Speaking of Indians

by Deloria, Ella Cara

• ISBN13: 9780803266148
• ISBN10: 0803266146
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1998-08-01
• Publisher: Univ of Nebraska Pr

Summary

Ella Deloria could speak intimately about Indian ways because she belonged to a Yankton Sioux family. A distinguished scholar who studied with Franz Boas at Columbia University, she had the gift of language and the understanding necessary to bridge races. Originally published in 1944, this book is an important source of information about Dakota culture and a classic in its elegant clarity of insight.Beginning with a general discussion of American Indian origins, language families, and culture areas, Deloria then focuses on her own people, the Dakotas, and the intricate kinship system that governed all aspects of their life. She writes, "Exacting and unrelenting obedience to kinship demands made the Dakotas a most kind, unselfish people, always acutely aware of those about them and innately courteous."Deloria goes on to show the painful transition to reservations and how the holdover of the kinship system worked against Indians trying to follow white notions of progress and success. Her ideas about what both races must do to participate fully in American life are as cogent now as when they were first written.

Author Biography

Ella Deloria, born in 1889 on the Yankton Reservation, spent her childhood on the Standing Rock Reservation. Her writings include Dakota Texts, Dakota Grammar (a collaboration with Boas), and Waterlily (also a Bison Book). Introducer Vine Deloria Jr. is the author of Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto and other books.

Table of Contents

Part I THIS MAN CALLED INDIAN	1	(23)
1: THE INDIAN ENTERS AMERICA	1	(9)
2: TRIBAL LANGUAGES AND CULTURE AREAS	10	(8)
3: SPIRITUAL CULTURE AREAS	18	(6)
Part II "A SCHEME OF LIFE THAT WORKED"	24	(51)
4: KINSHIP'S ROLE IN DAKOTA LIFE	24	(14)
5: LIFE IN TIPI AND CAMP-CIRCLE	38	(11)
6: PRAYING FOR POWER	49	(14)
7: EDUCATION--BY PRECEPT AND EXAMPLE	63	(5)
8: ECONOMICS: GIVING TO HAVE	68	(7)
Part III THE RESERVATION PICTURE	75	(61)
9: "THE OLD ORDER CHANGETH"	75	(11)
10: LIFE IN LOG CABIN AND ON ALLOTMENTS	86	(12)
11: CHRISTIANS OF THE FIRST GENERATION	98	(11)
12: THE NEW EDUCATION	109	(10)
13: ECONOMICS: GETTING TO HAVE	119	(17)
Part IV THE PRESENT CRISIS	136
14: INDIAN LIFE IN WARTIME	136	(14)
15: TOWARD THE NEW COMMUNITY	150