Interview · North Dakota · Catherine Howard · NDNAEU 2 · NDNAEU 4
Themes: Kinship & family, Storytelling & oral tradition, Education & learning, Spirituality & ceremony, Intergenerational learning
Learn About questions
Who is Iktomi?
Why is Iktomi an important character in Dakota stories?
What kinds of things do we learn from Iktomi?
Learn From questions
In this story of Iktomi tricking the women into going to pick plums, what do I see as the most important message of the story?
Have I ever behaved like Iktomi in my own life? When and how?
Have I ever been fooled like the women in my life? When and how?
Transcripts
Iktomi and Other Important Learnings with Catherine Howard
Watch this interview on YouTubeThese two ladies were cooking and they making a pot of soup boy that soup when I they put their teas their turn ups and B made a big stew they were cooking real good here comes a okomi coming with a big um basket coming by there girls those women went over there my she where did you get your uh contas plums were real big plums should they speeches I picked them over here all there’s lots over there each and their babies were sleeping they they could you watch our little ones watch the Super we want to go pick oh yeah po go so he even he sat down there so they went down go here say he telling Direction there was two ladies out thought they were going they one they walked many miles they didn’t see no plums the other one said we’re going to go back we didn’t find any when they got back to all the stew was gone that old ate everything and he took off left everything there was even no plums he just probably fcked those plum some place so he he tricked those old ladies that’s what you call a trickster you never believe a trickster they yeah there’s so much stories about a that um you ever see that one what is that movie about I can’t think about that movie remember where that little pig remember that littley puts web SP oh I just I show that to my class look at that okomi just teasing you know that’s what okomi could do told could change himself to a handsome guy if he wants to or a ugly guy I’ll tell that to the students never make fun of anybody Mama used to tell me that never make fun of anybody you make fun of a ugly man you’re going to end up with him I’ll say that I’ll tell that to my students never make fun of anybody because you know if you make fun of somebody you might end up with them you know and then they believe in and you know they learned that from my classroom so they and then I’ll tell them their family tree you’re related everybody’s related cousin first cousins and so cuz we have some of you know that marry in a family and then you could tell from the child you know that child is not doing so there is a lot of things that um we learned from that like uh in the morning before we before I we do anything we say the Pledge in like I pledge allegiance to the flag my country and Liberty I treasure may my flag under to I we forever we say that every day that’s the pledge we even do that seven and uh the Serenity Prayer I learned them that the Our Father D but you know you got to be kind of be careful when you’re on wasichu side the cuz some of the prayers we say we don’t say the Savior and we don’t say God so all that part we have to put to cons in there like so we have to otherwise you they’ll come in there you know trying to block so there is a lot of things that I we have to change but why do we have to do that when we believe in it you know that’s the pledge that we use every day then that prayer that little short prayer that we do is have mercy on me you know that grandfather helped me today even that little short prayer means a lot so those are the things that I use in my class yeah
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