Interview · South Dakota · Delores Taken Alive · OSEU 3
Themes: Language & revitalization, Kinship & family, Education & learning, Boarding schools & assimilation, Values & generosity, Community & responsibility, Listening & observation, Intergenerational learning
Learn About questions
Where is the community of Little Eagle located?
What was the St. Elizabeth Mission boarding school in Wakpala like? When was it open?
What does it mean that the truest Lakota language can’t be translated?
Learn From questions
What kinds of things do you remember about your grandparents?
How do relationships or lack of relationships with grandparents affect how we develop and grow?
Does your family speak a language other than English? How did you learn it, and how do you continue to use it?
Have you ever had opportunities to learn something that you then brought back to your family? What was that experience like?
Transcripts
Parents, Grandparents & Education - Delores Taken Alive - OSEU 3
Watch this interview on YouTubeMy name is Delores Taken Alive. I grew up southwest of Little Eagle way out in a country home. I grew up with my parents, Wallace Halper and Julia Halper, and my grandparents are Amos Dog Eagle and Margaret Dog Eagle, whom I have learned so much from. That’s how I grew up. I ride the bus to Little Eagle Day School which is twelve miles from our home to the school. So I ride the bus every day with my brother. When I had finished eight years at Little Eagle School, then I went to a high school at Wakpala and I stayed in a dormitory called St. Elizabeth’s Mission…and where just the church still stands. And that’s where I…I was there for four years…and in the summertime I am home with my parents. So when I graduated from high school, my grandfather had a lot of questions for me…what I had learned, how I have gotten along in that home, what are the things they taught us, is it like a home life situation in the dormitory…these are all asked of my grandpa. He said, “Don’t ever lose your Lakota language. Always remember it and speak your Lakota language. That is your language. And then the white man’s language will be your second language.” And then he said to me, “No matter how educated you are…in order for you to translate our Lakota language…which is ours…but if I speak my truest Lakota language, you won’t be able to translate that.” So I really…he didn’t really explain it to me…about that old language that he talked about. And he went on to tell me a lot of stuff about our way of life. And I think up to this now, that’s how my living style is…what he told us…what he taught us growing up. And we always honor what Sunday is because after we had been Christianized, our belief is in the Sunday of what Christianity really taught us. So we really honor that. My father especially always says, “When you hear that church bell, that means you have to go to church now.” So on Saturday before Sunday, we always have to get ready for church. And everybody goes to church. So when the bell rings, it echoes through that valley where I grew up. And my father used to say, “You hear the bell? Hiyú po! Come now! Come now!” So that’s how I grew up in a country home.
Resource text
OSEU 3: INTERVIEW WITH DELORES TAKEN ALIVE
WoLakota Project
From the current WoLakota source page:
Parents, Grandparents & Education
Delores Taken Alive
Transcript
(deep listening, information)
(deep listening, information)
Some indexed text was extracted from scanned material. Check the original source for exact wording and spelling.
Source materials
Supplied transcript document. Text preserved as supplied; spellings and transcription uncertainties have not been corrected.
Additional source transcripts
Parents, Grandparents & Education
Parents, Grandparents & Education - Delores Taken
Alive - OSEU 3
My name is Dolores Taken Alive. I grew up southwest of Little Eagle way out in a
country home. I grew up with my parents, Wallace Halper and Julia Halper, and my
grandparents are Amos Dog Eagle and Margaret Dog Eagle, whom I have learned so
much from. That’s how I grew up. I ride the bus to Little Eagle Day School which is
twelve miles from our home to the school. So I ride the bus every day with my brother.
When I had finished eight years at Little Eagle School, then I went to a high school at
Wakpala and I stayed in a dormitory called St. Elizabeth’s Mission…and where just the
church still stands. And that’s where I…I was there for four years…and in the
summertime I am home with my parents. So when I graduated from high school, my
grandfather had a lot of questions for me…what I had learned, how I have gotten along
in that home, what are the things they taught us, is it like a home life situation in the
dormitory…these are all asked of my grandpa. He said, “Don’t ever lose your Lakota
language. Always remember it and speak your Lakota language. That is your language.
And then the white man’s language will be your second language.” And then he said to
me, “No matter how educated you are…in order for you to translate our Lakota
language…which is ours…but if I speak my truest Lakota language, you won’t be able
to translate that.” So I really…he didn’t really explain it to me…about that old language
that he talked about. And he went on to tell me a lot of stuff about our way of life. And I
think up to this now, that’s how my living style is…what he told us…what he taught us
growing up. And we always honor what Sunday is because after we had been
Christianized, our belief is in the Sunday of what Christianity really taught us. So we
really honor that. My father especially always says, “When you hear that church bell,
that means you have to go to church now.” So on Saturday before Sunday, we always
have to get ready for church. And everybody goes to church. So when the bell rings, it
echoes through that valley where I grew up. And my father used to say, “You hear the
bell? Hiyú po! Come now! Come now!” So that’s how I grew up in a country home.