Interview · South Dakota · Whitney Rencountre · OSEU 3
Themes: Kinship & family, Education & learning, Healing & resilience, Values & generosity, Culture & continuity, Listening & observation, Intergenerational learning
Learn About questions
Why was there no need for words for things like “please” in the Lakota culture?
How does technology impact the Lakota culture?
In what ways have things like drugs and alcohol impacted the Lakota way of life?
Learn From questions
How might my perspective be different if words like please, thank you, etc. were truly implied in all that is used?
What are some ways that I become distracted from my family and my way of life?
Do I have personal experiences with the impact of drugs and alcohol in my life?
In what ways have outside influences caused me to change the way I view my life and the world? Positively? Negatively?
Transcripts
A Place of Healing Within - Whitney Rencountre - OSEU #3
Watch this interview on YouTubeOne of the great things about our society, our culture, our way of life, is our people, our ancestors, were very forgiving of society ways. In terms of…historically, if someone did something to cross your path or did something to affect you in a negative way, there was always ways to handle that. And there were no questions asked. I’ve always heard from my grandparents that there were no words for “please”...things were done in a way that you knew it was important to fulfill that role. There were never any questions asked when a student or a child had to help…or a relative had to help pitch in, step up, do things like that. There was never any question about it. It was just the way things were done, historically. So there were no words to do that because our society was set up differently. But today, the struggle and challenge is how to reincorporate that into our society that we live in today…with all of the technology…with all of the things that take our time. Our people are spending more time doing things such as drugs and alcohol and addictions that helped them get through some of the last ways… and maybe some of the stuff their ancestors passed onto them. Whereas, if you can find a place of healing within yourself, it’s easier to go back to our traditional values. So I think…we’re still in that stage of how do we stop the drugs and alcohol…the impact of all of this…and then reintroduce and recreate our way of life.
Resource text
Learn ABOUT Learn FROM
(deep listening, information) (deep sharing, transformation)
1. Why was there no need for words for 1. How might my perspective be different if
things like “please” in the Lakota words like please, thank you, etc. were
culture? truly implied in all that is said?
2. How does technology impact the Lakota 2. What are some ways that | become
culture? distracted from my family and my way of
3. In what ways have things like drugs and life?
alcohol impacted the Lakota way of life? 3. Dol have personal experiences with the
impact of drugs and alcohol in my life?
In what ways have outside influences
caused me to change the way | view my
life and the world? Positively?
Negatively?
OSEU 3: INTERVIEW WITH WHITNEY RENCOUNTRE
WoLakota Project
From the current WoLakota source page:
A Place of Healing Within
Whitney Rencountre
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
A Place of Healing Within
A Place of Healing Within - Whitney Rencountre -
OSEU #3
One of the great things about our society, our culture, our way of life, is our people, our
ancestors, were very forgiving of society ways. In terms of…historically, if someone did
something to cross your path or did something to affect you in a negative way, there
was always ways to handle that. And there were no questions asked. I’ve always heard
from my grandparents that there were no words for “please”...things were done in a way
that you knew it was important to fulfill that role. There were never any questions asked
when a student or a child had to help…or a relative had to help pitch in, step up, do
things like that. There was never any question about it. It was just the way things were
done, historically. So there were no words to do that because our society was set up
differently. But today, the struggle and challenge is how to reincorporate that into our
society that we live in today…with all of the technology…with all of the things that take
our time. Our people are spending more time doing things such as drugs and alcohol
and addictions that helped them get through some of the last ways… and maybe some
of the stuff their ancestors passed onto them. Whereas, if you can find a place of
healing within yourself, it’s easier to go back to our traditional values. So I think…we’re
still in that stage of how do we stop the drugs and alcohol…the impact of all of this…and
then reintroduce and recreate our way of life.