Being Lakota: Identity and Tradition on Pine Ridge Reservation

ISBN-13: 9780803237506 / Angielski / Twarda / 2007 / 176 str.

Larissa Petrillo; Melda Trejo; Lupe Trejo

Opis

Being Lakota explores contemporary Lakota identity and tradition through the life-story narratives of Melda and Lupe Trejo. Melda Trejo, nee Red Bear (1939 ), is an Oglala Lakota from Pine Ridge Reservation, while Lupe Trejo (1938 99) is Mexican and a long-time resident at Pine Ridge. In their forty years together, the Trejos raised eleven children, supported themselves as migrant workers, and celebrated their lives and cultural heritage.Conversations between this Lakota/Mexican couple and scholar Larissa Petrillo convey key aspects of the couple s everyday life: what it means to be an Indian and Lakota; how they negotiate their different ethnic identities; their feelings about recent concerns with appropriating Lakota religious practices and beliefs; and the tenets of Lakota spirituality that shape their perceptions and actions. These issues are highlighted as they talk about their experiences setting up a Sundance ceremony. In the late 1980s they began holding a Sundance on the Red Bear family s land near Allen, South Dakota, and the ceremony was dedicated to Lupe after his death.Being Lakota deepens our understanding of modern Lakota life and affords a memorable glimpse of the choices and paths taken by individuals in a Native community. It also serves to explore new approaches to collaborative ethnography, with reflections on learning to work well in a Native community."