Post by Okwes on Sept 5, 2006 14:11:21 GMT -5
Have A Seat and Grandma Nakima Will Share With You A Story
Posted by: "Nakima" medicinewindsnews@yahoo.com tuewasape
Wed Aug 30, 2006 10:10 am (PST)
What I am about to share with you is history of our nation as told
to me by my Great-Grandpa William Redfox. White historians like to
say that Native peoples had no written history. This
inaccurate. Our people did not write our language, but we had a
holy man who kept an on-going calendar on buffalo hide with drawings
of important and special events throughout the year.
About six hundred years ago the Dakota nation was the largest on
the continent. We were farmers who resided on the East side of the
Mississippi River. In fact, we were afraid to cross The Big Muddy,
so we stayed on our side of the river.
Three things happened that caused major changes for our people.
The first was a 10 year drought which threatend to kill every living
thing east of the river. Second was the invasion of our enemies the
Chippewa and Ojibwe peoples.
(In our language Dakota means the Alliance of Friends. We were
friends and family, thus the saying mitakuye oyasin ... we are all
related. The Chippewa called us Nadewessou, which means Crawls Thru
the Grass Like Snakes. We liked the fact that our enemies thought
we were good raiders and feared us.) With the drought our enemies
saw their chance and a long series of attacks on top of the drought
weakened us to the point of near-starvation.
Then came the third and most important event. The coming of
Whope' The White Buffalo Calf Woman, who gave our people many
things, including instructions to split up into smaller villages and
disperse so that we could feed ourselves. Agreeing that once a year
we would reunite in a great gathering on the plains of what is now
Nebraska for a Pau Hau, Gathering together to say hello. Thus the
families said their goddbyes to each other and began their trek.
NOTE: the word Sioux did not yet exist as white men still had not
come into the area.
The Dakota stayed in the original region and remained pretty much
the farmers they'd been. With fewer people for the land to support,
they began to thrive in what is now the areas of Minnesota,
Wisconsin, and Michigan as well as into Canada.
The Nakota took their families and began a journey North into what
is now Canada. The Lakota headed West. Fighting their way through
Crow country, and forcing the Kiowa tribes South. These men and
women fought so much that before long thats what they were good at.
The most western of these villages or bands was the Oglala,
specifically the tetonowan, who had to fight everybody all the time
until they secured a homeland for themselves. They were few in
numbers so even their women became warriors. They became so fierce
that their enemies called the women Oglala, or dust in the
girl thingy...meaning that we were so mean that men were afraid of us and
so we got sex so seldom dust gathered in our girl thingys. We are also
called the Badger Spirit people; we will fight anybody, any time,
over anything. And yes, we take great pride in the names our
enemies give us. Not because they are good names, but because the
true wonder of battle is watching our enemies flee before us, and to
hear the wailing of their women at our victories.
On the other hand, the word Sioux as used by French traders was
anything but complimentary. Their usage meant we were like snakes
(as in the Bible), liars, thieves, murders, not to be trusted.
Being Sub-human made it easier on the conscience to kill us and take
our scalps so that they could get paid. The Comanche calls us Paapi
Siminaa ... scalp takers. You see we learned well from the
Frenchmen who took our hair as trophies and to collect fees from the
french government. They weren't particular over the gender or age
of the owner of the hair either, and so for this group of us the
word Sioux became a vile thing.
Posted by: "Nakima" medicinewindsnews@yahoo.com tuewasape
Wed Aug 30, 2006 10:10 am (PST)
What I am about to share with you is history of our nation as told
to me by my Great-Grandpa William Redfox. White historians like to
say that Native peoples had no written history. This
inaccurate. Our people did not write our language, but we had a
holy man who kept an on-going calendar on buffalo hide with drawings
of important and special events throughout the year.
About six hundred years ago the Dakota nation was the largest on
the continent. We were farmers who resided on the East side of the
Mississippi River. In fact, we were afraid to cross The Big Muddy,
so we stayed on our side of the river.
Three things happened that caused major changes for our people.
The first was a 10 year drought which threatend to kill every living
thing east of the river. Second was the invasion of our enemies the
Chippewa and Ojibwe peoples.
(In our language Dakota means the Alliance of Friends. We were
friends and family, thus the saying mitakuye oyasin ... we are all
related. The Chippewa called us Nadewessou, which means Crawls Thru
the Grass Like Snakes. We liked the fact that our enemies thought
we were good raiders and feared us.) With the drought our enemies
saw their chance and a long series of attacks on top of the drought
weakened us to the point of near-starvation.
Then came the third and most important event. The coming of
Whope' The White Buffalo Calf Woman, who gave our people many
things, including instructions to split up into smaller villages and
disperse so that we could feed ourselves. Agreeing that once a year
we would reunite in a great gathering on the plains of what is now
Nebraska for a Pau Hau, Gathering together to say hello. Thus the
families said their goddbyes to each other and began their trek.
NOTE: the word Sioux did not yet exist as white men still had not
come into the area.
The Dakota stayed in the original region and remained pretty much
the farmers they'd been. With fewer people for the land to support,
they began to thrive in what is now the areas of Minnesota,
Wisconsin, and Michigan as well as into Canada.
The Nakota took their families and began a journey North into what
is now Canada. The Lakota headed West. Fighting their way through
Crow country, and forcing the Kiowa tribes South. These men and
women fought so much that before long thats what they were good at.
The most western of these villages or bands was the Oglala,
specifically the tetonowan, who had to fight everybody all the time
until they secured a homeland for themselves. They were few in
numbers so even their women became warriors. They became so fierce
that their enemies called the women Oglala, or dust in the
girl thingy...meaning that we were so mean that men were afraid of us and
so we got sex so seldom dust gathered in our girl thingys. We are also
called the Badger Spirit people; we will fight anybody, any time,
over anything. And yes, we take great pride in the names our
enemies give us. Not because they are good names, but because the
true wonder of battle is watching our enemies flee before us, and to
hear the wailing of their women at our victories.
On the other hand, the word Sioux as used by French traders was
anything but complimentary. Their usage meant we were like snakes
(as in the Bible), liars, thieves, murders, not to be trusted.
Being Sub-human made it easier on the conscience to kill us and take
our scalps so that they could get paid. The Comanche calls us Paapi
Siminaa ... scalp takers. You see we learned well from the
Frenchmen who took our hair as trophies and to collect fees from the
french government. They weren't particular over the gender or age
of the owner of the hair either, and so for this group of us the
word Sioux became a vile thing.