Rosalie Little Thunder, a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe of South Dakota and chair of the Seventh Generation Fund for Indian Development, will be writing a blog for The Rapid City Journal.

As a longtime activist, Little Thunder has worn many hats. But the one consistent "career," as she put it, is being a teacher of the Lakota language.

"When curious folks ask the question, ”Why do you keep teaching Lakota when everybody speaks English now?”, the answer is not simple. Not matter how complicated the answer may be, Lakota speakers who are aware of the cultural contrasts need to continue to share the depths of Lakota culture," she writes.

Little Thunder offers the phrase “Wa’as’inye shniye" as a starting point for her discussion. "If you had food, then share it with others. If you had new possessions, then be low key about it and minimize the “wanting” that you can cause," she says of its meaning.

Get the Story:
Indigenous P.O.V. (The Rapid City Journal 6/27)