Reclaiming the Red Road: Lakota Spirituality in a White World

• In Event: Convergent Roads: Discourses of Peace and Conflict among American Indian, Euro-American and Russian Cultures

Abstract

Traditional Lakota (Teton Sioux) society integrated spirituality into daily life. After forcing the people onto reservations, the US government began destroying Lakota spirituality and, consequently, social structure. Christianity as taught then was a poor substitute. Being Christian meant replacing Lakota traditions and language with white ones. The result was devastating as alcohol often filled the spiritual vacuum. This paper presents a brief history before sharing some of the Lakota struggle to reclaim traditional spirituality and language as a way to create a functional society.

Author

• Deborah Wooldridge, Coe College