Posts
One of the main things that you will hear people talk about whenever they mention this group of people is the fact that their stories are passed down orally without many exceptions. This is something that people in the Lakota culture take very seriously, and it is easy to understand that when you've grown up around people your whole life who do things this way, you're going to follow that same tradition. You have probably heard of or even seen this tradition in action when an elder or a group of elders are telling the younger people a story so that they can learn it and one day pass it on to their children, and that is how the oral tradition perpetuates itself for as long as the people who tell the stories are around for.
When settlers were coming to North America from Europe, they were not exactly sure what to do about all the troublesome people who already lived on this land and were very different from them. One of the ways that these Europeans tried to cope, besides just committing mass genocides, was to try to force these Native Americans to abandon their own traditional ways and start doing things the European way, which they considered civilized. In the process of doing this, they ended up destroying a lot of beautiful artifacts and traditions.
This is something that has lasted a long time. It is still alive to this very day, in fact, which is something that the people who are still living and teaching this lifestyle are certainly quite proud of. This is just a merit of how effective their oral tradition is, and that is why the people who carry it on are so serious about continuing it and not deviating from what their ancestors have done.
If you want to hear a story like this, it is probably best to be on the lookout when winter comes around. Traditionally speaking, this was the best time to hear stories because everyone would be huddled around a fire against the harsh cold. Since that's how tradition went, many people still like to do things the same way.
When a story is told to you over and over again, you tend to remember it a lot better. This is definitely the theory behind the oral tradition. The elders will repeatedly tell the same stories, much like most people's parents do, but in this case, it is intentional.
One thing that was lost to European settlers trying to assimilate these people were pictorial diagrams. These were not mere doodles, rather, pieces of history. Every year, they would record the events this way.
An amazing thing about the stories of these people is that they have been keeping track of their histories and beliefs as far back as their people go. This means they can have some pretty hard-to-find historical information. It is interesting to hear things from their perspective.
According to their many stories, these people came into this world via a range of hills. The first people to arrive were turned into buffalo. After hearing this, you'll probably never look at that animal the same way again.
When settlers were coming to North America from Europe, they were not exactly sure what to do about all the troublesome people who already lived on this land and were very different from them. One of the ways that these Europeans tried to cope, besides just committing mass genocides, was to try to force these Native Americans to abandon their own traditional ways and start doing things the European way, which they considered civilized. In the process of doing this, they ended up destroying a lot of beautiful artifacts and traditions.
This is something that has lasted a long time. It is still alive to this very day, in fact, which is something that the people who are still living and teaching this lifestyle are certainly quite proud of. This is just a merit of how effective their oral tradition is, and that is why the people who carry it on are so serious about continuing it and not deviating from what their ancestors have done.
If you want to hear a story like this, it is probably best to be on the lookout when winter comes around. Traditionally speaking, this was the best time to hear stories because everyone would be huddled around a fire against the harsh cold. Since that's how tradition went, many people still like to do things the same way.
When a story is told to you over and over again, you tend to remember it a lot better. This is definitely the theory behind the oral tradition. The elders will repeatedly tell the same stories, much like most people's parents do, but in this case, it is intentional.
One thing that was lost to European settlers trying to assimilate these people were pictorial diagrams. These were not mere doodles, rather, pieces of history. Every year, they would record the events this way.
An amazing thing about the stories of these people is that they have been keeping track of their histories and beliefs as far back as their people go. This means they can have some pretty hard-to-find historical information. It is interesting to hear things from their perspective.
According to their many stories, these people came into this world via a range of hills. The first people to arrive were turned into buffalo. After hearing this, you'll probably never look at that animal the same way again.
About the Author:
When you are searching for information about Lakota culture, come to our web pages today. More details are available at http://www.zintkalaluta.org/teaching-tipi now.
No comments:
Post a Comment