Delphine Red Shirt. Photo by Rich Luhr / Flickr
Is it possible to live a traditional life today?
By Delphine Red Shirt
Lakota Country Times Columnist
lakotacountrytimes.com Since the first "un-official" sundance that the American Indian Movement (AIM) tried to hold at Wounded Knee in the early 1970's, around this time in the summer, you can find a sundance on the reservation just about every weekend. A daughter of one of the authors of several books about the Lakota remembers being at that unofficial sundance held by AIM in the seventies at Wounded Knee. She was a young teen and her dad left her with a recorder to record the sundance songs. When the tribal police came to break up the sundance, she was "arrested" and her recorder was taken. It was never returned to her. Back then, there was only one "official" sundance at Pine Ridge. Most of the men and women who danced in it were elders. It was held a mile or two east of Pine Ridge.
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Until 1978, if anyone, including AIM, held an "unofficial", not sanctioned through the tribe and the Bureau of Indian affairs (BIA), it was shut down by the "cank sa" or tribal police. Today, many families hold a sundance without thinking about the time when they weren't allowed. Having just returned from our extended family's annual sundance, the question comes up whether those of us who participated can sustain the Lakota values, prayers, and faith in the old way? In thinking about the difficulties of living in two worlds, I am reminded of one thing: being a good relative. If the temptation comes to forget the traditional ways after the annual sundance, remind yourself, to be a good relative. (Delphine Red Shirt can be reached at redshirtphd@gmail.com) Find the award-winning Lakota Country Times on the Internet, Facebook and Twitter and download the new Lakota Country Times app today.
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