Interview · North Dakota · South Dakota · Jesse Taken Alive · OSEU 4 · NDNAEU 3
Themes: Language & revitalization, Kinship & family, Storytelling & oral tradition, Education & learning, Spirituality & ceremony, Values & generosity, Culture & continuity, Listening & observation, Children & young people, Intergenerational learning
Learn About questions
1. What sorts of sacrifices have Lakota Elders made to preserve language, culture, knowledge and truth?
2. How important is it in Lakota culture for Grandparents to pass on knowledge from generation to generation? Is this still strong, or is it weakening?
3. How does the fact that grandfathers (Lala) are called a derivative of the name of the Creator (Tunkasila) impact respect for Elders among the young?
4. How does being called “Lala” humble and challenge grandfathers to live, especially in modeling and teaching their grandchildren?
Learn From questions
1. Do you know of any ancestors who sacrificed in ways that have benefitted you? What stories do you know about those people?
2. Have you been given any knowledge or wisdom that you feel needs to be passed on to a younger generation? What things will you be passing on?
3. Do you have any names for God or the Creator? What do those names mean? How do they influence your attitude toward God, spirituality or your relationships with other people?
4. Have you ever felt challenged to live up to your name or a name or title that others refer to you by? Share an example of that.
Transcripts
Jesse Taken Alive - Being Thankful for Elders - OSEU 4
Watch this interview on YouTubeAnd I really always thank our elders for maintaining the truth, if you will, maintaining the language, the sacrifices, everything that they did so we can today talk about how our language is coming back, see the involvement by young people in our ceremonies, which were outlawed, if you will, until August 11th of 1978. So we see all those wonderful things happening, and it's just awesome to be a part of, I could still hear my great-grandfather, who didn't speak English, giving me advice.
When I worked at a public school here on a reservation, I'd walk home and I'd stop by and see him, and he did not speak one word of English, and I'm really truly gifted to have learned a speaker language to be able to converse with him, and the sage knowledge, if you will, the Lakota understandings of life that he impressed upon me.
I try my best to do that likewise with young people and those around me, and it's a think back about those, other elders, my parents, of course, and now me getting a chance to be a, my missus and I, I should say, we're getting a chance to be grandparents, not only parents but grandparents, and how do we do that, you know, and we had some awesome teachers, awesome teachers, and of course what we call the creator, Tunkashila, which means grandfather, when our grandchildren call me, they don't say Tunkashila, but they say the derivative of it, it's a lala, and it's a humbling, my spirit is humbled when they say that each and every time, whether it's in public, at home, or whatever, because it's humbling because of the word itself, they're, in our language, which is spiritual, they're referring to me as the person on this earth that they expect to be that grandfather, so that's why it's very, very humbling for me as a Lakota man at my age, I'm not old, but I'm not young, I'm stuck in that gray area right now, but I hope to be old, it's still walk the earth.
Resource text
OSEU 4: INTERVIEW WITH JESSE TAKEN ALIVE
WoLakota Project
From the current WoLakota source page:
Being Thankful for Elders
Jesse Taken Alive
Transcript
(deep listening, information)
(deep listening, information)
Teachings of Our Elders resource text:
NDNAEU Alignment:
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
Being Thankful for Elders
Jesse Taken Alive - Being Thankful for Elders - OSEU
4
And I really always thank our elders for maintaining the truth, if you will, maintaining the
language, the sacrifices, everything that they did so we can today talk about how our
language is coming back, see the involvement by young people in our ceremonies,
which were outlawed, if you will, until August 11th of 1978. So we see all those
wonderful things happening, and it's just awesome to be a part of, I could still hear my
great-grandfather, who didn't speak English, giving me advice.
When I worked at a public school here on a reservation, I'd walk home and I'd stop by
and see him, and he did not speak one word of English, and I'm really truly gifted to
have learned a speaker language to be able to converse with him, and the sage
knowledge, if you will, the Lakota understandings of life that he impressed upon me.
I try my best to do that likewise with young people and those around me, and it's a think
back about those, other elders, my parents, of course, and now me getting a chance to
be a, my missus and I, I should say, we're getting a chance to be grandparents, not only
parents but grandparents, and how do we do that, you know, and we had some
awesome teachers, awesome teachers, and of course what we call the creator,
Tunkashila, which means grandfather, when our grandchildren call me, they don't say
Tunkashila, but they say the derivative of it, it's a lala, and it's a humbling, my spirit is
humbled when they say that each and every time, whether it's in public, at home, or
whatever, because it's humbling because of the word itself, they're, in our language,
which is spiritual, they're referring to me as the person on this earth that they expect to
be that grandfather, so that's why it's very, very humbling for me as a Lakota man at my
age, I'm not old, but I'm not young, I'm stuck in that gray area right now, but I hope to be
old, it's still walk the earth.