Interview · South Dakota · Lowell Amiotte · OSEU 2
Themes: Identity & belonging, Storytelling & oral tradition, Spirituality & ceremony, Values & generosity, Culture & continuity, Listening & observation, Children & young people
Learn About questions
Who are the Navajo people, and where are they from?
Who are the Hopi people, and where are they from?
Who are the Salish people, and where are they from?
Who are the Flathead people, and where are they from?
What is the Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian, and when did it open?
How do the different tribes show the great variety and uniqueness of native people?
What does Lowell mean when he says, “We’re not all the same?”
Differences are important to identify…how does one show respect to the differences?
Lowell talks about respect as the #1 virtue of native people. What are the other virtues?
Learn From questions
What race, nationality or cultural group do you most identity with? What makes it unique from other groups?
Have you ever been generalized into a group that you felt didn’t represent who you are? How did it feel?
What traditions, customs or celebrations do you practice as part of the group you identify with the most?
How did you learn them?
What are the virtues you hold as most important? How did you learn about them
Transcripts
We’re Not All the Same - Lowell Amiotte - OSEU #2
Watch this interview on YouTubeIf you travel a lot on Indian reservations, I've worked with the Navajo and the Hopi and the Kiowa, you know, just around the country, different people, Salish, Flatheads, and they're all different. And if you look at some of the artwork they have or the clothes they wear during their ceremonies and so on, you'll see that they're different. Another story, I went to the Smithsonian for the opening of the American Indian Museum, and to sit there and watch the variety of Indians and the way they were dressed and everything, it's just amazing.
And I think if the children think that there's only one tribe or one type of Indian, that should be corrected. So I think that that should be kept in the curriculum, and it should be stressed that we're not all the same. We've all got differences, and let's respect all those differences. Respect is the number one virtue, I think, that Indian people, the older ones, try to get across to us.
Resource text
OSEU 2: INTERVIEW WITH LOWELL AMIOTTE
WoLakota Project
From the current WoLakota source page:
We’re Not All the Same
Lowel Amiotte
Transcript
(deep listening, information)
(deep listening, transformation)
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
We’re Not All the Same
We’re Not All the Same - Lowell Amiotte - OSEU #2
If you travel a lot on Indian reservations, I've worked with the Navajo and the Hopi and
the Kiowa, you know, just around the country, different people, Salish, Flatheads, and
they're all different. And if you look at some of the artwork they have or the clothes they
wear during their ceremonies and so on, you'll see that they're different. Another story, I
went to the Smithsonian for the opening of the American Indian Museum, and to sit
there and watch the variety of Indians and the way they were dressed and everything,
it's just amazing.
And I think if the children think that there's only one tribe or one type of Indian, that
should be corrected. So I think that that should be kept in the curriculum, and it should
be stressed that we're not all the same. We've all got differences, and let's respect all
those differences. Respect is the number one virtue, I think, that Indian people, the
older ones, try to get across to us.