OSEU Three: Delores Taken Alive– Story of Audrey (in Lakota and English)

First 2 min and 40 sec all in Lakota. I had a friend named Audrey. She was from across the ocean…a place called…a country called England. And she came to America to teach. Her and her husband came to Standing Rock and they taught. She was very, very interested in teaching our children how to read. She found out that that’s where the importance lies. Once you read and understand, you will understand any subject area because you will understand the instructions. She concentrated really hard on reading. She really got a lot of students to read. Some of the students now are in college or out of college. They have good jobs. That’s where that training began. She used to come to us…she lived in Fort Yates, North Dakota…and she used to come and visit us at our home in Little Eagle, South Dakota. She always brings us oranges and coffee. She always brings those too. We sit down and share stories. And we always say a prayer. One day she said, “You and I should go up on the highest hill here around Little Eagle…and say prayers and sing.” And we went up on the hill…and we sang…and we said prayers… and shouted the greatest name. All of a sudden the wind came. She said, “They’re going to carry the good news.” After that, in my dream, I was given a song…beautiful words to the song and a tune to it. So I have that song since…and that was back in 1967. And I still have that song. So that’s who…this lady…non-native lady…Audrey…I adopted her as my older sister. I call her LAKOTA WORD which is “older sister” in Lakota. Her and I got along like we were biological sisters. But she’s gone now. She’s in the spirit world. I’m glad I’m still here. She and I are about the same age. After that…I have no visitors…of course, my husband left me…so I’ve been a widow for like twenty five years. I moved out of Little Eagle and I live here in McLaughlin. I try to be useful in any way I can because I like to share my knowledge and my Lakota language. So that’s where I am. Sharla Steever: Is that a song you could sing? Delores Taken Alive: It’s too long. Maybe someday I will. I sang it over the radio, but I don’t know if they got the recording. It’s about spirituality and education. Education and spirituality have to go hand in hand. So that was given to me in my dream. I know it was from the Creator.