REFLECTIONS

Collection Contents

#		Title	Length
1		Goin' Back To Cheyenne River	3:51
2		Cante Mayaluha (you have my heart)	3:42
3		Lovin, Touchin, Squeezin	3:49
4		Canku Luta (the Red Road)	3:50
5		The Counting Song	4:17
6		Amadave	3:35
7		Always For You	4:16
8		The Mother Earth Song	3:18
9		Cante Mayaluha - Samia's Version	3:40
10		The Break-Up Song	3:40
11		Hoksila Witko (crazy boy)	3:27
12		Destination	3:19
13		Unk'un	4:15
14		I Am The Antidote	3:39
15		Mahasani (my one and only)	3:26
16		Toksa Ake (until next time)	4:19

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"LITTLE ELK MADE HIS DREAMS COME TRUE"

From the headlines of the July 11-18, 2003 edition of the Lakota Journal

DUPREE, SD - A Lakota man is doing all he can to make sure the Lakota language and culture is available for all who want to learn the language and way of life of the Lakota people.

David Little Elk, Lakota from the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, is a certified Lakota Language and Culture teacher and has written a new book titled, "Wicoh'an Otehike" which means "the difficult way".

He said that book is about the Lakota culture and contains many stories, including an account of Lakota Creation and Lakota Star Knowledge stories, as well as commentary based on ancient Lakota beliefs regarding current issues facing the Lakota people.

Little Elk has also written another Lakota language book titled, "Cante Etanhan Owoglake" which means "speaking from the heart".

It features an orthography he has developed called the "Wakinyan Kiza Orthography" in honor of his great-great grandfather who was a Lakota Holy Man. Little Elk explained that "Wakinyan Kiza" means "Fights The Thunder" and is the name of the extended family David is from.

He uses both books to teach his Lakota Language and Culture students. In August of 2002, the CRST [Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe] Council proclaimed Little Elk's books as the official Lakota Language materials and are used in all of the tribal and BIA schools within the tribe's borders.

Little Elk said that the Tiospaye Topa School in LaPlante was the first tribal school to fully utilize his materials. Since January of this year he has been teaching university level Lakota Language and Culture courses at Si Tanka University in Eagle Butte on the Cheyenne River Reservation.

In addition to the books that Little Elk has written, he composes music and produces his own CD's. He has also recorded "talking Lakota language" tapes and CD's to be used along with the language books.

The books and CD's include grammar, sentence structure, gender issues, commonly spoken phrases and cultural information that explains certain characteristics of the Lakota language, thus reinforcing the concept that the Lakota language can only be spoken from a Lakota perspective.

Little Elk said, "The language and culture cannot be separated, which means that without the Lakota culture and language, the Lakota people will no longer have their identity."

In September of this year, Little Elk will also teach Lakota Language Level 1 over the VTEL DDN long distance education system. That will make it possible for students attending off-reservation schools to have access to the Lakota Language classes that are not taught in the schools they attend.

Little Elk shared some of his personal experiences that have contributed to his desire to teach the Lakota language.

"In Lakota culture, reality begins from within and sometimes it begins in dreams and visions," he said as he began to describe some of his dreams that had a great impact on his life.

"At the end of 1998, I was going through a difficult time in my life and early in 1999 one night I had this dream. I was walking on a street in a city and I heard a little girl crying. I followed the sound of her voice until I found her. I asked her where she lived and I found out she knew her address, but just could not find it. So I was able to take her safely home."

"When I left her house, I heard a voice in the air calling my name. I looked to where it was coming from and it seemed to be moving so I followed it. It took me to a park and then into a cave."

"Then it seemed like all the rocks in the cave had voices and they were all saying, 'Waunspekiya!' over and over. Then I realized they were calling to me. They were addressing me. In Lakota belief, the original creations are called Tunkasilapi and they are helpful spirits that live in the rocks. 'Waunspekiya' means 'teacher'. It seems the Spirits have called me to teach these children. And so I accepted the call."

Little Elk shared another dream as he described what happened. "It was daytime and the scene was at an old school house in an area somewhere out in the countryside. There were people standing outside and they told me there were voices in the building which sounded like kids crying, but they could not find anyone inside the building."

"I walked into the building and immediately I heard the crying voices. It really sounded eerie and made the hair on my back stand up. I took a deep breath and I continued to walk throughout the building. I followed the voices to the top level of the building. Then I realized the voices were from Lakota children who lived and had died in this boarding school."

"I do not remember what I said, but afterwards the voices seemed happy and I could hear laughter. Soon the voices of these Spirit children faded away and I woke up. In this dream, I helped the Lakota children of the past," Little Elk said.

As he discerned the meaning in the dreams he'd had, Little Elk became convinced he was called to help Lakota children by teaching the Lakota language and culture to restore what had been stripped away in several generations of Lakota people.

He then began to explain how the government had set up boarding schools to "civilize" the Indian children all across the United States in the early part of the 20th Century and the effect that had on the Lakota people and their language.

"They realized that the earlier they took the Native children away from home, the easier it was to transform them. They also realized the further away from home they took these Native children, the easier it was to break them down emotionally. Many of these boarding schools were created by churches, as well," Little Elk said.

He added, "These schools offered low paying salaries and not many benefits. Thus, a lot of teachers of questionable character were hired to 'civilize' these Native children and as a result, many Native children were beaten and made to feel ashamed to be Native."

Little Elk explained that the goal of the administrators and church priests, as well as the American government, was to have the Indian children grow up not wanting to have anything to do with being Indian.

"These schools were havens of constant abuse against the Native children," he said.

Little Elk has his own memories of punishment that he experienced in school in the late 1960's and early 70's in the public school in Dupree where he went to school for 12 years.

He said that he was actually bilingual because he spoke both English and his Native Lakota language, but didn't realize it for a long time.

"My mom never said, 'do not speak Indian,' and my mother and grandmother both spoke Lakota at home. We didn't realize we were speaking two languages," Little Elk said.

It didn't occur to him until he was probably eight years old when an incident happened at school. Two boys who were brothers were in his grade and one of the young boys got very ill.

The one boy tried to tell the teacher that the other one sick and was going to vomit--except he used the Lakota word, which the teacher didn't understand and instead of listening or asking for an explanation, the teacher got very angry and told the student to go back to his seat in the classroom--and then the other one did vomit. That was when Little Elk realized he could speak two languages.

He well remembers being punished for speaking Lakota at school. "There were different methods used. One was a big cardboard box that the teacher had by her desk and sometimes we were put in the box where it was dark and crowded. Sometimes we were tied to her desk and stood there for everyone to see and sometimes the teacher taped our mouth with tape going all around our head. We had to wear it to lunch and couldn't eat--just had to sit there and look at the other kids eat and of course we would be hungry, but couldn't eat."

Little Elk also remembers having his mouth washed out with soap for speaking his Native language and there were other humiliating punishments that were handed out to the Lakota students--all for speaking their Native language.

"When all this started with the boarding school experiences, the children were taken from their homes and they had no healthy role models. What it really damaged--what it took away--it stunted the emotional part and they grow up different. Alcohol, drugs and abuse was a way to try to dull the pain," Little Elk said with sadness.

He tries to incorporate all aspects, including the emotional element in the Lakota language and culture classes he teaches.

"I feel like they are my children and I'm their father. I talk with my mom to get a better understanding of the culture for females--and we talk about the roles of males and females in the traditional Lakota way. I try to help them develop emotionally," Little Elk said.

He explained that he talks with his students about what it used to be like in the Warrior Societies. "I try to teach the girls how to be women and be respected--what to look for in a marriage partner. And for the males--learn how to be sons, husbands and fathers."

Little Elk has raised two daughters and on son by himself and said that he received help in that task from dreams he had during those years.

"I've learned to pay attention to dreams. There were certain women, like Spiritual women--who were in my dreams and I trusted the women for guidance--they were there as I needed help in situations with my daughters during those times when I needed a woman's guidance in helping them with what happens as they were changing from girls into young women and so far they have not steered me wrong and I continue to pay attention," Little Elk explained.

Because of what he had experienced during those years, he knew he was receiving guidance in helping others by teaching the Lakota language.

He said that shortly after he had the profound dreams of children crying for help, there was a job opening at the Dupree School for a Lakota Language teacher. Little Elk applied for the job and was accepted.

"As I teach my students our language and culture, I realize that I am being influenced with further teachings, as well. Many times the information I am giving to them is something they have never heard before and it is beautiful to see them absorbing what rightfully belongs to them," Little Elk said of his teaching experience.

He added, "In the previous dream, I was able to help Lakota children from the past and today, I help the ones who are here now."

Little Elk said that a crisis has now begun to unfold among the Lakota Nations because many of the Lakota Elder speakers are now few in number and many of the younger Lakota are losing interest in learning the Lakota language.

That's where he hopes his books and CD's will make a difference as they are used in the classrooms. They are also available for individuals to purchase.

He records his CD's and tapes in his own recording studio at Dupree and the language CD's feature dialogs for two people. Every word and sentence with the correct pronunications in each dialog is presented to the student.

Then the student learns the parts of one speaker and Little Elk is the other speaker on the CD. He begins the conversation and space is given on the CD for the student to respond to his questions, thus creating a dialog between Little Elk and the student.

Little Elk has also recorded two "spoken word" CD's that he has submitted to the Native American Music Awards for this year's event. One is titled, "Pte Hincala San Cannumpa," on which he tells one version of the White Buffalo Calf Pipe.

The second CD has two stories. One is titled, "Keya Kinyan Cin" and is about a turtle who wants to fly like an eagle. It also speaks about the Lakota perspective concerning identity. The story is told entirely in the Lakota language and then followed by an English translation.

The second story is title, "Wamakaskan" and it's about the Race around the Black Hills. It teaches about respect and care for all life forms.

"It also teaches about the consequences we will face, should we neglect our responsibilities to each other, as well as to all Creation," Little Elk said.

Little Elk continues to teach the Lakota language in his music as well as his books. He has written and recorded several CD's in his studio. His music incorporates the Lakota language by singing the lyrics first in Lakota and then by singing the English translation to the verses afterwards.

In that way, he hopes to influence others who cannot speak the Lakota language, to learn it.

He composes music that promotes the Lakota ways, which develop complete health--physically, spiritually, mentally and emotionally. Little Elk has been playing guitar since he was eight years old.

When he was only nine years old, he began his classical training on other instruments such as various brass, wind, stringed instruments, piano and others. Little Elk has been writing songs since then.

All of his music is produced, arranged, recorded and mixed by himself and Little Elk performs all the instruments on all of his recordings.

He said that he chose to sing about the topic of love because it's what most people can identify with and in this way he shows the people how to express their feelings in Lakota to their partners.

"As when a person is speaking Lakota, he or she is truly speaking from the heart," Little Elk said.

He believes that communication is the transfer of medicine through our thoughts, feelings, actions and words.

"The Lakota Natural Law of Generosity states that the medicine we use to communicate with others will return to us fourfold. Thus, when a person tries to hurt someone else, that person, that person is only hurting him or herself more because the negative energy will return to that person fourfold. And when a person does something healthy to others, that healthy medicine returns fourfold, too," Little Elk said.

He added, "This is the foundation of the belief that, 'The Honor of One is the Honor of All,' and therefore, it is Lakota tradition to communicate in a most clear and effective manner with each other."

He has a new music CD that will be released in the fall. Little Elk has not put a title on it at this time, but it follows his concept of teaching with the lyrics of beautiful love songs that are done first in Lakota and followed by the English translation.

Little Elk embraces his Lakota culture and language and has vowed to do his part in preserving it with the creation of his language books and CD's and his music CD's which incorporate the use of the Lakota language.

David is currently living in Berlin, Germany. European customers, please click on the "email" link on the left side of this screen to contact David directly, as it will be less expensive to order directly from David in Berlin.

--By Dottie Potter, Lakota Journal Senior Staff Writer