Learning to Pray with Grandpa with Demus McDonald

But when school was out around Memorial Day my mother would she came and picked me up brought me out in the country to my grandpa John Sherman and that was her uncle and the one that my mother gave me too was my dad’s mother but anyway women and men talk different so my mother didn’t want me talking like a woman you know doc Kota so she brought me to my grandpa in summer and there again all day long never spoke a word of English from the time he’s the break of dawn knees shake my feet oh you know hockey clothes she’ll call the old shop to wake up little boy go get the horses he said that’s when he was hook up the steam for today but when we came outside he had a stick but long as the cue stick and that it had a hole with a strap to put around his wrist and that’s what he when the team was going 100 was kind of lagged behind so he poked that pokey one make it catch up but that’s one he had hanging on a porch and when we came out early in the morning he took his stick he pointed to the east he’d put it on the ground then he turned talk boy you turn all the way around he made a circle and he had its pipe and tobacco you say ok to miss how could we not do it a little boy comes down beside me he said get into a circle with him instead while you fill up this pipe with you lighted that you prayed in forward direction and he would start with the west point to the West that was dr buffalo of nation cotton go out there Cudahy Topol Oshun up all along a couple ways I’m paid to connect then he pointed to the north and that’s the help people alkylation you’ll see that to say haha Coweta Cola he don’t fall along a couple then he faced East and that door he have his pipe in your fake city stop along where the Cudahy temple that was the black-tailed deer nation to the east and then he pointed to the south and he’ll say he who are they that’s the whole nation look this way my friend watch over us she say that hole in Dakota enough to walk on taka down to mother and then there’s one star still shining those early in the morning stuff till dark just a little bit Creek he pointed that’s the morning star the one started still bright he’ll sail on Paul we chop that the Morningstar you’re the only one that knows everything national dog was sister yeah so that’s how he prayed with his plate so that’s kind of the way I was raised and we you mentioned that part of the prayer is to watch over is it is that the daily prayer is to ask for these nations to watch over is it also about gratitude or what other what kinds of things are prayed for in the morning well that perder it was just you say haha quite the karahi to the out nations my friend look towards us look toward me and along a couple of they took it oh sure love oh he’ll say look my way have pity on us and watch over us today and that’s that was it so he said that each direction so ask another question mm-hmm one of the things that we work with students honest identity how does that prayer do you think help young people especially know who they are or help them with their identity as being a Dakota person oh well to me that was that was my first way of praying I knew how to pray that before I learned the Hail Mary and when I got to boarding school the very first night the sisters coming down she come by a bed it was one big room all the little boy he could see already she don’t say pray so the little boys that knew they would kneel down so when it came to me first day of school I didn’t learn Hail Mary had our walk so I start praying loud don’t worry my grandpa break so then my grandma my grandma prayed the court after so that was the most important thing for me was praying in Dakota and I don’t I don’t think the young kids today they don’t even know how pray now in English