Chapter 3 - Dakota

**The Dakota have lived in MN the longest!

**Oral Tradition - the Dakota's way of remembering history

- 3 reasons for Oral tradition:

1) tell stories from long ago

2) use stories to teach children a lesson and to explain something that has happened in nature

3) what will happen if you don't listen to your elders - respected older member of tribe

**Dakota way of viewing history: history is a circle where past, present, and future all affect each other.

- 3 stories: Storytellers are honored and respected

*(Wakinyan) Thunder Bird and (Unktehi) Water Spirit - story about storms and the rainbow after the storm

*(Wicanhpi Hoksidan) Star Boy and (Tate Waziyata) North Wind - story about how the seasons came about

*The Invisible Warrior - Cinderella-type story, rags to riches, being honest

Spring:

- place they lived: sugar camps - near maple trees in the forest

- type of home: bark houses - rectangular shape covered with bark

- food source: maple sugar and syrup, muskrats, beaver, ducks

- women and children activities: making sugar and syrups

- men activities: hunting muskrats, beaver, ducks

Summer:

- place they lived: villages by riverbanks with fertile soil

- type of home: bark houses - good for hot weather lets breeze through

- food source: corn, squash, beans, rice, blueberries, cranberries, fish, small game (duck, venison)

- women activities: planted and tend crops of corn, squash, beans, harvested rice

- men activities: fished and hunted (small animals)

**WILD RICE HARVEST

1. Host a celebration and make offering

2. Tie the stalks into bundles; and let them dry

3. Strike the bundles - knock off the rice

4. Dry the rice in the sun

5. Roast rice over a fire

6. Place rice in a pit and the boys step on it to remove the husks

7. Shake the rice so husks and chaff will blow away

Fall:

- place they lived: hunting grounds that chief has chosen

- type of home: tipis - keep warm air inside; easy to put up and take down

- food source: large animals - deer, bison, bear

- women activities: cooking, preserving foods for winter, making clothes from the hides

- men activities: hunting large animals

Winter:

- place they lived: deep in the woods near a lake or river

- type of home: tipis - cone shaped house - animal skins stretched over frame

- food source: fish, small game, dried meat, corn, rice - stored food from fall

- women activities: tan hides, sew clothes

- men activities: some hunting, rest, ice fishing, play

Kids' Life:

- sugar camp, chores, play in the woods, listen to stories, learn lessons, helped with rice harvest, play in the snow, sleds, skates-moccasins, respected elders, lived with extended families, lived in different homes as seasons changed.

Dakota Words:

1. ohanwaste - generosity toward everyone. This is an important part of the Dakota hunter's life.

example: share 1st kill of the day

2. tiyospaye - extended family including grandmothers, grandfathers, cousins, aunts, uncles

example: whole family slept in a tipi

3. wohoda - respect and courtesy

example: honor privacy by keeping eyes down

example: children respect when talking to elders - uncle would be My Uncle Bob, not just Bob

YouTube

Buffalo Hunt: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPzeY9itfLE

Story: Inner Peace: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qK-HPUCzie8

Story: Invisible Warrior: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHJySa7jkJA

Website: Mission - A Cheyenne Odyssey

- about the mission info: info for teachers about mission