Seven Council Fires
12/03/13 05:46
According to archaeologists and ethno historians, Siouan language speakers once occupied the lower Mississippi River region and later migrated into the Ohio Valley. They were, for the most part, farmers and may have been part of the mound builders. By the late 16th century, Dakota-Lakota-Nakota speakers lived in the upper Mississippi region. That area today is known as Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and the Dakotas. The Siouan people then moved westward, probably in response to pressures and battles with Anishnaabe and Cree peoples who themselves were receiving pressure from the east as European settlers moved onto the American continent.
It was another European-introduced phenomenon that allowed bands of Lakota to cross the Missouri River, however. The great smallpox epidemic of 1772-1780 killed nearly 75% of the Arikara, Mandan and Hidatsa who had formerly prevented the westward expansion of the tribe. It was likely in 1765 when Standing Bear first came to the land we call the Black Hills. A decade later, Oglaa and Brule were living west of the Missouri. They called the hills Paha Sapa and declared them to be sacred, not without some protest from the Cheyenne who once claimed the area after having taken it from the Kiowa. The Cheyenne moved into the Powder River country where they live today.
The name Sioux wasn’t the name chosen by the people. It was an adaptation of a Cree word made by French explorers who learned to speak Cree, but added their own spelling to a language that formerly was not written.
Depending on which dialect was spoken, the name chosen by the people was Dakota, Lakota or Nakota. It means “friends” or “allies.” The bands were never a single “nation” in terms of government, but rather a confederation of tribes or bands who could speak a common language and who agreed to work together for common protection and the accomplishment of shared goals.
It seems that from the very beginnings of time these people were fiercely independent and not easily subjected by structures and authorities. That independence may have been one of the reasons that the Oglala people were the last to be brought into the reservation system and the names of their great leaders are so well known to this day: Crazy Horse, Red Cloud, Black Elk, and Spotted Tail.
These days, members of the Siouan language group live primarily in South Dakota, North Dakota, Manitoba and Saskatchewan. The seven bands of the Lakota are often confused with the seven tribes of the great Sioux nation. The confederation known as the Ochethi Sakowin (Seven Council Fires) includes all of the bands of the Lakota plus the Yankton Nakota and the Santee Dakota.
Because of the effects of the attempt to destroy the culture, language, traditions and stories of the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota people and because of the devastation of the reservation system, the seven council fires have been divided into many different groupings. According to Bryan Brewer, President-Elect of the Oglala Tribe, there are now 22 distinct tribes that are a part of the great Sioux nation.
The tradition of independence continues today. The people are not known for drawing together and working together. But they are beginning to write new history together. Last week for four days, council representatives from four of the Sioux tribes met in Rapid City and laid the groundwork to work together as a single nation. There hasn’t been such a meeting in my lifetime, perhaps not in the last century. The meeting was, from all reports, tremendously productive. Nearly 60 people signed a proclamation declaring their intent to work together as the official Ochethi Sakowin of the great Lakota/Dakota/Nakota people. They adopted bylaws and a mission statement and made plans for commissions to address the most pressing issues of the people.
It might be easy for outsiders to be cynical of the meeting. Not every band was represented. The language coming out of the meeting is distinctly European. Terms such as “position papers,” “commissions,” “mission statements,” and the like are not traditional indigenous terms. The future of the people will probably not be forged in position papers. But the cynicism is, in my opinion, misplaced. And it can get in the way of what seems to be an historic new beginning. The attempt of the people to gather together and to speak with a united voice is something that we have not seen in this generation. The strategy of “divide and conquer” not only produced the conquering of the natives of our land, it also produced divisions that persist more than a century after the Calvary was pursuing what amounted to a policy of genocide against tribal members.
I am an outsider. I am not a member of any tribe. My people have been nomadic for many generations so we claim a heritage that is vaguely European with German, Russian, Scottish and English strains. We are uniquely American in our blending of many different ethnicities and heritages. We probably can’t claim the title “native” or “indigenous” in any of the areas where we have drifted. It has been a long time since we have occupied the same piece of territory for more than a generation or two. So I watch the developments among the indigenous people of this land with an outsider’s eye. From that perspective, however, it does seem that the meetings last week were momentous.
The press wanted to cover the 40th anniversary of the Wounded Knee occupation. They were looking for protest banners and listening for gunshots and hoping for something exciting to report to the world. But the real changes that are taking place probably were no occurring out in the open with the reporters gathered around. The real changes were heartfelt conversations taking place behind closed doors, with prayers offered in the lyrical tones of Lakota and Dakota. I am not sure how many Nakota speakers were present. Perhaps their dialect was also heard as well, it is simply less familiar to my outsider’s ears.
I believe that there is reason for hope from this meeting. I am impressed with this new coalition. It may well be the beginnings of the recovery of the old alliances – a return of working together as allies, as friends, as Lakota/Dakota/Nakota.
The history will not be made by people like me, but perhaps we will be witness to a new thing that is happening here in the hills, on the sacred land called Paha Sapa.