Aspects of Historical and Contemporary Oglala Lakota Belief and Ritual
TRANSMITTING SACRED KNOWLEDGE: ASPECTS OF HISTORICAL AND CONTEMPORARY OGLALA LAKOTA BELIEF AND RITUAL David C. Posthumus Submitted to the faculty of the University Graduate School in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of Anthropology, Indiana University April 2015 Accepted by the Graduate Faculty, Indiana University, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Doctoral Committee __________________________________________ Raymond J. DeMallie, Ph.D. __________________________________________ Douglas R. Parks, Ph.D. __________________________________________ Jason B. Jackson, Ph.D. __________________________________________ Christina Snyder, Ph.D. March 12, 2015 ii Copyright © 2015 David C. Posthumus iii Acknowledgements I am indebted to many people for their friendship, encouragement, criticism, patience, and support. This work would have never been completed or possible without them. First of all I want to thank my Lakota friends and adoptive relatives for sharing their lives and deep knowledge with me. I am very thankful for your friendship, acceptance, generosity, enduring support, and for allowing me to tag along with you on your many adventures. I am eternally grateful to each and every one of you and consider you as relatives. Thank you to Robert Brave Heart, Sr. and the entire Brave Heart family; Stanley Good Voice Elk; Alvin and Steve Slow Bear; Tom Cook and Loretta Afraid of Bear; Joe Giago, Richard Giago, and Tyler Lunderman; John Gibbons and his family; and Russ and Foster “Boomer” Cournoyer. Special thanks go to Arthur Amiotte and his wife Janet Murray, the late Wilmer “Stampede” Mesteth and his wife Lisa, Richard Two Dogs and his wife Ethleen, and their families.
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