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MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2003

"On winter days when the wind blows across the snow and forms swirls of clouds that give the land an eerie, ghostlike look, that is the time for telling stories, my grandmother would say.

I remembered that Friday while walking to my car and feeling the cold wind in my face and the ice under my feet. I thought about what my grandmother told me many years ago of my great-grandfather, Little Sioux. He lived in a different world than mine, but what he taught has influenced my life more than any other person.

He and my grandmother stare at me from the wall of my bedroom. Often, they are the first things I see in the morning. At times, I resent the forced changes in our lives that were brought about by people who thought they were doing what was best for us. Yet, I also thank the anthropologists for the photograph of my great-grandfather and grandmother, Little Sioux and Helen.

Little Sioux lived with my grandmother after his wife died. She took care of him until he died in the 1930s. She learned the spiritual ways from him, which she, in turn, taught to her children and grandchildren."

Get the Story:
DORREEN YELLOW BIRD COLUMN: Little Sioux's influence helps to keep things in perspective (The Grand Forks Herald 2/22)

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