Using the Oceti Sakowin Essential Understandings and Interviews with Oceti Sakowin Elders  (online version)

Use the Thinglink below to navigate the Elder interviews that are a part of this project.

Download Full Guidebook/Journal here

USING THE GUIDEBOOK / JOURNAL

The Resource: This is the online version of a guidebook/journal that was created through a partnership between the SD WoLakota Project and the South Dakota Humanities Council. It is an accompaniment to Lakota/ Dakota/Nakota elder videos created through the SD WoLakota Project and an overview of the Oceti Sakowin Essential Understandings (OSEU). The OSEU were written by Lakota/Dakota/Nakota elders in SD to provide information for both Native and non-Native people to learn what the elders feel are the most important things to know about the culture and language of the people indigenous to this place.

The Process: The accompanying DVD contains a set of elder videos representing elders from all nine tribal nations in SD (the online versions are linked in the menu below). We encourage individuals and small groups to watch the videos and then reflect on the questions that go with each video. Each question is an invitation for individuals to reflect on their own personal connections to the stories shared in the videos. We suggest taking time personally to write about the questions followed by opportunities to share the reflections in small groups. Once in small groups, the learning model pictured above shows the process we encourage to develop understanding of one another. Deep listening not only to each other but also to our own inner teachers followed by deep sharing helps us to place human beings before their “doings” allowing us to understand each other as the unique individuals we are.

“The hope is that citizens who are well educated about the Oceti Sakowin history and culture will be more likely to make better decisions in the arena of Indian issues and to get along better with one another.”  
–Lakota Scholar, Dr. Craig Howe 2010