We’ve got a fantastic tale from North America this week, a myth of the Sioux people of MidWest United States. The Sioux nation is one of the largest Native American tribes, consisting of the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota tribes. They traditionally lived in Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin, but were forced to migrate west to the great plains by the French and the Ojibwe tribes.

The Sioux of old were a nomadic people who roamed the great plains, following buffalo herds throughout the American Midwest. Buffalos being an important part of their culture – responsible for food, clothing, houses – or teepees and many pieces of jewelry.

The people believe in Wakan Tanka, the great spirit. This represents the power or the sacredness that resides in everything – both living and inanimate.

Storytelling, as with almost all Native American tribes, is an important part of the Sioux culture. Tales, indeed, legends were passed down from one generation to another as tales told around the bonfire. This story is one such tale. Recorded in the early 20th century by Mrs. Marie McLaughlin, and in her own words, “ told in the lodges and at the campfires of the past, and by the firesides of the Dakotas, these tales are the thoughts of a grave, and sincere people, living in intimate contact and friendship with the big outdoors that we call Nature; a race that is humble, but honest and fair; a sincere, and gravely thoughtful people, willing to believe that there may be in even the everyday things of life something not yet fully understood; a race that can, without any loss of native dignity, gravely consider the simplest things, seeking to fathom their meaning and to learn their lesson”

Reference:

Title: Myths and Legends of the Sioux

Author: Marie L. McLaughlin

URL: https://www.gutenberg.org/files/341/341-h/341-h.htm

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