena ataya ti ospaye hecapi.
Wicooncage tona ataya hel
on pi. Hunh hoksi azin kiya hpaya pi.
Hunh tanktankpi ca hena wakuwa heca
pi. Hunh ocinsice k'on hena ti awanyanka pi.
Sungmanitu tanka wicahcala ki
ins cikcikala ki lena tokel wakuwa pi
hecel onspe wica kiya pi.
Ataya a'wan kica yanka pi.
Waniyetu ata hel ob wogla ke na iye nawicahun.
Winyan ki lila wakabla na pusye.
Sungmanitu tanka ki waste wicalake
na insiya wastelaka pi.
Winyan ki insiya sungmanitu tanka mna aya ke.
Sungmanitu tanka ki makoce ki le slolya pi.
Tohanl hu numpa ki opta hiyaya
pi can slolya pi, sungmanitu
tanka ki lena hu numpa ki iheyab sna ecun pi.
Lakóta ki tonka mna pi ca he wahtela pi sni.
Wana tinpsinla wasteste
ki walehanl winyan ki le hunku ki hehantan wasigla,
cuwintku ki t'a kecin.
Sungmanitu tanka ki ehake tunweya i pi ca hehan
winyan ki le hunku ki wanyanka pi ca okiyaka pi.
Winyan ki wancok taoyate ki
ekta gla cin, eyas hekta kiya ikikcu
pi ki he slolye sni. Sungmanitu
tanka ki heya pi, tohanl taoyate
el ki na, ob on kta ehantans
sina ki numpa koz si pi na e e ku cin,
ehantans wanjala kos si pi.
Wana, sungmanitu tanka ki kanyela hunku
ki wawopta keya pi ca winyan ki
etkiya iyaya. Ata kici yapi na ceya pi.
Sina ki numpa koza ca sungmanitu
tanka ki hektakiya kigla pi.
Ho, le winyan ki "Iguga Oti Win" eciya pi ca
ohloka ki he Lakóta ki wakan glawa pi. Wico'oyake
ki le wowos'ake ikoya ke ca waneyetu ehanl Olake ki
ungna osiceca wanji hihunni kte.
English Translation
A Minneconjou camp which had settled down for the
winter was raided by Crow Indians.
The Crow stole many horses and took a
Lakóta woman back to their camp.
The Lakóta woman was unhappy staying in the Crow camp.
She missed her people.
Some of the Crow women saw this and took pity on her.
They gave her food and a blanket and told
her to hide by a creek near the camp.
She hid herself in the bushes along the banks of the creek.
A short time later some of the Crow men came looking for her.
While the Lakóta woman was hiding, two wolves came upon her.
The wolves growled at her and circled around her.
The woman thought the wolves were going to kill her.
But the wolves treated her kindly and guided her along
where Crow were chasing them.
A raging blizzard caught the woman and
her wolf friends in the open prairie.
Two more wolves joined them as they walked
through the blowing snow.
The small wolf pack and
the woman struggled through
the snowdrifts and the cold winds.
There is power in this story.
The woman was able to get safely away from the
Crow because of the blizzard.
If one is travelling in a blizzard and
remembers this story - one need not be afraid.
After many days of traveling, the small band reached
Squaw Buttes near present day Opal, South Dakóta.
They came to a cave in the rocks
and the wolves forced her inside.
The cave had an awful smell .
As her eyes adjusted to the darkness,
she saw many wolves in the large den.
She thought that the wolves would tear her apart.
Instead the wolves dragged her in a deer, tore
it apart and shared it with the woman.
The wolves were one big family.
Many generations of wolves lived together in the cave.
Each wolf had its own place in the family.
The hunter wolves brought in the meat.
The mother wolf nursed their young.
The elder wolves taught the younger
wolves the skills of hunting.
The other wolves kept watch over the den.
In this way - they all looked after each other.
The woman made herself at home in the den.
She learned to speak and understand the wolves' language.
The woman would dry and store the meat for the winter.
She got along well with the wolves
and they got along well with her.
Soon she smelled just like the other wolves.
The wolves knew their country well.
They always knew whenever the two-legged ones passed through.
The wolves usually stayed away from the two- leggeds.
The wolves did not like the way they smelled.
At turnip digging time of the year -
the woman's mother was still mourning.
She thought that her daughter had been killed.
One day the hunter wolves saw the mother near the den.
The wolves went back and told the woman.
The woman wanted to go back to her people.
She was worried that they would not accept her back.
The wolves told her to wave her blanket two times if
she wanted to stay with her mother.
If she waved once
the wolves would come and take her back to the den.
When the mother saw her daughter coming
she was so happy to see her that she cried.
The woman waved her blanket twice to
the wolves who were watching her from the hills.
The wolves saw this and went back to their cave.
The woman's name became Iguga Oti Win
"Woman who lived in the rock".
The rock is now considered a sacred area to the Lakóta.
Be Careful of this tale because if it is told on a winter
night it might cause a blizzard! The Quill-Work girl and her seven brothers
Hundreds of years ago there was a girl who was very good at quill work, so good that she was the best among all the tribes everywhere. Her designs were radiant with color, and she could decorate anything clothing, pouches, quivers, even tipi's.
One day this girl sat down in her parents' lodge and began to make a man's outfit of white buckskin -- war shirt, leggings, moccasins, gauntlets, everything. It took her weeks to embroider them with exquisite quill work and fringes of buffalo hair marvelous to look at. Though her mother said nothing, she wondered. The girl had no brothers, nor was a young man courting her, so why was she making a man's outfit?
As if life wasn't strange enough, no sooner had she finished the first outfit than she began working on a second, then on a third. She worked all year until she had made and decorated seven complete sets of men's clothes, the last a very small one. The mother just watched and kept wondering. At last after the girl had finished the seventh outfit, she spoke to her mother. "Someplace, many days' walk from here, lives seven brothers," she said. "Someday all the world will admire them. Since I am an only child, I want to take them for my brothers, and these clothes are for them."
"It is well, my daughter," her mother said. "I will go with you."
"This is too far for you to walk," said the girl.
"Then I will go part of the way," said her mother.
They loaded their strongest dogs with the seven bundles and set off toward the north. "You seem to know the way," said the mother.
"Yes, I don't know why, but I do," answered the daughter.
"And you seem to know all about these seven young men and what makes them stand out from ordinary humans."
"I know about them," said the girl, "though I don't know how."
Thus they walked, the girl seeming sure of herself. At last the mother said, "This is as far as I can go." They divided the dogs, the girl keeping two for her journey, and took leave of each other. Then the mother headed south back to her village and her husband, while her daughter continued walking into the north.
At last the daughter came to a lone, painted, and very large tipi which stood near a wide stream. The stream was shallow and she waded across it, calling: "It is I, the young-girl-looking-for-brothers, bringing gifts."
At that a small boy about ten years old came out of the tipi. "I am the youngest of seven brothers," he told the girl. "The others are out hunting buffalo, but they'll come back after a while. I have been expecting you. But you'll be a surprise to my brothers, because they don't have my special gifts of `No Touch'."
"What is the gift of no touch?" asked the girl.
"Sometime you'll find out. Well, come into the tipi."
The girl gave the boy the smallest outfit, which fitted him perfectly and delighted him with its beautiful quill work.
"I shall take you all for my brothers," the girl told him.
"And I am glad to have you for a sister," answered the boy.
The girl took all the other bundles off her two dogs' backs and told them to go back to her parents, and at once the dogs began trotting south.
Inside the tipi were seven beds of willow sticks and sage. The girl unpacked her bundles and put a war shirt, a pair of leggings, a pair of moccasins, and a pair of gauntlets upon each of the older brothers' beds. Then she gathered wood and built a fire. From her packs she took dried meat, choke cherries, and kidney fat, and cooked a meal for eight.
Toward evening just as the meal was ready, the six older brothers appeared laden with buffalo meat. The little boy ran outside the lodge and capered, kicking his heels and jumping up and down, showing off his quilled buckskin outfit.
"Where did you get these fine clothes?" the brothers asked.
"We have a new sister," said the child. "She's waiting inside, and she has clothes for you too. She does the most wonderful quill work in the world. And she's beautiful herself!"
The brothers greeted the girl joyfully. They were struck with wonder at the white buckskin outfits she had brought as gifts for them. They were as glad to have a sister to care for as she was to have brothers to cook and make clothes for. Thus they lived happily.
One day after the older brothers had gone out to hunt, a light-colored buffalo- calf appeared at the tipi and scratched and knocked with his hoof against the entrance flap. The boy came out and asked it what it wanted.
"I am sent by the buffalo nation," said the calf. "We have heard of your beautiful sister, and we want her for our own."
"You can't have her," answered the boy. "Go away."
"Oh well, then somebody bigger than I will come," said the calf and ran off jumping and kicking its heels.
The next day when the boy and the sister were alone again, a young heifer arrived, lowing and snorting, rattling the entrance flap of the tipi.
Once more the child came out to ask what she wanted.
"I am sent by the buffalo nation," said the heifer. "We want your beautiful sister for ourselves."
"You can't have her," said the boy. "Go away!"
"Then somebody bigger than I will come," said the heifer, galloping off like the calf before her.
On the third day a large buffalo cow, grunting loudly, appeared at the lodge. The boy came out and asked, "Big buffalo cow, what do you want?"
"I am sent by the buffalo nation," said the cow. "I have come to take your beautiful sister. We want her."
"You can't have her," said the boy. "Go away!"
"Somebody very big will come after me," said the buffalo cow, "and he won't come alone. He'll kill you if you don't give him your sister." With these words the cow trotted off.
On the fourth day the older brothers stayed home to protect the girl. The earth began to tremble a little, then to rock and heave. At last appeared the most gigantic buffalo bull in the world, much larger than any you see now. Behind him came the whole buffalo nation, making the earth shudder. Pawing the ground, the huge bull snorted and bellowed like thunder. The six older brothers, peering out through the entrance hole, were very much afraid, but the little boy stepped boldly outside. "Big, oversized buffalo bull, what do you want from us?" he asked.
"I want your sister," said the giant buffalo bull. "If you won't give her to me, I'll kill you all."
The boy called for his sister and older brothers to come out. Terrified, they did so.
"I'll take her now," growled the huge bull.
"No," said the boy, "she doesn't want to be taken. You can't have her. Go away!"
"In that case I'll kill you now," roared the giant bull. "I'm coming!"
"Quick, brother, use your special medicine!" the six older brothers cried to the youngest.
"I am using it," said he. "Now all of you, catch hold of the branches of this tree. Hurry!" He pointed to a tree growing by the tipi. The girl and the six brothers jumped up into its branches. The boy took his bow and swiftly shot an arrow into the tree's trunk, then clasped the trunk tightly himself. At once the tree started to grow, shooting up into the sky in no time at all. It all happened much, much quicker than it can be told.
The brothers and the girl were lifted up in the tree branches, out of reach of the buffalo. They watched the herd of angry animals grunting and snorting, milling around the tree far below.
"I'll chop the tree down with my horns!" roared the giant buffalo. He charged the tree, which shook like a willow and swayed back and forth. Trying not to fall off, the girl and the brothers clutched the branches. The big bull had gouged a large piece of wood from the trunk.
The little boy said, "I'd better use one more arrow." He shot another arrow high into the treetop, and again the tree grew, shooting up another thousand feet or so, while the seven brothers and the girl rose with it.
The giant buffalo bull made his second charge. Again his horns stabbed into the tree and splintered wood far and wide. The gash in the trunk had become larger.
The boy said, "I must shoot another arrow." He did, hitting the treetop again, and quick as a flash the tree rose another thousand feet.
A third time the bull charged, rocking the tree, making it sway from side to side so that the brothers and the girl almost tumbled out of their branches. They cried to the boy to save them. The child shot a fourth arrow into the tree, which rose again so that the seven young men and the girl disappeared into the clouds. The gash in the tree trunk had become dangerously large.
"When that bull charges again, he will shatter this tree," said the girl. "Little brother, help us!"
Just as the bull charged for the fourth time, the child loosed a single arrow he had left, and the tree rose above the clouds.
"Quick, step out right on the clouds. Hurry!" cried the little boy. "Don't be afraid!"
The bull's head hit the tree trunk with a fearful impact. His horns cut the trunk in two, but just as the tree slowly began to topple, the seven brothers and the girl stepped off it's branches and into the sky.
There the eight of them stood. "Little brother, what will become of us now? We can never return to earth; we're up too high. What shall we do?"
"Don't grieve," said the little boy, "I'll turn us into stars."
At once the seven brothers and the girl were bathed in radiant light. They formed themselves into what the white men call the Big Dipper. You can see them there now. The brightest star is the beautiful girl, who is filling the sky with glimmering quill work, and the star twinkling at the very end of the Dipper's handle is the little boy. Can you see him?
this writing from 1901 by an
Ihanktuwan ("Sioux") Woman Named Zitkala Sa:
Zitkala-Sa:
DANCE IN A BUFFALO SKULL
IT was night upon the prairie. Overhead the stars were twinkling
bright their red and yellow lights. The moon was young. A silvery
thread among the stars, it soon drifted low beneath the horizon.
Upon the ground the land was pitchy black. There are night people on
the plain who love the dark. Amid the black level land they meet to
frolic under the stars. Then when their sharp ears hear any strange
footfalls nigh they scamper away into the deep shadows of night. There
they are safely hid from all dangers, they think.
Thus it was that one very black night, afar off from the edge of the
level land, out of the wooded river bottom glided forth two balls of
fire. They came farther and farther into the level land. They grew
larger and brighter. The dark hid the body of the creature with those
fiery eyes. They came on and on, just over the tops of the prairie
grass. It might have been a wildcat prowling low on soft, stealthy
feet. Slowly but surely the terrible eyes drew nearer and nearer to
the heart of the level land.
There in a huge old buffalo skull was a gay feast and dance! Tiny
little field mice were singing and dancing in a circle to the
boom-boom of a wee, wee drum. They were laughing and talking among
themselves while their chosen singers sang loud a merry tune.
They built a small open fire within the center of their queer dance
house. The light streamed out of the buffalo skull through all the
curious sockets and holes.
The field mice were singing and dancing in a circle
A light on the plain in the middle of the night was an unusual thing.
But so merry were the mice they did not hear the "king, king" of
sleepy birds, disturbed by the unaccustomed fire.
A pack of wolves, fearing to come nigh this night fire, stood together
a little distance away, and, turning their pointed noses to the stars,
howled and yelped most dismally. Even the cry of the wolves was
unheeded by the mice within the lighted buffalo skull.
They were feasting and dancing; they were singing and laughing --
those funny little furry fellows.
All the while across the dark from out the low river bottom came that
pair of fiery eyes.
Now closer and more swift, now fiercer and glaring, the eyes moved
toward the buffalo skull. All unconscious of those fearful eyes, the
happy mice nibbled at dried roots and venison. The singers had started
another song. The drummers beat the time, turning their heads from
side to side in rhythm. In a ring around the fire hopped the mice,
each bouncing hard on his two hind feet. Some carried their tails over
their arms, while others trailed them proudly along.
Ah, very near are those round yellow eyes! Very low to the ground they
seem to creep -- creep toward the buffalo skull. All of a sudden they
slide into the eye- sockets of the old skull.
"Spirit of the buffalo!" squeaked a frightened mouse as he jumped out
from a hole in the back part of the skull.
"A cat! a cat!" cried other mice as they scrambled out of holes both
large and snug. Noiseless they ran away into the dark.
Pima Legend
A long time ago the Bluebird's feathers were a very dull ugly color. It lived near a lake with waters of the most delicate blue which never changed because no stream flowed in or out. Because the bird admired the blue water, it bathed in the lake four times every morning for four days, and every morning it sang:
There's a blue water.
It lies there.
I went in.
I am all blue.
On the fourth morning it shed all its feathers and came out in its bare skin, but on the fifth morning it came out with blue feathers.
All the while, Coyote had been watching the bird. He wanted to jump in and catch it for his dinner, but he was afraid of the blue water. But on the fifth morning he said to the Bluebird: "How is it that all your ugly color has come out of your feathers, and now you are all blue and sprightly and beautiful? You are more beautiful than anything that flies in the air. I want to be blue, too."
"I went in only four times," replied the Bluebird. It then taught Coyote the song it had sung.
And so Coyote steeled his courage and jumped into the lake. For four mornings he did this, singing the song the Bluebird had taught him, and on the fifth day he turned as blue as the bird.
That made Coyote feel very proud. He was so proud to be a blue coyote that when he walked along he looked about on every side to see if anyone was noticing how fine and blue he was.
Then he started running along very fast, looking at his shadow to see if it also was blue. He was not watching the road, and presently he ran into a stump so hard that it threw him down upon the ground and he became dust- colored all over. And to this day all coyotes are the color of dusty Earth.
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June 2009 
LittleDove
