Native American/First Nations History

Posted by Jeffrey R Gudzune

The legend of Double-Faced Woman stands as one of the primary morality tales of the Laktoa tradition. This coming article will look at the conclusion of our story and just how far reaching the effects of Wakanka's deal with Iktomi were.

Posted by Jeffrey R Gudzune

This topic has given me more to research than I had originally thought. The Lakota creation stories are full of dramatic twists and turns. What is more interesting is that there is now extant a plethora of informaion on the topic thanks to the research of tribal historians and Lakota religious scholars.

Posted by Jeffrey R Gudzune

The Laktoa tribe has a fascinating creation mythology. In the course of my research, I determined that there was too much information available to write one article on the subject. The dramatic nature of Iyan's actions has been told and retold by indigenous scholars with as much passion as any Christian myth over the centuries. This is at the heart of the Lakota religious revival that has taken place throughout the past few decades. Next week, we will look at the creation of man.

Posted by Jeffrey R Gudzune

This week we have begun our look at Native American creation mythology. While it would be difficult to explore in depth every understanding of the act of creation, the next several weeks will look at seveal of the more well known interpretations.

Posted by Jeffrey R Gudzune

This week's article was presented in a slightly different format. Though not my choice, it is a bold departure that will become a facet of the coming series of articles. Having concluded our look at Plains cultural traits, we wil not move into other social issues that have affected the coarse of indigenous hitory.

Posted by Jeffrey R Gudzune

Yes readers, it has finally happened. I am taking my first vacation in a year. I have taken time off for illness and pressing concerns relative to my other employment, but never to have a little "me time". I will think of some new ideas and topics for the remainder of the year and come back ready to dive right in. Until then, please peruse any of my previous articles for your reading enjoyment. Just a reminder, we will be finsihing up our exploration of healing rituals and moving into other social and political issues of the modern world.

Posted by Jeffrey R Gudzune

This week I truncated my exploration of Lakota healing songs so that I would be better able to lend greater detail to the topic for next week. After that we shall end our comprehensive exploration of indigenous medicinal practices and move onto othe rimportant social issues. We will of coarse return to this subject in the future, as more research become available.

Posted by Jeffrey R Gudzune

For some time now, I have endeavored to present a detailed picture of indigenous life. I have made every effort to avoid slipping into talk of war and politics and have focused on tribal customs and attributes. The limitations of space prohibited a more detailed exploration of singing among other tribes, but next week we will look at how the Lakota Sioux and Plains employ singing for a variety of purposes.

Posted by Jeffrey R Gudzune

Next week, we will continue our exploration in indigenous culture by looking at other aspcects of Indian lifeways. As I have tried to stress, there is much more to historical exploration than battles and military leaders. Looking at the specific cultural traits that constitute a society is the best and only way to fully understand a different way of life.

Posted by Jeffrey R Gudzune

Philosophers and religious scholars have debated the existence of the afterlife since the advent of civilization. In this last article, I explored the concept of the afterlife as it pertains to Crow and Lakota social development. While of late I have limited my topics to only a few tribes in specific geographic areas, I have done so in order to present more detail on the topic at hand and greater explore the meat of the subject.