This article makes a case for greater attention to traditional ways of speaking in Indigenous language maintenance and revitalization initiatives. It contends that traditional Indigenous ...communicative practices are overshadowed in many language revitalization programs by Euro-Western language ideologies and communicative norms that pervade language instruction. Through examples of speech by Lakota people, this article shows how the ethnography of speaking can usefully illuminate traditional Indigenous ways of speaking. It is posited that this “ethnography-of-speaking turn” promises to stimulate approaches to language revitalization that are more consistent with sustaining and revitalizing Indigenous cultures.
•There is a language-as-code bias in language revitalization initiatives.•Indigenous ways of speaking deserve attention in language revitalization.•The ethnography of speaking can reveal Indigenous ways of speaking.•An “ethnography-of-speaking turn” contributes to Indigenous cultural continuity.
In Lakota (Siouan) nouns (N) frequently occur adjacent to stative verbs (SV). Extant descriptions of Lakota grammar treat the <N+SV> as a syntactic compound in which the SV modifies the N. The ...present study offers a novel analysis that shows that the N and SV are uncompounded and that postnominal modification occurs only when the <N+SV> sequence is RP-internal, whereas in clause-final position it functions as a complex predicate. This analysis solves numerous outstanding issues from several areas of Lakota grammar including modification, modifier phrases, noun incorporation, inalienable possession, compounding, word formation, stress position, referentiality, and information structure.
The article deals with selected issues which - as we perceive it - can provide an insight into what the Lakota consider essential and generic for their self-identification with their culture (What ...does it mean to be Lakota?). The study is based on observations gained during fieldwork research, and issues in the text reflect data collected within this period. As a result, we examine the following issues: tribal museums in Lakota reservations, Native perception of time, selected issues of Lakota religion, and Lakota relation to the land and environment they live in and to the world on a global scale. We believe that in all these issues we can also recognize an underlying dual structure which - in its most general meaning - could be understood as a dichotomy of Native and Western/Euro-American worldview and mind-set. The question was how non-Native elements distort or affect the system of Lakota culture. In the section on tribal museums and perception of time we have shown that circular way of thinking about the course of the world which is, according to Donald Fixico (FIXICO 2009), characteristic of all Native cultures affects the way tribal museums organize and present their exhibitions. In this case, the influence of the Native/Euro-American dualism does not have to be necessarily negative. The same can be said about another example where the dichotomy projects itself - in the issue of Lakota relation to the land or Unci Maka (Grandmother Earth): Though Lakota religion and identity is regionally bound (BUCKO 2008), their concern for this integral part of their Native-self can surprisingly well fit into the global issue of protection of environment. On the case of Lakota struggle to stop construction of a KXL pipeline1 we demonstrate how the same (Native/Euro-American) duality interacts and through which the Lakota (Native, regionallybound) voice is strengthened by its non-Native counterpart and vice versa.
Historical trauma (HT) is cumulative emotional and psychological wounding over the lifespan and across generations, emanating from massive group trauma experiences; the historical trauma response ...(HTR) is the constellation of features in reaction to this trauma. The HTR often includes depression, self-destructive behavior, suicidal thoughts and gestures, anxiety, low self-esteem, anger, and difficulty recognizing and expressing emotions. It may include substance abuse, often an attempt to avoid painful feelings through self-medication. Historical unresolved grief is the associated affect that accompanies HTR; this grief may be considered fixated, impaired, delayed, and/or disenfranchised. This article will explain HT theory and the HTR, delineate the features of the HTR and its grounding in the literature, offer specific Native examples of HT and HTR, and will suggest ways to incorporate HT theory in treatment, research and evaluation. The article will conclude with implications for all massively traumatized populations.
The American Indian and Alaskan Native population of the United States have experienced, across many generations, traumatic events that have left an enduring mark. These include massacres, forced ...removal from homelands, requiring Indian children to attend boarding schools, prohibition of spiritual practices, and other acculturation strategies. Therefore, understanding that American Indian elders living today may have experienced various traumatic experiences while living on a reservation, an exploration into the experiences across the life span of Lakota elders living on the Pine Ridge Indian reservation in South Dakota was conducted. Utilizing Indigenous methodologies and in-depth interviews with 25 Lakota elders aged 55-98 years, this qualitative study explored the traumatic events across the elders' life span. A predominant theme emerged related to traumatic experiences of forced removal of families living in a community on the reservation, the Wounded Knee Massacre of 1890, and experiences related to boarding school. Learning more about these life experiences and developing treatment practices tailored to American Indian elders' unique experiences is imperative.
Sauropod dinosaurs have been found in sediments dating to most of the Cretaceous Period on all major Mesozoic landmasses, but this record is spatiotemporally uneven, even in relatively well-explored ...North American sediments. Within the 80 million-year-span of the Cretaceous, no definitive sauropod occurrences are known in North America from two ca. 20-25 million-year-long gaps, one from approximately the Berriasian-Barremian and the other from the mid-Cenomanian-late Campanian. Herein, we present an undescribed specimen that was collected in the middle part of the twentieth century that expands the known spatiotemporal distribution of Early Cretaceous North American sauropods, partially filling the earlier gap. The material is from the Berriasian-Valanginian-aged (ca. 139 Ma) Chilson Member of the Lakota Formation of South Dakota and appears to represent the only non-titanosauriform from the Cretaceous of North America or Asia. It closely resembles Camarasaurus and may represent a form closely related to that genus that persisted across the Jurassic-Cretaceous boundary.
This essay explores the connections between traditional culture and communication practices of the Lakota. Data were gathered through observation, interviews with elders, and archival analysis ...conducted primarily with the Sicangu Lakota of the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota with additional data from the Oglala Lakota of Pine Ridge and Dakota of Lake Traverse Reservations. The central principle of Lakota philosophy that emerged from the research was the concept of mitakuye oyasin (translated as “we are all related” or “all my relatives”). From the core principle of mitakuye oyasin another cultural principle emerged—respect. Based on those cultural principles, the Lakota developed an extensive value system including the prevalent values of bravery, generosity, fortitude, and wisdom. Th is value system affected the growth of their kinship system and related cultural communication practices such as avoidances, use of silence, and minimal eye contact.
This paper examines continuity and change in Lakota belief and ritual, focusing on the social organization of contemporary Lakota ceremonial life. For many Lakotas of Pine Ridge Reservation ritual ...structures life. The contemporary religious landscape consists of a number of ritual groups, which I call ritual thiyóšpayes, after the Lakota word for band or lodge group, the extended family and historical basic unit of kinship. At the center of these groups is a religious practitioner, a symbol of group identity and solidarity. Ritual thiyóšpayes consist of core and sub‐core member families that regularly attend rituals and other corporately sponsored social events. The cohesion of a ritual thiyóšpaye is based largely on equality, mutual help, participation, and one‐mindedness. The relationship between a practitioner and his ritual thiyóšpaye is dynamic, characterized by reciprocity, mutual influence, and exchange: the practitioner shapes the beliefs, worldview, and identity of his followers, symbolizing the group to both members and nonmembers, while simultaneously being shaped by his followers as a representative of their social, psychological, and religious needs, beliefs, and values. Although patterns of social interaction have changed since the dawn of the reservation period, there remains a distinct and undeniable continuity with past traditions.
Early Cretaceous, retro-foreland basin fluvial deposits throughout Wyoming record interactions between orogenesis, subsidence, sediment accumulation, basin physiography, and syndepositional ...structural deformation associated with the early stages of the Sevier Orogeny. Quantitative paleochannel reconstructions presented here are important for understanding these interactions, evaluating controls on alluvial architecture, and can be applied to basin-modeling studies. Most paleochannel sandstones and conglomerates represent point bars associated with meandering rivers, although some rivers may have been braided. Paleoflow of earliest Cretaceous Cloverly A-interval paleochannels (forebulge depozone, central WY) was generally to the north, northeast, and east, which suggests that most are deposits of basin-axial rivers. Discharges of overlying B-interval paleochannels are less than most of those of the A interval, possibly reflecting a temporal decrease in water supply related to the eastward expansion through time of an orographic rain shadow caused by progressive rising of the Sevier Orogen to the west. The Bechler (western WY), Cloverly B (central WY), and Lakota L2 (eastern WY) intervals are correlative and record deposition throughout the basin in the foredeep, forebulge, and backbulge depozones, respectively. Paleocurrents suggest that Bechler paleochannels are deposits of basin-transverse rivers that flowed to the east, whereas B and L2 paleochannels are deposits of basin-axial rivers that flowed dominantly to the north and northeast. The scales and discharges of most L2 paleochannels are much greater than those of the Bechler and B-interval. This eastward increase in discharge may reflect an eastward increase in precipitation related to the spatially decreasing effects of an orographic rain shadow caused by the Sevier Orogen to the west. Additionally, or alternatively, the higher discharges of most L2 rivers may indicate that they represent a more distal part of a tributary fluvial system than B-interval rivers (consistent with some lower slopes of L2 paleochannels).
The alluvial architecture of thick foredeep deposits contrasts markedly with that of stratigraphically equivalent, much thinner deposits farther east that were associated with the forebulge and backbulge depozones. Foredeep deposits are dominated by overbank and lacustrine mudstones, and channel deposits tend to be isolated with limited lateral extents typically on the order of 10's of meters. Forebulge and backbulge channel deposits tend to be laterally and vertically connected forming sandstones and conglomerates with lateral extents on the order of 10's of km to >100 km. Long-term compacted sediment accumulation rates for the foredeep (generally 10−2 mm year−1) are an order of magnitude greater than those for the forebulge and backbulge depozones (10−3 mm year−1). Quantitative simulations of channel-deposit proportions indicate that basin-wide differences in alluvial architecture are attributable to differences in sediment accumulation rates, which, in turn, reflect variable subsidence rates of the different depozones. Additionally, in some areas of the fore- and backbulge depozones, alluvial architecture was controlled by local syndepositional structures. However, the alluvial architecture in areas influenced by syndepositional structures is broadly similar to that in areas where such structures were absent, both reflecting the same general tectonic setting that experienced limited regional subsidence. Hence, the two cases are not easily distinguished solely on the basis of alluvial architecture.
•Data and results applicable to alluvial architecture and basin-modeling studies.•Discharges possibly reflect effect of an orographic rain shadow.•Differences in alluvial architecture due to variable deposition rates across basin.•Channel-deposit proportion is inversely related to depositions rates.•Syndepositional structures in basin controlled alluvial architecture locally.
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