Winter 1999 Cankú Lúta Newsletter

Articles and pictures from the Winter 1999 Cankú Lúta newsletter

Canku Luta Winter 1999 Newsletter

Table of Contents

Help Stop the Exploitation of Indian Ceremonies and Culture

1999 Sacred Sites Journey

Northern Cheyenne Courage Lives On

PSEA Speech

It’s time to bring our relatives home for proper burial! The Native American Graves and Repatriation Act of 1990 (NAGPRA) requires that all cultural, funerary objects, and bones be returned to American Indian nations for repatriation. Indiana University’s Glenn A. Black Archaelogy Lab, Bloomington, IN, has agreed to return our people after ceremonial grounds were broken and remains studied. The agreement came as a result of efforts in the 1980’s by Ken Cane, faculty and students to educate the community about desecration issues. In December, 1998, on his way to South Dakota to distribute food, Ken was greeted by ongoing advocates. A tipi was erected in his honor and food items for the Lakota people were presented. Faculty, students, and community members from Bloomington and surrounding areas will still be collecting funds and food. For information, call Greg at (812) 988-2886.

Here is something to tell the children. This will help them to respect their parents, their own selves, to know their self-identity and to understand the course of human nature in the Lakota way.

We see the SUN as the giver of life. The day begins when the sun rises in the East and the day ends when the sun goes down in the West. Nothing will grow without the help of water and the Sun. In our Lakota Language the Sun is "Wi."

The women are sacred because they are the givers of life. They bring a human life into this world. This is where the prefix "Win" comes from. A girl is "Wincincala," a young woman is "Winkoskalaka," the woman is "Winyan," and the Elder woman is "Winuhcala."

The boy is "Hoksila," the young man is "Koskalaka," the man is "Wicasa," and the Elder man is "Wicahcala."

If you notice, through all stages of life, the women are sacred. The men have to earn their sacredness. The man (Wicasa) is a giver of life; with the man’s help, a woman is able to bear children. As of the Elder man (Wicahcala), he is also a giver of life through his wisdom. With his wisdom, he could guide us through life with a better understanding of why things are the way they proceed to be. If we listen to the wisdom that is given to us, we may have a more healthy, fulfilling and prosperous life.