Interview · South Dakota · Sidney Byrd · OSEU 1
Themes: Kinship & family, Values & generosity, Culture & continuity, Food & plants, Economy & livelihoods, Listening & observation
Learn About questions
What is the process that the Lakota women used to dehydrate the chokecherries?
What is the Lakota name for the stones used to pound or grind the chokecherries?
What are the ground chokecherries used for today?
Who is AIM? What did they do at Wounded Knee and when? Why were things destroyed?
Learn From questions
Do you know about any ways your relatives in the past made or preserved their food? Do you still practice any of these in some way?
What experiences do you have with old tools or implements in museums or cultural centers?
What is lost as society moves onto new ways of doing things? What is gained?
Transcripts
Chokecherries - Sidney Byrd - OSEU #1
Watch this interview on YouTubeChokecherries. So we dehydrated the chokecherries. I wish I had. I went to Wounded Knee… And the Gildersleeves, they had the stone.
One was a stone that had a dish in them. And the other was like a [gestures with hand to show pounding motion] And the women, they would take the chokecherries and put them in and pound them and then make patties to put them out in. Under these two stones, there were two stones. I wanted to take them and keep them as a conversation piece.
And Mrs. Gildersleeve said, I said, “I don't have any. I only have a credit card. And you don't take a credit card and I don't have any cash, but I'll send you the money.” She said, “Go ahead” and said, “We can.” I said, “Well, I prefer that you keep it. I'll send you I'll send the money to my cousin. He'll come and pick it up.”
That's when AIM came and occupied Wounded Knee and destroyed everything, including those things that I wanted to keep Gildersleeve. But I don't see anybody. We use meat grinders to grind the choke cherries now. But that's your way.
Resource text
Learn ABOUT Learn FROM
(deep listening, information) (deep sharing, transformation)
1. What is the process that the Lakota 1. Do you know about any ways your
women used to dehydrate the relatives in the past made or
chokecherries? preserved their food? Do you still
2. What is the Lakota name for the practice any of these in some way?
stones used to pound or grind the 2. What experiences do you have
chokecherries? with old tools or implements in
3. What are the ground museums or cultural centers?
chokecherries used for today? What is lost as society moves on to
4. Who is AIM? What did they do at new ways of doing things? What is
Wounded Knee and when? Why
were things destroyed?
gained?
OSEU 1: INTERVIEW WITH SIDNEY BYRD
WoLakota Project
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Source materials
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Additional source transcripts
Chokecherries
Chokecherries - Sidney Byrd - OSEU #1
Chokecherries. So we dehydrated the chokecherries. I wish I had. I went to Wounded
Knee… And the Gildersleeves, they had the stone.
One was a stone that had a dish in them. And the other was like a [gestures with hand
to show pounding motion] And the women, they would take the chokecherries and put
them in and pound them and then make patties to put them out in. Under these two
stones, there were two stones. I wanted to take them and keep them as a conversation
piece.
And Mrs. Gildersleeve said, I said, “I don't have any. I only have a credit card. And you
don't take a credit card and I don't have any cash, but I'll send you the money.” She
said, “Go ahead” and said, “We can.” I said, “Well, I prefer that you keep it. I'll send you
I'll send the money to my cousin. He'll come and pick it up.”
That's when AIM came and occupied Wounded Knee and destroyed everything,
including those things that I wanted to keep Gildersleeve. But I don't see anybody. We
use meat grinders to grind the choke cherries now. But that's your way.