Howasteya Oyuspapi: Capturing Their Good Voices Transcript John Eagle Shield, Sr.,
Standing Rock Lakota Elder
My name is John Eagle Shield. I'm a member of Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, or Standing
Rock Lakota Nation, I guess the new term is going to be.
Arlouine Gay Kingman, Executive Director of Great Plains Tribal Chairman's Association
I am Arlouine Gay Kingman, and I am from the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation. And
I am the executive director, current, of Great Plains Tribal Chairman's Association.
Beverly Stabber Warne, Coordinator/Mentor/Instructor
My name is Beverly. Stabber is my maiden name, and my married name is Warne. And I
was born in 1939 in Pine Ridge, South Dakota. And, I've been a nurse for 60 years,
and I'm still working. And I still have not burned out, so I guess I won't.
Faith Spotted Eagle, Dakota Activist
My English name is Faith Spotted Eagle, and my Dakota name is Tunkan Inajin Win, which
means Standing Stone, and I am named after my great-great grandmother, who was descended
from the Mdewakanton. I am on the elder counsel for the American Indian Science and
Engineering society, and I have a minor in biology. And I reside on the Yankton [says
Dakota name for reservation] reservation. For many years, 20 years, I was in urban
India, then I needed to come home, so I'm home.
Jerome Kills Small, Lakota Storyteller and Singer
[Speaks in native language]
My name is Jerome Kills Small. My spirit Lakota name is red-breasted robin. And I
am happy to be here.
Duane Hollow Horn Bear, Weksuye Immersion School Director
[Speaks in native language]
Hollow Horn Bear is not really my name. That name belonged to a great-great grandfather.
I am striving, humbly, to carry my great-grandfather's name, Hollow Horn Bear, Matȟó
Héȟloǧeča in Lakota. But in our customs and our traditions that we still have today,
the name that was given to me by my family is [says Lakota name]. [Says Lakota name,
again], I will pursue something bigger. I'll go after the bigger one.
Beverly Stabber Warne, Coordinator/Mentor/Instructor
I had my basic education partially at Pine Ridge Boarding School, and then Rapid City
School system in the 40s and 50s. And then I went to- when I graduated from high school,
I went to nursing school at St. Johns McNamara School of Nursing in Rapid City. And
I graduated in '62. So that means this summer I hit my 60 year anniversary of being
a nurse, and I've worked all those years. And so I have experiences I wouldn't trade
for anything.
Arlouine Gay Kingman, Executive Director of Great Plains Tribal Chairman's Association
I graduated Northern State and went to teach right away in 1963 on the Pine Ridge
reservation. And I taught elementary school and Oglala Community School on Pine Ridge
is where I began my teaching. And then later, I transferred to Cheyenne River to Eagle
Butte and taught there. And then went on to Minneapolis to teach there, several years
later, in the urban area.
John Eagle Shield, Sr., Standing Rock Lakota Elder
I was born in, um, July 22, 1948, here in Fort Yates at the old, white hospital. And
I grew up in Little Eagle. I remember starting 1954, 55- I can remember back that
far. And I had to be- had to be 5 or 6, but I remember a lot from Little Eagle. I
was raised by my grandmother, and that's where I got a lot of my information. Amongst
the [Lakota name], there are I think seven different bands within the [Lakota name]
and I come from, or my family comes from the [Lakota name] of the [Lakota name]. And,
of lately, we take it very seriously. And we like to maintain our traditions and do
our prayers and our ceremonies, and try and keep that going, so. That's how I got
here.
Faith Spotted Eagle, Dakota Activist
And so, I was raised by a grandmother, and so I did not speak English growing up with
her till I was 5 years old. And I went to a country school for a couple of years while
I learned English, and then ended up- and my father was always present, and he was
a very strong figure in my life. And he knew the old ways. My dad absolutely refused
to let me go to Boarding school because he saw what happened to my family, all the
way back to Carlyle. And so he was very astute. He said there is no way you're going
to be hurt by those people in those schools. So, he made me go to a public school,
which I hated. I hated every person there. But he said you're going to have to learn
how to put up with them anyway, so I did. I graduated and the first place I went to
actually was Black Hills State College. And, I was so naive. I didn't know that they
still sent your grades home. So I was telling this big ole fib to my dad that school
was going good, and I was doing good. He was getting my grades and I was failing.
And he didn't say anything to me because he figured, "She'll tell me. It's her responsibility
to tell." And so finally they put me on academic probation, and pushed me out, and
said go home until you figure out what you want to do.
Duane Hollow Horn Bear, Weksuye Immersion School Director
In '54 when, at the time the president Dwight Eisenhower, he had legalized back alcohol
to the sale of Native Americans. That was a devastating time period for our people,
particularly when you're mixing it with uprooting families off of their homeland and
placing them into cities and saying, "make a go at it." Well, with alcohol so readily
available in the big cities there- and my father fell into it. When my mother- she
left about there and brought us kids back. My grandparents were at the railroad station
in Valentine, Nebraska. My grandmother said but one phrase to my mother and she couldn't
answer. My grandmother says, "[speaks Lakota]. These boys belong to me. I'm taking
them and I will raise them. You can raise the girls." My mother couldn't answer. So
my grandparents, they took me and my little brother and they raised us all the way
until 61 when grandpa passed.
Jerome Kills Small, Lakota Storyteller and Singer
Lakota intimacy was born in a single room dwelling, and even the log homes were single
room because you see one another everyday, especially during a snow storm. Sometimes
you're in there for 30 days together, so we have no swear words. And we don't raise
our voice because grandma and grandpa might be sleeping. Or a little baby might be
sleeping. Sometimes we have grandma, grandpa, auntie, uncle, and all the little cousins
in one huge tipi, log homes too.
Arlouine Gay Kingman, Executive Director of Great Plains Tribal Chairman's Association
I have two sons and they have given me six grandchildren, and I have eight great-grand
children. And we've been brought up to have a strong family background with our language
and culture. I'm very, very proud of my sons and the families that they've raised.
They are the joy, they're in my heart. Family is everything, and in our family, we've
tried to adhere to our Lakota values and our spiritualism. You know, we practice our
ceremonies and they're very important, and we know why. You know, it's who we are
as [unintelligible] people. And that keeps us strong for whatever comes our way, whatever
adversities or anything.
Jerome Kills Small, Lakota Storyteller and Singer
You know when I was in school as a small boy, and they asked me to read. So I read,
"See Puff run. Run, puff, run! And see Spot jump. Jump, Spot, jump!" You know, Dick
and Jane, Sally and Puff, Mother and Father. So those were the characters in the book
Dick and Jane. It was a reading book. And so, one day, I must of had my face in a
questioning look. And Mrs. Albertson said, "What's wrong, Jerome?" So I said, "In
our book there is Mother, Father, Dick, and Jane, Sally, Puff, and Spot." I said,
"Where are the grandpas and grandmas, and the uncles? Where's the cousins?" There
are just these people, like they're all by themselves, lonely. There should be cheer,
and happiness, and laughter. I mean, I didn't say all that, I just said, "Where's
grandma and grandpa, uncle and auntie, and the cousins?" So she said, "That's in the
next grade."
John Eagle Shield, Sr., Standing Rock Lakota Elder
But I remember a lot from Little Eagle. Like all the communities, Little Eagle isn't
the way it is now. People lived up and down the river. People lived around the loop
as they say in Little Eagle. Up river, up the Grand River, up Little Oak Creek. We
didn't have the turmoil that we have today. Today I guess, um, my biggest concern
is that, you know, everybody lives so close together and there's always conflict.
But back then, when there was a meeting or a gathering, it was an occasion to get
together and just visit- catch up on family, friends, and relatives. And that's kind
of what I would like to see happen again here.
Faith Spotted Eagle, Dakota Activist
I was raised by a grandmother that I mentioned to you from Crow Creek. And she was
104 when she died, and so I- that means that she was born in 1876, and she actually-
when she was dying I was having my first child. And she wanted me to let her know
when Baby was coming so she could let go of this earthly place so she could pass him
as she went into the spirit world, and that indeed happened. And so I feel blessed
that in a way, in spiritual way, my son met his great-grandmother. And so that's really
just caring on the teaching that I got in my home, which at the time when I was growing
up, it felt like the great mystery. And I didn't know anybody else had- a lot of people
didn't have the same kind of experiences that I had that were truly magical and miraculous,
but I thought everybody lived like that. And as I grew up, I realized that it wasn't
like that with everybody. There was a lot of loss.
Duane Hollow Horn Bear, Weksuye Immersion School Director
The language was there. The language was there. I hardly heard my mother speak in
English with me. Other elders, my grandparents always speak in Lakota. I can recall
being surrounded by it almost- almost all my childhood days. I think it began- you
know, I want to share something. There's something I really feel strongly about this-
something about midwives because I was born at home. And my mother used to always
remind me all the time about the grandmother who brought me into the world, how in
Lakota she uttered a prayer into my mouth when she took the mucus out and pushed that
first breath into my mouth. So I reflect back on that a lot. This might be the first
time I'm talking about it. But I've always felt that that prayer, that little utterance
she gave me, has guided me in my life. Because it's- it being in the essence of spirituality
that she uttered that prayer and gave me life with that prayer. In a sense it's- whatever
the prayer was, it's something that I feel I have been following.
Beverly Stabber Warne, Coordinator/Mentor/Instructor
That's one of the differences that I appreciate even more as I get older is they way
we pray- is, is beautiful. It becomes part of what is happening in that moment and
not just words that's been memorized for a lifetime. Not that they're bad, but after
a while, they loose their meaning. In those days, the idea of assimilation went in
every direction. Not just in our culture, but in our religion as well. And, um- but
they were all wrote. They were prayers, but they were wrote. You know, just the same
old words. After awhile, those words don't mean anything.
Arlouine Gay Kingman, Executive Director of Great Plains Tribal Chairman's Association
In my career history, my- when I was trying to decide what to do, like all high school
student do you know, my passion was working with people rather than machines or something.
And so, I went into education. So I've been in education for many years- been a principal,
superintendent, and college president. But education, I found, is something that is
in everything. I mean now as I work with congress in my work, you know, we have to
education congress as we work on sovereignty and our rights as tribal people. We're
constantly educating people on what is sovereignty, what are our treaties, why are
we- we have a special relationship with the United States government. We're not another
race of people, we're- we have a political relationship. So, it's constant education
whether it's formal like teaching in school, or whether you're working in your careers.
So I've taken on some challenges and been able to, I guess, do some achievement, so.
But, education has always been my first love and like I said, education is in everything
we do. So, I continue to educate.
Beverly Stabber Warne, Coordinator/Mentor/Instructor
My love for nursing, evidently, was early on because my mom told me when we were living
in- way out in the boondocks in Manderson District with our maternal grandparents.
In that extended family setting, she said when somebody was sick, she said you would
just go sit by them, even as a kid. I didn't do anything- I just sat, you know. And
so, she told me this when I wanted to go to nursing school. And she said, "This is
what you were meant to do." So that made me feel good, made me feel like I was doing
the right thing.
Faith Spotted Eagle, Dakota Activist
When I was 12 years old, I was sitting along the river with my dad in the community
that the Corps of Engineers destroyed. They- it's called environmental racism now.
But they put a dam in every- every dam along the Missouri River mainstem is in a native
community, like Fort Yates, Fort Peck, Fort Randall, Fort Thompson. So they put it
deliberately in Indian communities that were thriving after the Indian wars, and they
destroyed our communities. And so we became homeless and they moved us to Lake Andes.
And I remember my dad sitting along the river with me one day, and he was looking
out at the river where the old community used to be, and he said, "You know what,
my girl? Someday you're going to have to do something about this." And I told him,
I said, "I'm only 12 years old, what am I going to do?" And he said, "You're going
to figure it out." He said, "I know you're going to figure it out." And so I tucked
that away in my mind and I thought, "Okay. I got to figure out what I'm going to do."
Duane Hollow Horn Bear, Weksuye Immersion School Director
By this time I was in middle school- getting through with middle school going into
high school. So, I was well-embedded with the language, but I really wasn't using
it. Really wasn't using it until- just with the few- if I go to some family's home
or I meet another one of the kids that spoke the language at school. We would speak
it out of the range of the nuns and the priests, but it existed. So I guess it was
there until after '70. Then when Uncle started sharing stories about the 70s, I didn't
join up until the 90s when- you know, my life story about coming out of high school
and Vietnam war going on. Everything- there was no work, no- I don't feel the boarding
schools really academically prepared us to succeed in higher education. And so, a
lot of us didn't go. I had the opportunity, but instead I followed a friend who was
being drafted if he didn't enlist. We went in on a buddy-buddy program. Ended up going
to Vietnam, and coming home and realizing the Indian-American uprising and hearing
a lot of harsh language. But there really wasn't that much Lakota in that anger, now
that I think about it. The anger of Aim, the Aim song, there's no words to it. Because
many of the people who came out of the boarding school era at that time, they didn't
know the language. And I thought a lot more people knew the language at that time,
but sadly they didn't. Then realizing they were trying to stave my family and working
and finding I needed help. Was a spiritual medicine man who helped me until he went
home. And then Uncle Albert pulled me in at the university in 1990. Then I realized
that they were going to be teaching the language. And he said, "You need to help me
with that. You grew up with it and you know the language." So I learned the methodologies
and it felt good. It felt good to, you know- this is something we could do. So I got
started with him- team teaching and then the history and culture aspect of it.
Jerome Kills Small, Lakota Storyteller and Singer
So visitors will come here. Sometimes there's a fellowship of Christians come, and
they want to go to the sweat lodge. So maybe they want a different door for spirituality.
And I would agree. So I went in there and I used my tobacco mixture, usually I use
the family's that live here. Usually I use there pipe and I use there tobacco, but
this day, I used my own. They stay for about four days, you know. They help us. Sometimes
they paint our benches at our amphitheater, paint the stage or waterproof it. They
do different things coming here to help us. So when they come, they want to learn.
The trade off is they want to learn about our culture. And so, two days later after
my ceremony in that lodge, a woman came to me and she shook my hand. She said, "I
want to shake your hand." And I shook her hand already when they arrived, but she
come over and shook my hand. She said, "When I went in that lodge with you, since
then, I don't have headaches anymore." So I said, "Well, it isn't me." (Laughs) I
have to tell the truth. I don't make believe, right? [Speaks Lakota], it's not a good
thing. It's not a good thing to make believe. So I told her, "It's probably my pipe
tobacco because I have the outer bark of the choke cherry, and that's got tannin in
there. It's got medicines in there and it helps with headache. And it's good to tan
with- the hides. It takes away the smell of the hide when you're cleaning it and scraping
it. And so some things we've used as ingredients to be able to make things better
in our lives. And one of them is getting rid of the headaches. But usually we don't
tell about that. We don't tell about what we're using. We don't overload information
in one setting. You know, somethings we just hold to ourselves. You know, if they
feel better, fine. But this women was blaming me for healing her, and I don't hear
that. Otherwise my phone be ringing off the hook. Oh, he's a healer, you know. I don't
want to hear that. I just want to be a storyteller, and I want to tell stories about
the plants. I want to tell stories about incenses and nostalgia- things that help
the body. I think that's my duty. I claim it as my duty, but I get asked to pray for
people, and name their children, and wipe their tears. Those are all rituals, so those
are prayer rituals. And that's what I do. I use prayer rituals in my ceremonies. And
it keeps me safe. It keeps me safe and honest. And I love it better that way because
I'm accepted as an ordinary, little ole singer and storyteller, and that's where I
want to keep it. But I help in prayers, and that's where I want to keep it.
John Eagle Shield, Sr., Standing Rock Lakota Elder
I was at a meeting a couple weeks ago down in Oglala country, and I asked the same
thing, you know. How many of you have had the opportunity for animals to talk to you?
Birds, insects. And if you told somebody from IHS, they would think, you know, you're
psychotic or something. Schizophrenic. But, that's the way we were. That's the way
we are. And that's the part that our youth are missing. They don't know the language.
And we're not the only ones, you know. There are other tribes that have the same problem.
Um, our youth don't know the language. And even if they were teaching them, they have
no one at home to practice with because their parents don't know. And for those places
that have the Lakota language, it's numbers, it's colors, it's animals, plants- there's
no conversation. And, along with that, is were you get your values and your morals.
And our youth just don't have that. So, we're missing a lot that should already be
here, and that's part of our concern. How do we provide that to our youth? How are
we going to give them the benefit of our knowledge so they can become leaders?
Faith Spotted Eagle, Dakota Activist
The biggest thing was that I went to a school, in public school, were they thought-
they told us that Indians didn't do very well in education. My math teacher, even
though I loved chemistry and physics and math, he told me that a lot of Indians didn't
make it in those fields. And so he put me in general. I said, "No, I want to be in
them. I like them." And he said, "No, you have to go to general math." And I begged
my dad to make him let me take chemistry, so I did. I still love chemistry. And so
I made it, but when I went to college, I bombed out in the courses like organic chemistry.
Because I really wanted to be a biologist, but I think they impeded me. And so I had
an opportunity to go to Washington D.C. And they said that my grades before I got
crazy were pretty good, and I had high whatever. And so, they recruited me to go to
American University in Washington D.C. So I went there, and I worked in senator McGovern's
office. I was an intern. That was pretty interesting, and I think that kind of got
me to my senses where I thought, "Okay, this is what they do. This is how they have
control over us." And so, I got to figure this out. How could I have influence? And
American University was such as amazing experience because there were- it's like there
were so many people of color that it wasn't like what I grew up in with the public
school. And I felt like I was free. Everyday I'd go down to Dupont Circle and grab
my sign and protest against the war because that's what everybody was doing. And I
met so many different people. And then from there, I decided I got to straighten out
my academic career.
Arlouine Gay Kingman, Executive Director of Great Plains Tribal Chairman's Association
So, when I was teaching in Minneapolis and there was a lot of problems within the
city, our children were getting pushed out of school. It was not a good environment
for them. There was a lot of prejudice and people didn't understand our Indian students
or where they came from. And so, the American Indian Movement was just starting at
that time. It was 1969. And so, along with a lot of people in the urban area, they
decided to start there own school. And so, we began working on it. I was teaching
full-time in the Minneapolis public schools, but I helped work on the curriculum and
develop it and help wade through some of the white tape, you know, to get the school
accredited. And then, my husband was the first principal. So we started the survival
school on Franklin Avenue. And Franklin Avenue is where a lot of the Indians lived.
And it's kind of the heart of the Indian community. And so, we started the AIM survival
school, and it was wonderful.
Duane Hollow Horn Bear, Weksuye Immersion School Director
I had gone to a couple of workshops where they talked about immersion, and I have
been giving that a thought. I said, you know, that's the way I was raised. It seems
like there was more to it than the immersion, but you just can't do a one hour class
totally in Lakota. It's got to be almost an all day- it's got to be total immersion.
Once the kid arrives- the student arrives at the school, then it's going to be throughout
the entire day. We started this immersion school last January. So, one of the most
important things in this immersion school is creating a relationships with these children.
Identifying in Lakota who this child is. [Speaks Lakota] Come here grandchild. And
[Speaks Lakota]. And so, when you're- you start teaching them that [Speaks Lakota].
We're going to start to use some- to ween them off the English language, we're going
to use some and we're going to explain to them this is what we're going to start to
do till one day, you're not going to need that English language. We're going to start
to put this Lakota- everything there in Lakota. So that relationship one day when
they want to identify something [Speaks Lakota]. When they see me it's like [Speaks
Lakota] Duane, [Speaks Lakota] Ronnie.
Beverly Stabber Warne, Coordinator/Mentor/Instructor
So that's how I started my career in nursing. I still enjoy it, obviously after 60
years. My current job is with student nurses, all Lakota basically, maybe one or two
other tribal, but they're all Lakota nursing students. And I currently mentor 14 of
the major students that are in the major now. And that is such an enjoyable time to
mentor these young women, and we do have some men coming in pretty soon. So that's
different, to have Lakota men coming in to nursing. But currently, it's mostly women.
But the beautiful thing for me to hear is they all want to give back. There's a feeling
of wanting to make a change, and that is part of the joy of what I do is listening
to these young women who have a passion for making a change. They're all future change
agents because they see what's happening in our communities. They see what's happening
to our children, 75% of our children drop out of school K-12 in Rapid City. We have
to turn that around, and part of that is to heal the people first so that the families
can heal their own units, including the children.
Faith Spotted Eagle, Dakota Activist
I realized that things changed in the 20 years that I was an urban Indian to when
I came home. And I realized that people were angrier, meaner, and more violent. And
I thought, "You know what, I'm going to call this something." I remember I woke up
one morning at Rosebud and the sun was coming up. And I thought, "What could I call
this?" Because everybody is so pissed off, and it's beyond anger, so I named it Red
Rage. And so I developed a healing model of Red Rage, and I have been doing it since
1994, maybe. And I still do it.
Arlouine Gay Kingman, Executive Director of Great Plains Tribal Chairman's Association
We had- the children would come and we would start in the morning with the drum and
songs. Then, they'd do their education, the curriculum. And I think it's the way schools
should be, you know, when you pay attention to the whole child.
John Eagle Shield, Sr., Standing Rock Lakota Elder
I really want to make sure that we have some bonafide leaders that, again, have a
firm foundation of the Lakota language, values, morals, disposition- know their history.
Arlouine Gay Kingman, Executive Director of Great Plains Tribal Chairman's Association
When we think of tribal leadership, it goes back to earlier when I talked about what
we instill in our students, and our language and culture and our spiritualism. It's
our virtues, our values.
Beverly Stabber Warne, Coordinator/Mentor/Instructor
Parts of what I teach is who they are as Lakota people, and our values, and how if
they make their decisions, life decisions, based on our Lakota values, their decisions
will be correct. Utilizing those values either in your personal decisions, or professional
because they're very closely related to what you do in life. So every part of it is
teaching something to each student with each session of mentoring. And so, they go
through all their courses, and once they finish that, I ask about their clinical experience.
And that is, my love of nursing has always been at the bedside taking care of somebody.
And so I like to hear how they're feeling about it, and possibly give them another
clue of approaching a patient holistically. When I say holistically I mean our way
of thinking- physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual. As you remember that there's
a spiritual side to your caring for each individual. Many of them are fearful of their
[unintelligible] lives ending. That's pretty deep and that's a huge responsibility
for you to even think about, and you're the caregiver. You can ease that. You know,
you can ease that by what you say and the way you are caring about the person who
can't pretend because it won't work.
Jerome Kills Small, Lakota Storyteller and Singer
The importance of Lakota is the word itself. It means allies. So if you read in your
textbook that Lakota were savages or cutthroats, don't believe it. Because we're really
allies of everybody. We were so welcoming and kind and courteous, but if you mess
with these societies, you're doing the wrong thing. Because we don't retaliate unless
we're approached in a demeaning, and forceful, aggressive way. You don't do that to
somebody who's friendly.
Beverly Stabber Warne, Coordinator/Mentor/Instructor
I think our job is to teach like you do, and teach what a Lakota is, and what we know,
and what we do, and how we lived. It's not old and unusable today. It's relevant,
even more relevant today than ever to teach that so that people know and have self
confidence and self worth, especially our students.
Arlouine Gay Kingman, Executive Director of Great Plains Tribal Chairman's Association
I guess if there's anything else I would share, again, is to just reinforce: know
who you are, respect your culture and your language and your spiritualism because
that's who we are, and it has kept us strong, our people strong, for centuries. And
we've got to instill that in our children so our values and our virtues and who we
are as Indian people remains forever strong.
Duane Hollow Horn Bear, Weksuye Immersion School Director
There's a little cultural flame that is burning inside of these children. And we need
to feed this flame. We need to feed this flame with who they are, their culture, their
language- everything that's about them and their people, until that little flame is
once again a burning inferno inside of them. And they can stand up and say [Speaks
Lakota]. I am Lakota and I am proud.
