SteppinOverInto

They don't live in Tipis anymore (though some wish they could... I wish I could). They now drive cars on the highways (though deep inside they know they could follow the big rivers to important places). They vote in elections (though they remember leaders of the past who served their people with humility). They speak English (though their heart is moved when Lakota is spoken). While driving along, I often imagine stripping the current landscape and laying down how it was 200 years ago. A peace comes over me. Many did not yet know the frightening confusion of the white man and his oppressive culture. A culture, a worldview, that was convinced of Manifest Destiny. A worldview that insisted that 2 + 2 = 6, and if you choose to not believe that I have a very big gun that will help me prove it to you. After enjoying the 200 years ago landscape before me, I then strip that away and lay down how it might be 200 years from now... It's even better than the 200-year-old version. I...

"You can tell whether a man is clever by his answers. You can tell whether a man is wise by his questions." ~ Naguib Mahfouz Image source: https://sacompassion.net/crabs-in-the-bucket/ When facing personal history, family history, etc, we tend to back up into our corner of experience and understanding and scratch out the eyes of any new idea that might come along. I heard 3rd-hand of a Native gentleman who said, 'We Indians are not like the crabs in a bucket who climb on top of one another to let that one crab escape. Nope, we all gang up and pull that one crab back down.' That's not just a Native American reservation thing. No matter the culture or color, we all can do that. We don't understand that "uppidy" individual that spends time with people outside their own peer group. We judge and gossip and try to drag that 'arrogant' and 'errant' one back down to where they 'belong.' We let our envy blind us to their - a...

Today there was a special meeting in Kyle, SD. Beautiful Lakota people came to the Senior Citizen's Center and joined three discussions about trusting the Creator, having courage and when the Earth will finally be made right again.

Not that I've experienced both at once. No, so far, the two have been exercised separately. Today, I was most privileged to witness both.

We know the names - Cherokee, Ojibwa, Yana, Comanche, Cheyenne, Black Feet, Navajo, etc. What about Sioux, where did that name come from?