State's Indian literature-finding the spirit again
By Chris Harper
At 70, John Turner, one of only five full-blooded
Omaha Indians, remains a storyteller. He places his
bisck cowboy hat at his side, rubs his beaten face,
smiles and says: "That old monkey, he's always doin'
something, always doin' something," and another
story begins.
The monkey, rabbit and thunder stories are
important elements of the education of Indian
children, Turner said The tales teach children the
necessary discipline in order to work diligently and
lead a fruitful life, he added.
"If you go the way that the stories tell you, you'll
make a lot off friends. Youll become a good human
being," Turner said.
opinion of author
Is Nebraska a cultural wasteland? Perhaps the
critics have failed to glance at the beauty of the
literature of the Sioux Winnebago and Omaha
Indians. Perhaps it blinded them.
America, hovever, has a good habit of overlooking
or ignoring its non-dominant cultures. A few readers
dabble in Native American literature while others lust
for the excitement of a good ole Injun battle.
Some persons preceive Indian literature as a means
to answer questions about their own culture. Many
Indians view the literature as a tool for the
maintenance of their own culture, a culture that
almost has become another scratch on the gun handle
of white culture.
It is hoped that this brief overview of Plains Indian
literature will aid the dabblers, the searchers and
upset the lusters.
Indian literature depends heavily upon the chants,
myths, customs and ceremonies of each tribe. Much
of the literature that is oral has been translated into
English.
An Indian's preception is quite different from a
white's attitude. It is necessary to investigate the
rituals and history of a certain tribe before
understanding its literature.
Most Nebraskans have read or heard about Black
Elk Speaks by John Neihardt The book gives great
insight into the Sioux ceremonies and prospective so
long as Black Elk speaks, not Neihardt. When
Neihardt's interpellation enters at the end of the
book, It appears fo directly contradict Black Elk's
vision at Wounded Knee. The author is a good
reporter, fcut It thil point ha becomer a poor,
interpreter.
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The Sacred Pin ,. oy Joseph Brown, provides a
good picture of the sacred Sioux ceremonies. The
Peyote Cult, by Weston LoBarre, examines a central
religious ceremony in most lains Indian cultures.
Other works that may aid cultural analysis are The
Winnebago Tribe, by Paul Radin, and The Savage
Mind, by French anthropoligist, Claude Levi-Strauss.
Radin's book traces the migrations of the
Winnebago from Wisconsin to Nebraska and is a
reasonably good investigation of the tribe's culture.
The Savage Mind, prehaps unappropriately titled,
examines the different attitudes of Native American
cultures and the white civilization.
A note of warning about books written by whites
concerning Indian cultures few authors are
extremely sensitive and their books are . excellent
Many more writers, however, have produced horrid
appraisals of native American life and literature.
The folklore of the Plains Indians often is difficult
to find. You can't run down to your local bookstore
and pick it up hot off the presses. With some effort,
however, the literature can be obtained.
Sioux Indian tales ar available from Vivian One
leather, co The Curriculum Center, Holy Rosary
School, Pine Ridge, S. D. Winnebago ceremonies and
stories -ire available in two books by Paul Radin; The
Road of Life and Death and The Trickster. Omaha
Indian literature is available from Paul Olson, 338
Andrews.
An anthology that may provide some insight into
the Plains Indians is Shaking the Pumpkin . by
Jerome Rothenberg. The book contains the chants,
ceremonies and folklore; of many Indian tribes and
does include some Plains Indian pieces.
These traditional Indian folklore and customs
serve'1 as the focal point for the American Indian
movement. Unlike the strugglesof other minority
groups, many leaders of the Indian movement are
traditionalists. Prehaps an oversimplification of the
movement's demands is that theirs include a return to
the traditional Indian religion and culture and right of
self-determination for each tribe.
Some excellent political novels have been written
about and by Plains Indians. Of Utmost Good Faith,
by Vine Deloria Jr., a Standing Rock Sioux from Pine
Ridge, examines treaties between the Plains tribes and
the U.S. government during the 19th Century. Legal
documents tend to be quite confusing but these
treaties are indeed masterpieces of deception.
Stan Steiner's The New Indians and the takeover of
Alcatraz Island in California provided impetus to the
Indian political movement. Deloria's Custer Died for
Your Sins and Dee Brown's Bury My Heart at
Wounded knee , may prove worthwhile for a political
investigation of the Plains tribes.
The white culture has much to learn from Native
Americans. If whites can't learn from the Indian
cultures, at least they can allow the civilizations to
exist intact.
"The old people, they looked for life. They went
underground, through the water and into the sky.
They found life through the spirit," Turner said.
"The white man uses machines-they have to change
the spirit. If my people help me, we can find the
spirit again." , -
CEP project
sparks Sioux
culture study
A Centennial Education
Program (CEP) project has
opened the door for a small
group of students to study the
Lakota Sioux culture and
fulfill their language
requirement concurrently.
"An understanding of the
language is almost essential to
an understanding of the
culture," said Lee Neligh, one
student working in the project
"For instance, you begin to
realize the conception of time
is different In the Lakota
language the present tense is
also used to indicate the past
It can get confusing."
One tangible result of the
project is the development of a
Lakota language course.
But the project has taken
several other directions.
But the project has taken
several other directions.
Various students are studying
Lakota mythology (from
translation) history and
psychology of the culture.
Much of the research is
done in libraries or the State
Historical Society archives. But
the group also has benefited
from working with Lakota
speakers.
They've met with people
from the Lincoln Indian
Center, with Lakota students
and with people from the
educational facilities at the
Rosebud Indian Reservation in
South Dakota. Neligh said an
exchange program with
students from the Rosebud
Reservation has been
suggested
friday, dec ember 1, 1972
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daily nebraskan
page 9
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