By Ruth Ross One of the main things that you will hear people talk about whenever they mention this group of people is the fact that their...
One of the main things that you will hear people talk about whenever they mention this group of people is the fact that their stories are passed down orally without many exceptions. This is something that people in the Lakota culture take very seriously, and it is easy to understand that when you've grown up around people your whole life who do things this way, you're going to follow that same tradition. You have probably heard of or even seen this tradition in action when an elder or a group of elders are telling the younger people a story so that they can learn it and one day pass it on to their children, and that is how the oral tradition perpetuates itself for as long as the people who tell the stories are around for.
When settlers were coming to North America from Europe, they were not exactly sure what to do about all the troublesome people who already lived on this land and were very different from them. One of the ways that these Europeans tried to cope, besides just committing mass genocides, was to try to force these Native Americans to abandon their own traditional ways and start doing things the European way, which they considered civilized. In the process of doing this, they ended up destroying a lot of beautiful artifacts and traditions.
An encouraging fact for those who are proponents of oral traditions is that this is one that has withstood the test of time. Since it is brought to life by actual people rather than artifacts, the tradition stays alive as long as the people do. It is amazing how well this simple yet effective tradition has been.
Traditionally, one of the best times to hear these types of stories is in the wintertime. This is mainly because there is not a lot else to do in the winter. It is too cold to work or play outside, so most of the time people would be huddled around the fire telling stories of the past.
It might seem like the elders have a shortage of stories because they tend to repeat the same ones over and over again. This is actually something that is very intentional, though, because it helps the young ones retain the stories better. Otherwise, it would be hard for all the details to be passed down.
One thing that was lost to European settlers trying to assimilate these people were pictorial diagrams. These were not mere doodles, rather, pieces of history. Every year, they would record the events this way.
These people's oral tradition dates back as far as they do. This is the benefit of having a system that cannot be broken or lost. This is thanks, of course, to the devoted people who carry on the tradition.
An interesting story from these people is that the first of them to arrive in this world were actually tricked by a divine force. They were then turned into buffalo. It is an interesting origin story for an iconic creature.
When settlers were coming to North America from Europe, they were not exactly sure what to do about all the troublesome people who already lived on this land and were very different from them. One of the ways that these Europeans tried to cope, besides just committing mass genocides, was to try to force these Native Americans to abandon their own traditional ways and start doing things the European way, which they considered civilized. In the process of doing this, they ended up destroying a lot of beautiful artifacts and traditions.
An encouraging fact for those who are proponents of oral traditions is that this is one that has withstood the test of time. Since it is brought to life by actual people rather than artifacts, the tradition stays alive as long as the people do. It is amazing how well this simple yet effective tradition has been.
Traditionally, one of the best times to hear these types of stories is in the wintertime. This is mainly because there is not a lot else to do in the winter. It is too cold to work or play outside, so most of the time people would be huddled around the fire telling stories of the past.
It might seem like the elders have a shortage of stories because they tend to repeat the same ones over and over again. This is actually something that is very intentional, though, because it helps the young ones retain the stories better. Otherwise, it would be hard for all the details to be passed down.
One thing that was lost to European settlers trying to assimilate these people were pictorial diagrams. These were not mere doodles, rather, pieces of history. Every year, they would record the events this way.
These people's oral tradition dates back as far as they do. This is the benefit of having a system that cannot be broken or lost. This is thanks, of course, to the devoted people who carry on the tradition.
An interesting story from these people is that the first of them to arrive in this world were actually tricked by a divine force. They were then turned into buffalo. It is an interesting origin story for an iconic creature.
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