Misconceptions & Wolakota

In my rush to post pictures yesterday, I forgot to mention an interesting conversation I had with on of the owners at the Soldier Woman Gallery. I had noticed American flags on a lot of the art work. Based on my own interpretations of some of the local history, I thought that the Lakota would not want much to do with the American flag as a symbol, and so these flags were there because they helped move the merchandise. When I asked about it, the owner began by noting that the Lakota believe that flags were very powerful symbols and would often wear the flags of their enemies in order to absorb some of their power. But he went out to note that many Lakota are very patriotic in a traditional, American sense, and that Native Americans are disproportionately represented in the military, in part because they are a warrior culture. There are many veterans on the reservation who fly American flags, and feel content to have served their country even if they do little else upon returning. So it looks like my pacifist, liberal upbringing blinded me to the real truth of the situation.

Another surprise that I mentioned yesterday was the way the Catholic Church and the Lakota culture seemed to mesh so well. At St. Francis, which is now controlled by a local school board, the presence of Catholicism is still celebrated at the museum. It seemed (and seems) strange to me, because as much as Father Buechel did to document and preserve Lakota culture (he took many photographs and created a Lakota-English dictionary), I find it hard to separate that preservation work from the assimiliation that missionary work intends. Of course, I have a very limited perspectivce on these types of issues.

Today Duane Hollow Horn Bear, a professor at Sinte Gleska University and descendent of Chief Hollow Horn Bear, spoke to some of these issues with a presentation on Lakota language and culture. He started by describing his own life story, especially his spiritual reawakening after returning from the Vietnam War as a drug addict and alcoholic. He took on a medicine man as his mentor for ten years and learned many of the Lakota spiritual traditions. Today he does a lot of work to preserve these cultures. When his son, for example, preferred to watch MTV rather than learn a traditional song, Duane sat down and watched the show, too. Afterwards he called MTV and told them that if they ever needed an Indian for the program, they should call him. And they did--he ended up on Road Rules, helping the cast members "face their fears." After that, the kids on the reservation paid a lot more attention to him. Duane also spends a lot of time in Italy doing work with Amnesty International and World Artists for Peace. He has repeatedly petitioned the Pope for a visit, but was always denied because he did not represent a sovereign nation. He eventually spoke with the Pope's emissaries, and explained how he understood that for two hundred years, the Pope's homeland was also denied its status as a sovereign nation--and soon after he was granted a ten minute audience with the Pope. When asked by locals why he would want to speak with the Pope if he is not Christian, Duane explains that the Jesus represents Wolakota, which, if I understand correctly, is the Lakota word for peace, acknowledging the interconnectedness of all things. Duane sees that many practicing Christians on the reservation only go to church for funerals and other events, and believes that their lives would be much more spiritually fulfilling if their embraced more fully whatever spirituality they chose--whether that be Catholicism of the traditional Lakota way of life.