NOTES FROM "THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN" BY EDWARD S CURTIS
VOLUME-3 LAKOTA OR TETON SIOUX (OGALALA, BRULES, BLACKFEET, TWO KETTLES, SANS ARCS, MINICONJOU, HUNKPAPA)
LANGUAGE: Siouan
LOCATION: North and South Dakota and Montana-Big Sioux and James valleys in South Dakota, Missouri river, and Black Hills
DRESS: Men wore hip high leggings, loin cloth and moccasins, all made from tipi-coverings softened by weathering and by long exposure to smoke. Customarily no shirt was worn, when necessary, being covered with a buffalo skin belted at the waist. The war-bonnet of eagle feathers arrayed in a circlet about the heat and extending in a flowing train even to the heels was worn on special occasions by the warriors. Women wore deerskin dresses reaching half-way below the knee, with elbow length sleeves open at the armpits and tied with thongs. Leggings extended from ankle to knee, and moccasins were ornamented with quill work.
DWELLINGS: The Lakota lived in a 'tipi,' a portable structure consisting of a framework of poles covered with buffalo skins tanned almost white, which, however, turned brown with use. At the peak was a smoke hole, with two flaps extending outward for regulating the draft.
RELIGION /CEREMONIES: There were five principal religious rites "Sun Dance," "Vision Cry," Ghost Keeper," "Buffalo Chant" (puberty), and "Foster-parent Chant." All were intoned by a mythical person, "Pte-sa-wi ya," "White Buffalo Woman." The dances of the societies had no religious significance, and there was no ritualistic healing ceremony.
QUOTES FROM "THE NORTH AMERICAN INDIAN:" "No tribe which the writer has studied is so lacking in traditional knowledge of its original home and early migration. In fact, no creation and early migration legend worthy of the name has been found to exist among any of the western Sioux tribes. On the other hand, other tribes of Siouan stock, the Apsaroke, Hidatsa, and Mandan, have definite creation and migration stories, which make it clearly evident that at one time they had their home on the South Atlantic seaboard, where Siouan tribes are known to have lived well within the eighteenth century, and where indeed the remnant of the Catawba still live."
"Inasmuch as the Teton, as their name (Tito-wa) indicates, have been prairie dwellers for centuries, they must be considered as such, disregarding their earlier forest life. it would seem to be without doubt that the vast herds of buffalo were the cause of their western movement. Their life was so closely associated with the bison that with the disappearance of the herds the Teton were left pitiable helpless."
"The matter of driving or decoying the bison was as varied as the form of the slaughter pen; but whatever the method, the purpose and the results were the same-the object was to stampede the herd, or part of it, and to direct the rapidly moving animals to a given point, the Indians knowing that once well in motion, they would run to their own destruction. ...by this method (use of a brush 'fence') the Indians simply took advantage of a characteristic habit of the buffalo-to follow their leader blindly. The movement grew into a stampede, and forced the leading animals before it. If the advance was toward a sharp gully, it was soon filled with carcasses over which the stream of animals passed; if toward swampy land or a river with a quicksand bed, numbers were swallowed in the treacherous bed."
"The Teton Sioux had several other societies whose functions were much the same-that
of encouraging the members to deeds of bravery and to perform acts of hospitality and liberality. Rivalry always existed between the different organizations as to which had the most aggressive and fearless leaders and the bravest men."
"A 'coup' could be won by actually killing an enemy, by striking the body of an enemy whether dead or alive, by capturing a horse or a band of horses, or by taking a scalp. Honors were counted on each hostile warrior by the first four who struck him, the first in each case winning the greatest renown, an honor called 'taya-kte' (kill right). Thus if twenty men were struck or even touched in an encounter, twenty honors of the first grade were won by the victors. But the greatest exploit of all was to ride in the midst of the enemy and strike a warrior in action without attempting to wound him. When a man had lead four war parties, and in each achieved a first honor, he was eligible to chiefmanship."
"The decorative art of the Lakota found expression on their deerskin garments, pipe-bags, saddle-blankets, robes, parfleches, shields and tipis... There seems to be no fixed motif in many of their designs, each woman reading into her art whatever may be prompted by her thoughts, the same figure sometimes meaning as many different things as there are workers."