Interview · South Dakota · Cheryl Medearis · OSEU 3
Themes: Identity & belonging, Storytelling & oral tradition, Education & learning, Boarding schools & assimilation, Values & generosity, Culture & continuity, Arts & expression, Listening & observation, Children & young people, Humor & play
Learn About questions
What are the numbers concerning Native American representation in highly visible professions like acting, music, pro sports, politics etc?
Who is Fran Waln?
How many young native students are learning traditional practices like flute or drum or traditional song and dance? What efforts are being made to increase these opportunities?
Why have so many traditional practices been “lost” among the people of the Oceti Sakowin?
Learn From questions
What things in today’s popular media (TV, music, sports, etc) do you identify with? do they “reflect” your identity or “shape” it or both? In what ways?
When you were a student (elementary, middle or high school years) what heroes or celebrities helped you shape your identity? Have those influences remained strong within you or have they changed?
What songs, stories, dances, practices, etc have shaped your sense of cultural identity?
Do you fall somewhere on a line from “traditional” to “assimilated” or in relation to the culture you grew up in? Where do you fall? How does that impact your interactions with others?
Transcripts
Addressing OSEU 3 with Cheryl Medearis
Watch this interview on YouTubeOne of the challenges I think we have for our Native youth is they don't see themselves a lot on TV. They don't see themselves in the music. They don't see themselves in all the things that are important, especially to upper elementary, middle school, high school students. The students on our reservation want to be anything but Indian. So I'm very thankful for every opportunity that they have to see the Frank Wands and that they see the students like performing today that are learning how to play the flute.
And as we do our Founders' Day celebration at Sinta Gleska every year, we see more and more drums with young students sitting around there. And I walk up and always try to personally thank the teachers or the mentors who are there with those students around those drums, teaching them the songs, teaching them that way of life. So it's something we have lost and have to really work hard in the educational setting to gain back, again, that cultural identity and to be proud of who they are and where they came from. And they are okay.
Resource text
OSEU 3: INTERVIEW WITH CHERYL MEDARIS
WoLakota Project
From the current WoLakota source page:
Addressing OSEU 3
Cheryl Medearis
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
Addressing OSEU 3
Addressing OSEU 3 with Cheryl Medearis
One of the challenges I think we have for our Native youth is they don't see themselves
a lot on TV. They don't see themselves in the music. They don't see themselves in all
the things that are important, especially to upper elementary, middle school, high school
students. The students on our reservation want to be anything but Indian. So I'm very
thankful for every opportunity that they have to see the Frank Wands and that they see
the students like performing today that are learning how to play the flute.
And as we do our Founders' Day celebration at Sintagalaska every year, we see more
and more drums with young students sitting around there. And I walk up and always try
to personally thank the teachers or the mentors who are there with those students
around those drums, teaching them the songs, teaching them that way of life. So it's
something we have lost and have to really work hard in the educational setting to gain
back, again, that cultural identity and to be proud of who they are and where they came
from. And they are okay.