Interview · South Dakota · Delores Taken Alive · OSEU 4
Themes: Kinship & family, Storytelling & oral tradition, Values & generosity, Culture & continuity, Food & plants, Listening & observation, Intergenerational learning
Learn About questions
What do Uncicisila and Lalacisila mean?
Did many oder Lakota people choose to live in tents or tipis rather than move into houses? What were the reasons?
What are the traditional Lakota beliefs concerning Generosity?
Learn From questions
Did you know any of your Great or Great Great grandparents? Did you spend any time with them? If so, can you share a story about that experience?
Do you know any older people, relatives or friends, who shoos to hold on to older ways instead of moving on to new ways? How do you feel about that? What are the benefits? What are the drawbacks?
What are your vies on Generosity? Have you put them into practice? How?
Have you ever made or served a meal for someone who was hungry? What was that experience like?
Have you ever served someone in some other way?
Transcripts
Great-Great-Grandparents - Delores Taken Alive - OSEU 4
Watch this interview on YouTubeI had some great-great-grandparents that I know that will not live in a house or a log house. They would rather live in a, it's not a tipi, but it's a tent throughout the year, and they will barricade their tent, you know, their living quarters. So when they haul wood, we used to help them haul wood. And one time, my sister was older than I am, and she said, you know what, we call them uncicisila and lalacisila because they're old and they're small. So I think they went out probably looking for more wood. So let's cook for them, she said.
So I said, what are we going to cook? Well, she said, you know how to peel potatoes. I think I was about four or five, and she's older. And so we cooked for them, we fried potatoes for them, and we made tea, and we looked around, and just bread. Our mother always makes homemade bread, you know. So we took some of that, and they were coming back, and they have this wood on their backs, and that's how they carry wood home. And so they went into their tent, so we went down there with this food. And we made our grandma cry.
Oh, my goodness, she said, you're so small yet, and yet you think of us, and how do you know we were hungry? She started giving us hugs, and she was crying. So we sat down, and we gave them food, we fed them, and we went home. And after that, she said to us, you know what you have done here. That's how you're going to be the rest of your life. And that's how my sister was very generous, very kind-hearted. So that's how our great-great-grandmother told us.
Resource text
OSEU 4: INTERVIEW WITH DELORES TAKEN ALIVE
WoLakota Project
From the current WoLakota source page:
Great-Great-Grandparents
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
Great-Great-Grandparents
Great-Great-Grandparents - Delores Taken Alive - OSEU 4
I had some great-great-grandparents that I know that will not live in a house or a log house. They would rather live in a, it's not a tipi, but it's a tent throughout the year, and they will barricade their tent, you know, their living quarters. So when they haul wood, we used to help them haul wood. And one time, my sister was older than I am, and she said, you know what, we call them uncicisila and lalacisila because they're old and they're small. So I think they went out probably looking for more wood. So let's cook for them, she said.
So I said, what are we going to cook? Well, she said, you know how to peel potatoes. I think I was about four or five, and she's older. And so we cooked for them, we fried potatoes for them, and we made tea, and we looked around, and just bread. Our mother always makes homemade bread, you know. So we took some of that, and they were coming back, and they have this wood on their backs, and that's how they carry wood home. And so they went into their tent, so we went down there with this food. And we made our grandma cry.
Oh, my goodness, she said, you're so small yet, and yet you think of us, and how do you know we were hungry? She started giving us hugs, and she was crying. So we sat down, and we gave them food, we fed them, and we went home. And after that, she said to us, you know what you have done here. That's how you're going to be the rest of your life. And that's how my sister was very generous, very kind-hearted. So that's how our great-great-grandmother told us.