A WORD OF GRATITUDE FROM HOKSILA WASTE:

Ella Deloria came from a family of distinguished tribal leaders, so it is not suprising that all her kinfolk are held in high esteem.  I had been informed there was a collection of unpublished research material, which she had compiled, that was deposited at some archive center for safe keeping.  However, I did not know the location of that facility.

Earler I had read some of her writing and I was impressed. It was my dream that perhaps one day I would have access to the stored material.  Then a miracle happened quite unexpectedly.  William Beane is my good friend who is also our tribal historian.  A few days ago he presented me with Ella Deloria’s manscript for my perusal.  The title of her manuscript is appropriately called The Dakota Way of Life, which might be translated as Dakota Wiconi Canku Kin.  As can be imagined, I began immediately reading the material with an insatible eagerness.  All my childhood memories returned to life as I remembered the words of our tribal elders, who were my first teachers.

Ella Deloria has achieved remarkable success by her enviable scholarship and undying commitment.  She has led the world in the deepest recesses of tribal life and the secret of its success.  She has detailed with careful attention to the intimacies of the Dakota Oyate, the People.  It is refreshing to experience the rebirth of tenets long ignored by the dominated society because it continues its claim to be superior.

Ella Deloria has given generously to all of us because her heart is truly Dakota and it tells her the ultimate gift is the gift of sharing.  In the Dakota way for instance, the successful hunter upon returning to camp, gives the choicest parts of the meat to those who are the least capable of providing for themselves.  The donor may declare empathetically, “Nothing belongs to me personally, no more that the air we breather.  Wakan Tanka intends it to be shared by all.”

The hard work has been done.  Ella Deloria has given us a precious gift of herself, her talents, and her intense desire for us to learn from our elders. which means embracing the Dakota way of life.  That in turn means a commitment to mutual understanding, mutual enrichment, and mutual respect.

It is my hope and prayer the The Dakota Way of Life will be, for educators and institutions of higher learning, an essential motivator to build on the literary treasure that has been presented to us by Ella Deloria in such an unselfish manner.  At the very least, the material should be required reading.

Ho, hecetu yelo.

Syd Byrd

Hoksila Waste