Interview · South Dakota · Faith Spotted Eagle · Whitney Rencountre · OSEU 5
Themes: Identity & belonging, Education & learning, Treaties & sovereignty, Values & generosity, Culture & continuity, Listening & observation, Intergenerational learning
Learn About questions
What does the area around Ft. Thompson look like?
How did the river impact this area?
How did the flooding that happened when the Big Bend Dam was created impact the people who lived in this area?
What facts of our state history are left out of the history books?
How do textbooks influence history?
What was the 1864 Treaty about?
What was the Black Hills Act about? Why is the full history of our state not more openly talked about and available to those in our state?
Learn From questions
What do I know about the Native history in my state? How does developing my understanding of this history help me to better understand my neighbors?
Have I spent time learning about history in ways other than through my textbooks at school? How does gaining multiple perspectives of history change my view of the world?
What have I learned about the treaties and governmental acts in my state over time? How does my understanding or lack of understanding affect the way I interact with others?
What are ways I might develop my own understanding of my state’s history if it isn’t being taught in my school?
Transcripts
Why Isn’t This Taught? - Whitney Rencountre - OSEU #5
Watch this interview on YouTubeGrowing up on the reservation on Crow Creek, you know, I didn't learn a lot about the history of our ancestors. I didn't learn a lot of what took place of this, you know, the information that's in this curriculum that you're talking about. In fact, I didn't learn about that until I went to college. I mean, I learned, I learned the basic information from my grandparents and you can see and you can tell how our lives used to be long ago. You know, we used to live, you know, in Fort Thompson, we used to live by the river.
You know, we used to use so much of that, but then when the Big Bend Dam came, it flooded us and so we had to move up to another place. So, it's like we were constantly moving and adjusting, but if we're not, if we don't know the true history and the facts of what took place, it really, really kind of, it makes it very difficult for us to, when we finally do learn the information, then it's, we ask ourselves, why isn't this taught? Why, why don't we learn this in our, in our classrooms or why, why isn't this something that is available to us?
Because in reality, in our South Dakota, in our classrooms and nationally, I mean all over the world really, but nationally here in the United States, the power belongs in the hands of the people that commissioned the history books that really teach these in the classrooms. So, they have that influence, just like mainstream culture. So, when a student or a young man finally learns and, and they say, you know, this, so the Black Hills was given to our people via treaty, 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty, but then it was taken away, Black Hills Act.
Why isn't this taught to us? Why, why isn't this, why isn't this more open information for us to learn and, and then we can maybe help us to get to a better place in terms of coming to terms with that. And then maybe we can, maybe if individuals with the power kind of saw that our history has some issues, but we can kind of, if we acknowledge those issues, maybe we can move forward in a better way as a, as a society, you know, so that, that's important.
Resource text
OSEU 5: INTERVIEW WITH WHITNEY RENCOUNTRE
From the current WoLakota source page:
Why Isn’t This Taught
Whitney Rencountre
Transcript
(deep listening, information)
(deep listening, transformation)
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Source materials
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Additional source transcripts
Why Isn’t This Taught
Why Isn’t This Taught? - Whitney Rencountre - OSEU
#5
Growing up on the reservation on Crow Creek, you know, I didn't learn a lot about the
history of our ancestors. I didn't learn a lot of what took place of this, you know, the
information that's in this curriculum that you're talking about. In fact, I didn't learn about
that until I went to college. I mean, I learned, I learned the basic information from my
grandparents and you can see and you can tell how our lives used to be long ago. You
know, we used to live, you know, in Fort Thompson, we used to live by the river.
You know, we used to use so much of that, but then when the Big Bend Dam came, it
flooded us and so we had to move up to another place. So, it's like we were constantly
moving and adjusting, but if we're not, if we don't know the true history and the facts of
what took place, it really, really kind of, it makes it very difficult for us to, when we finally
do learn the information, then it's, we ask ourselves, why isn't this taught? Why, why
don't we learn this in our, in our classrooms or why, why isn't this something that is
available to us?
Because in reality, in our South Dakota, in our classrooms and nationally, I mean all
over the world really, but nationally here in the United States, the power belongs in the
hands of the people that commissioned the history books that really teach these in the
classrooms. So, they have that influence, just like mainstream culture. So, when a
student or a young man finally learns and, and they say, you know, this, so the Black
Hills was given to our people via treaty, 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty, but then it was taken
away, Black Hills Act.
Why isn't this taught to us? Why, why isn't this, why isn't this more open information for
us to learn and, and then we can maybe help us to get to a better place in terms of
coming to terms with that. And then maybe we can, maybe if individuals with the power
kind of saw that our history has some issues, but we can kind of, if we acknowledge
those issues, maybe we can move forward in a better way as a, as a society, you know,
so that, that's important.