South Dakota State University Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange

Extension Circulars SDSU Extension

1962 The oS cial System of the Dakota Indians Vernon D. Malan South Dakota State University

Follow this and additional works at: http://openprairie.sdstate.edu/extension_circ Part of the Native American Studies Commons, and the Sociology Commons

Recommended Citation Malan, Vernon D., "The ocS ial System of the Dakota Indians" (1962). Extension Circulars. Paper 439. http://openprairie.sdstate.edu/extension_circ/439

This Circular is brought to you for free and open access by the SDSU Extension at Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Extension Circulars by an authorized administrator of Open PRAIRIE: Open Public Research Access Institutional Repository and Information Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. EXTENSION CIRCULAR 606

The Social System of the Dakota Indians

COOPERATIVE EXTENSION SERVICE SOUTH DAKOTA STATE COLLEGE U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE CONTENTS

Foreword ...•....•.••.••••.•••••••..•..•..•...... 2

Definitions and Characteristics of a Social System ...•• 4

Analysis of the Social System of the Dakota Indians•••• 5

Knowledge and Beliefs .••.•••••••••..••.•••.••. 5 Sentiment ••••.••.•..•.••.•••.••..•.••.••.••..8 Values .••••••.••.••..•••••••.••••••.••.•••. , 11 Norms..•.••..•..••.••.•.••••.••••....•••.•. 11 Status Roles or Positions, .••••••••.•••..••.••.• 13 Ranks.••••••••••.••.••.••••••••••••. •••••••• 14 Control ..••.••••••.••..•••••••••.•••••.•.••. 15 Sanctions•••••••••.•••••• .••••••.•••...•..•••1 7 Facilities•••• ••.••••.•••.••••••..••••...••..•.1 8 Summary and Implication� ••.•••••••...••.•••• 18

2 FOREWORD

"To disseminate useful and practical information and to encourage its adoption to the end that people may help themselves by their own efforts achieve a better life" is the purpose for which the Cooperative Extension Service was created by the Smith Lever Act of 1914. It has signifi­ cantly contributed to the development of rural people and the productive agricultural economy of America. The success of this informal, continuing educational program of Extension in the United States is a major reason for the emphasis on technical assistance programs as a featureofour foreign policy throughout the less-developed areas of the free world. Peace may well depend upon our success in teaching the people of many cultures to adopt modern technology and efficient production practices as a means of improving their levels of living. While this study deals with the culture of the Dakota Indian as a basis for devising more effective Extension educational programs adapted to their values. attitudes. behavior patterns, and beliefs, Extension experience indicates a need for similar studies in other countries. The same teaching methods and motivational appeals to adapt new practices, accept new ideas and ways of living that have proven so effective in bringing about change in the dominant Anglo-Saxon rural population have been less successful among the Indian people even though significant progress is being made. This poses the question "Why?" Undoubtedly, there are many reasons. One is that cultural differences make it necessary to modify the teaching methods and the moti­ vational stimulus used to bring about change from one culture to another. Part I of this study is an analytical description of the South Dakota Indian culture using theframework of a social systems theory. It is designed to provide Extension workers and others with a better understanding of the Indian people and background knowledge to use as a basis for sound edu­ cational program planning. developingimpro ved teaching methods, and evaluating results. Part II of this study, published separately, seeks to apply this understanding to the adaption of the principles of Extension education to the Dakota Indian culture. These reports are a result of a study sponsored by the South Dakota Extension Service in cooperation with the Bureau of Indian Affairs. John T. Stone Director of Extension

3 The Social System of the Dakota Indians

By Vernon D. Malan Associate Professor of Rural Sociology

Definition and Characteristics of a Social System In reality social structure and function cannot be separated, because as Loomis states "the elements that Initially, it is necessary to clarify the meaning of the constitute itas asocial system and the processes that arti­ 4 concept "social system" and to justify the application of culate it remain the same." Nevertheless, for analytical the concept to the kind of society maintained by the In - purposes structure and function are useful concepts which dian people. The social system, in its broadest terms, can be compared analogically witha motion picture film. consists of the "patterned interaction" ofagroupof people. If the film is stopped to examine a single frame, the pho­ A family, a community, or even American society-any tograph will catch the relationships between the sectors at group in which there is some kind of expected behavior of that exact moment in time. This picture is equivalent to one person toward another-may be regarded as a social the structure of society. When the film is started again, system. Membership may change but the uniform behav­ the sequence of change over a period of time can be ior in the society is the important element in its contin - observed as new relationships develop between the actors. uation.1 Dakota Indian society can be viewed as an inde­ The process of change which is observed as the film moves pendent social system because there are definite patterns is equivalent to function. If both these relationships are of behavior by its members which distinguish it from the considered as influencing each other, just as any one pho­ surrounding non-Indian society. tograph is a part of the total motion picture, the basis of 5 The integrity of the social system of the Dakota In - structural-functional analysis is apparent. dians can be explained by the "control of reciprocity."2 The model which this study follows has been largely In the reservation community acceptance of any individ­ borrowed fromthe Processually Articulated Structural Mo­ ual is equated with his conformity to the norms of the del contributed by Dr. Loomis. The essential elements group. If, for example, an Indian youth would leave the and processes of the Dakota Indian social system will be reservation to seek employment in one of the towns near discussed using nine slightly modified structural-functional by, he would very likely be subjected to discrimination categories: 1) Knowledge and beliefs; 2) Sentiments; 3) Values; 4) Norms; 5) Status-roles and positions; 6) Ranks; which eventually may become unbearable. If he then 6 bounces back to thereservation in order to escape the pre­ 7) Controls; 8) Sanctions; and 9) Facilities. Under each judiced attitudes of the non-Indians, he receives the se­ of these categories both social structure and function will curity of his old groups on the reservation, but he must be given interrelated treatment, although the pattern will reciprocate by conforming to the norms of that group. generally be to explain the situation and then to discuss Thus control of his behavior is accomplished by offering the direction and kinds of changes which are taking place. him security inreturn for conformity. Inthis way the tra­ At the end of this section there will be a brief summary of ditional cultural practices are perpetuated and the stabil­ the major implications indicated by the analysis. ity of the reservation social system is retained. In his book, Social Systems: Essays on Their Persis­ tence and Change, Charles P. Loomis has suggested a method of analyzing so:ial systems that can be applied to 1Gharles P. Loomis, Social Systems: Essays on Their the study of the Dakota Indians. Dr. Loomis proposes that Persistence and Change, p. 4 social systems can be divided into their two elemental parts: . 2 l) the structure is composed of "identifiable and interde­ George C. Homans, The Human Group, pp. 284-288. pendent" elements which form the constituent parts of the . 3 Loom1s, op. cu., pp. 5-7. social system, and 2) the function is the result of the pro­ cesses which bring "regular and uniformsequences of change 4_!bid., p. 5. 3 in structure."' This combination of social structure and 5 Ibid., p. 9. function is known as structural-functional analysis and is widely used by sociologists in studying social systems. 6 Ibid., pp. 11-30.

4 Analysis of the Social System of the Dakota Indians circumstances, sacred places, equipment used in cere - monies, or human beings were temporarily endowed with Assessment of the changes that have taken place in this supernatural force. Likewise, it was recognized that the culture of theDakota Indians during the last hundred there were essential differences in the degree of wakan years does not justify either an optimistic or a pessimistic qualities of a specific object or in the purposes for which prediction.7 There is evidence that in some areas accul­ these qualities were to be used.1 4 turation has taken place with a relative degree of success, Unity with nature and the sacredness of the natural and that the Dakotas have been converted into a "trac- world were interwoven in the beliefs of the Dakota. table and serious-minded body of home lovers." Nonethe­ When the Dakota sat on the ground, they sat less, assimilation has not been uniformly achieved and on the lap of theirmother Earth. In the win - the Dakotas could hardly be described as "prosaic and ter, they bathed their bodies in the sunshine uninteresting."8 Perhaps there are still barriers to full as they did in the icy water of the streams; acculturation, but while it is not difficult to refute the or theystripped themselves to go out into the contention that non -Indian cultureis foreign to his "nature" rainstorm, "to be alone with Rain," because or "intelligence,"9 it has been pointed out that the pro­ they felt "a unity with these tremendous cess of adaptation to thenon -Indian society has been forces." Their bodieswere nourished by rain retarded by the still formidable attitudes opposing full and sun and wind just asmuch asby meat and acceptance in that society.10 plant food. The growing child was taught to Theanalysis of the projected elements in theDakot a be sensitive and highly perceptive of all Indian social system must not only be descriptive of the natural phenomena-of wind and insects and traditional culture pattern but must likewise consider the plants-so that he could receive instruction dynamics of culture change which have produced the kind from them, Imowledge and guidance, and 5 of society which is presently found on the South Dakota advice.1 reservation. In each of the categories which will be dis­ Their approach to the animal kingdom, as well, was not cussed, the attempt will be to start with the traditional in the manner of detached study but of getting acquainted cultural practices and in a logical-historical fashion to with their new friends and relatives. The Dakotas were explain the changes which have brought the Dakota Indians also an integral element in nature inter acting harmoniously to theirpresent condition. In this way, it is hoped, it will with the floraand fauna. Their belief in the circle of the be possible to produce realistically a picture of reservation nature world was symbolized in their daily lives: their living and to explain how it was painted. tipis were made round; in camping, their lodges were set in a circular pattern; in ceremonial activities, theirpeople Knowledge and Beliefs: The traditional religious beliefs of theDakota Indians were designed to satisfy their need toidentify themselveswith the natural world in which they lived. Their most fundamental needwas functionally 7 expressed in their striving for "harmony with nature." Robert G. Athearn, William Tecumseh Sherman and the Although they did not develop elaborate creeds and philo­ Settlement of the West, p. 335. 8 sophiesto rationalize their rituals, their emotional response Frank Fiske, The Taming of the Sioux, p. 186 . was to the power or spirit which inhabited everything in 1 9 nature. 1 The belief "that not only human beings but General George A. Custer, Wild Life on the Plains and animals and inanimate objects are actuated by spirits that Horrors of Indian Warfare, p. 31. give them volition and purpose"-the animistic concep­ 10Evon Z. Vogt, "TheAcc ulturation of American Indians," tualization -provided the Dakotas witha satisfying expla- The Annals, 311 (May, 1957), pp. 137-146. nation of the unknown elements of the world in which they lived. Consequently, almost any natural phenomena could 11 Ralph Linton, TheStudyof Man, New York: D. Appleton­ become an object of worship, and although special homage Century Co. , 1936. was rendered to the sun and theearth and the four cardinal 12 MelvilleJ. Herskovits, Man and His Works: TheScience directions, they might likewise experience religious emo­ of Cultural Anthropology, New York: AlfredA. Knopf, 948 tion as they stood " in awe before a magnificent waterfall, 1 :• 2 13 or a great tree or a rock of striking formation 1 J. W. Lynd, "History of the Dakotas," Minnesota His­ The Siouan word wakan was apparently related to the torical Collections, II, pp . 14-5-146. belief that there was a mysterious and wonderful force that 14 Gideon H. Pond, "Dakota Superstitions," Minnesota animated the natural world. The word was applied to any­ Historical Collections, Il, pp. 215-255. thing and everything that was incomprehensible.13 The divine essence which was expressed in �could readily 15 Dorothy Lee, "Responsibility Among the Dakota,".!:£.�­ shift its foc us fromone object to another and under certain dom and Culture, Prentice-Hall, Inc . , 1959, pp. 61-62.

5 sat, moved, and danced in a circle. The circle suggested in even greater tragedies for the Dakotas and the massacre the shelter and comfort of home and the security of the at Wounded Knee was a cruel monument , built by the family. In decorative art, the undivided circle stood for United States Cavalry, to the finality of their traditional the whole world; the circle filled with red was the sun; way of life . filled with blue, it was the sky; and divided into four A succession of transitional religious movements parts, it was the four winds. 16 diffused from one reservation to another as the Dakotas The traditional Dakota religion was a system of belief searched forsom e meaningful system of values which would which provided a nearly optimum adjustmentto thephys ical make it possible forthe m to rationalize the conflictbe tween environment. With the coming of themissiona ry and the their traditional culture and the new culture which was frontiersman, the conditions of life began to drastically being forced upon them. The most successful was the change. Retentionof their religious beliefs in this utopian Native American Church or "peyote cult" which provided society was no longer possible, and their values wete per ­ them with a unique combination of native and Christian verted by new and str ange associations. At first, resistance religious rituals and an ethical system which appeared well to thetea chings ofthe missionaries was effective, but only adapted to the conditions of transitional living. Yuwipi as long as the Dakotas were independent of government ceremonies and other nativistic cults have likewise con­ 17 control. Later, the missionaries were able to convince tinued to have a considerable following on the reservations thegovern ment that Dakota children should be required to but these differ from the Native American Church in that attend mission schools and that traditional Indian cere­ they aim at the retention or revival of traditional cultural monies, especially the Sun Dance, should be prohibited. practices. u Gradually the disintegration of traditional Dakota reli­ It is difficult to accurately estimat� the number of gious beliefs left them seeking vainly for new values which members of these transitional religious movements because would fill the vacuum created by the abolition of their many of their followers are a shifting and unstable group, older practices. unwilling to admit their membership or participation for The eradication of traditional Dakota religion unfor­ fear of possible reprisals or condemnation. On the Pine tunately did not result in immediate acceptance of Chris­ Ridge Reservation it has been estimated that at least one­ tianity . The tragic result was a people without values or fourth of the population belong to the Native American uncertain of what valueswere workable. They became .. Church but the percentages would vary considerably from lost in the maze of enforced assimilation: their society one community to another. Most of the members - are - became more and more disorganized; their leadership described as "middleaged full bloods and young Indians 2 2 wavered; their people were struggling for a way out of with a relatively small amount of education:' Compe­ this normlessness. The transition from theold to the new tition forad herents may occur between nativistic religious culture had degener ated into a condition of anomie. It movements since they probably appeal strongly to those was easy to conclude thatwi th the conditions of life dras ­ tically changing, the Christian religion should have been 8 16 adopted by the Dakotas! But the barrier to accomplishing Melvin R. Gilmore, Prairie Smoke, pp. 53 -54. this change was the insistence of themi ssionaries that the 17 The rejection of the early missionaries is illustrated by Christian religion could not compromise with the prac­ an incident re ported in the biography by Winifred W. tices of Dakota society. The two systems could not be Barton, John P. Williamson: A Brother to the Sioux. , fitted snugly together , but if Christianity could have modi­ p. 165. Rev. Williamson reported that on one occasion fied some of its doctrines within the framework of Dakota when he was visiting the Standing RockAgency and refused culture, possibly some of the goals of the missionaries to offer any presents to the Indians, one of their leaders might have gradually been reached without undue disru ption asked him, "What have these greater beggars than I am of the Indian society:19 come here to seek?" The search for a solution to this dual dilemma-loss 18 . of traditional beliefs and incompatibility of Christianity to F"1s k e, op. c1t. , p. 113 . Dakota culture-culminated in a desperate gamble on the 19vernon D. Malan, Acculturation of the Dakota Indians, Ghost Dance, which if successful would have resulted in pp. 16 -17. the destruction of their conquerors and the restoration of 2 0 the buffalo herds by supernatural means . The Ghost Dance James Mooney, "The GhostDance Religion and the Sioux would have probably diedout shortly after its inception had Outbreak of 1890," Annual Report of the United States it not been for the efficientai d of the students from the Bureau of Ethnology, Vol. 14, p. 320. government boardingsch ools. The failure of the enforced 21Wesley R. Hurt, "Factors in thePersist ence of Peyote in indoctrination of these youngpe ople was evidenced by the the Northern Plains;• Plains Anthropologist, (May, 1960) fact that "in various ways they assumed the leadership and 20 p. 21. conduct of the dance." It was not very difficult to pre­ dict that this marginal religious movement would result 2 2 .!_bid. , p. 20.

6 individuals who are caught between the two culture workable adjustment the individual who vacillates systems. In addition there are several evangelistic religious between the two extremes is likely to be searching forsome groups which ha ve recently some success on the reser - source of meaning in group approved and recognition- vations and may likewise to the marginal person. giving activities marginal Most of the people living on the reservation in South Sinc e the Dakota people have been cut off Dakota are not in these marginal religious groups the their traditional religion, have not factor of secularization needs to be taken into consider­ been able to replace this loss in conventional ation. a recent study of theva luesof the peo ple living Christian denominations . Theprinci pal dif­ several isolated communities on Pine Ridge, it was noted ficulty has been relatively insistence that most of the traditional Dakota values are disappearing; of the churches on the virtues of the value although some are still influential, the values of Western system Western Civilization. the Civilization were accepted with more consensus by the Dakotas , however, Western values lack the people these comrnunities than theirtraditi onal cultural vitality and meaning necessary to replace values, least in their expressed auimdes. The result traditional values. Superficial accep ­ is that the sacredness of their values in earlier days is being tance of non -Indian ideas of correct behavior replaced by secular values highly materialistic non­ is im t strong enough to motivate them pur ­ reserv ation society. sue these norms in practice. Moreover, it is If it is assumed that the Dakota individual actually not uncommon for the older residents of believes in the material is tic values of the dominant society. reservation communities to reflect nostal­ his behavior is likely to be contradictory bec ause he lives gically on ''better times" in the past. They social groups in wh ich economic resources are very feel thatcond itions have been getting worse limited and survival of the group depends upon sharing and for their people instead better. Undoubt­ other noneconomic values. And if he expects to be edly, this tendency to glorify the values of in reservation groups, he must conform to the old culturema kes them reluctant to accept their norms of generosity and mutual cooperation, no mat- new values which seem to lack vitality in how strongly he believes economic and with those which guided tl1eir the accumulation of wealth . Thus, it can be surmised that lives in times past.25 many of these reservation people are living in a manner It is difficult to estimate the extent to which traditional that is the ways that they believe desirable , values have disappeared from reservation life because the because it is the only possible way that they can survive state of transition varies greatly from one community to members the group. this contention is correct, another. can crudely measured selected indices the present emphasis on nonmaterialism does not have the of acculturation such as socioeconomic level , age, degree support of sacred belief as it did in the traditional way of of Indian ancestry, and participation in community groups. life but rather is the only way that they know pro­ Some of vestiges of traditional living, such as sharing vide the necessities for day to day living. The value of and sociabil ity patterns, may reveal the existence ofleaders nonmaterialism has changed from sacred to a secular ste.eped traditional are influential in their value. cornmunities but these bearers traditional culture are When the Dakota individual is faced with acting in a least likelyto engage in the kind of aggressive leadership way that conflicts with his belief. group norms be­ is cusiomary non -Indian society .2 6 havior for him become meaningless and he develops The mistaken idea is sometimes held by those who are anitudes of apathy. sanctions of traditional beliefs not well with the Dakota Indians lhat because disintegrate under the influence of the coercive force of a their ideas and beliefs not coincide those of new value system which cannot entirely replace the old. the non-Indianpopulation that they do not have the ability Thus finding traditional beliefs destroyed, is to think Everyone has any experience floundering without the regul ation of either society . This with them must reject this attitude because in the context condilionof lack values accompanied by a breakdown ofthc individual's sense of attachment to his conternporary society and the Dakota people are in thisma rginal position of living in large part in normless society. 3 Vernon D. Malan and Clinton Jess er, The Dakota The evidence suggests that to a large extent the Dakota Indian Religion, p. 58. Indians have lost much of earlier system of beliefs which 2 4 gave purpose and direction to their lives . Reactions to this �· · p . state of affairs has varied from those individuals who have stubbornly retained their traditional beliefs to those Ibid. p . have fullyassimilated the non-Indianval ues. Theassu mp­ tion positions at either extreme rnay provide a pp. 12-21.

1 of their present situation, their knowledge of the world rules and regulations governing the behavior of the mem which they live, and their basic beliefs, they are more bers hunted, fought, traveled, and camped together rational people than their non-Indian neighbors. Their The solution to the problem of communal living for the acceptance of methods scientific investigation, their Dakorns was provide the individual with all -inclusive understanding of modern techniques of learning, and their system of kinship harmony which was a pleasant, emo­ application the of reason to every situation confirms tionally satisfying, discipline for group living. Any the opinion that the Dakotas surpass most of their fellowmen member of group who violated rules was subject to in their ability to reason. the sanction of loss of social status, but perhaps more The application of wise judgment the transition important, rewards of sentimental attachment to the from Dakota Indian culture to Western Civilization is well group were withdrawn. Observance of kinship rules and illustrated the case of Charles Eastman, started being good relat[ve meant e,;pressing proper social on an isolated reservation and went on to become success - relationships, kindness, friendship, consideration for an ful medical doctor . Dr . Eastman summarized the conflict other members of thecamp circle. These mutual attach­ in rc,tionality in quoration from his autobiography: ments were chief source of happiness the Dakotas, The pages of history are full oflicensed murder reinforcing the feeling that they belonged and were · and plundering wea.ker and Iess devel­ accepted in int[mate association that existed In the oped peoples and obviously the world camp circle. has not outgrown this system . Behind the The extended family, living together in close harmony mated.al and intellectual splendor of rnu in the camp circle, has been aptly dc?cribed Ella Deloria civilization, primitive savagery and cruelty as "a scheme of life that worked," and the description of and lust hoU sway. undiminished.. and i.t the E�yg'��- in her book, Speaking, of}!1dians, is an seems, unheeded. When l1et go of mysirnple excellent source forvarif ying the irnportancc of sentiment instinctive naturere ligion, I hoped to gain in the family relationships of the Dakota Indians . The something lofth,r well more satisfying significance the kinship system is exemplified in to the reason. Alas'. It is also more con­ Professor Deloria's words: fusing :md contradictory. The higher and Asyon said "Unde" "Father" or "Brother" spiritual life, though first theory, is clearly either address or reference you must secondary , if not entirely neglected, in actual immediately control your thinking ofhim; you practlce . When I re.duce civilizz1tion to its rrmst assume correc mental att[tude due lowest terms, it becomes a system of life based the particular relative addressed and you must upon trade. The dollar the measure of express that attitude its fitting outward value, and rnight srm spefori ght; otherwise, behavior and mien, according the accepted why war?2 7 convention. Thus, term, attitude, behavior, the correct combinations, were what every member of society must learn and observe §_entim_�_l:: The participation of the Dakota individual undeviatingly_ They were standard and in­ in his culture was most significant the level of tlic family exorable: they had always been. One It was the kinship group that exhibited concern for his simply was born into their rule and conformed basic human needs; providing subsistence, caring for them invariably as rnatter course. The sick and dying , and offering protection during infancya nd more correctly hecould do this, whatever the childhood. Becauseth ese kinship functions were directly personal sacrifice involved at times, the concerned biological survival, they suffused witb better member of the group was, the bet - sentiment--"emotions involving sex, hunger, fear ofsick­ ness and death, and social anxieties:• the of the Dakotas, they were "among the earliest learned and the most deeply ingrained attitudes ."28 The Dakota kinship system only provided the framework of their social 2 o.:ganization but within theextended family group pro­ Charles A. Eastman, From the Deep Wood toCivil ization, vided significance and meaningful ernorional tone to their Boston: Little Brown, and Co., 1916, p. 194. behavior. The deep sentimentality attached to the rela - 28Julian H. Steward, Theory of Culture Change, p . tionships within the family have tended to persist long 29Fiorence Kluckhohn, "Dominant Sub,titute after other elements Dakota culture have disappeared . The extended family system of the Dakota Indians was files of Cultural Orientations: Their Significance for exemplified in the camp circle A group of related indi­ Analysis of Social Stratification," Social Forces, XXVIfI (May, 1950) 376. viduals-called the tiyospaye in the Siouan language­ lived and worked together under an elaborate system of 3 0Gordon Macgregor, Warriors Without Weapons, p. 54.

8 ter his standing as a Dakota, the higher his havior and shaming children who violated the rules of the prestige as a person. 31 group . Physical punishments were practically unknown The great tenderness and affection shown in the atti -· .and they never roughly 1.> r unnecessarily reproved their tudes of brother for brother or sister for sister or the ad­ children. If admonishmentseemed advisable, it was rea­ miration and respect shown in the attitudes of avoidance sonably and gently given by a respected kinsman in order between a man and his mother-in-law or a wife for her not to harm the child's affection for his biological father-in-law were extremely different patterns of senti­ parents . 35 ment, but they nevertheless provided for the complete The grandparents generation exemplified the "ideal range of affectional response within the kinship arrange­ of kindliness and generosity" in the traditional Dakota cul­ ment. Likewise, the provisionof affection and guidance ture. The grandfather was a counselor to theyoung and was by Dakota parents forthei r children exhibited the ideal of highly respected for his experience and his wisdom. The parental love and concern which would constantly remind grandmother was a "second mother," frequently "taking impressionable children of their duty and devotion to their over the hard work of thehous ehold forhe r daughters during kinsmen . Sentiment was an essential element in the family their childbearing period and sharing the care of the new embracing all of theleve ls of relationship between family grandchildren ." She did not assume permanent and complete members but it was emphasized in the greatest degree to ­ responsibility for care of the children and could be indul ­ ward infancy and old age. In the Dakota folklore and songs, gent of the little children, which meant that an exceedingly the most honored formof love was that of parents for their pleasant and lifelong attachment grew up ben·• · en the oldest , 36 children and the most respect and devotion was reserved for and t h e youngest generation. those older, experienced leaders who would guide the tribes The respect for the older men in the Dakota camp in "the right path ." circle was demonstrated again in the council which served The attitudes of adults toward children and their treat­ to advise and settle disputes. The council was "composed ment of even very young infants reflected their maternal of men who were mature, men of experience, wisdom and and paternal sentiments. The provision for the child's prestige, who discussed matters pertainingto the welfare material needs-giving them food, clothing, and personal of the group, helped clarify the obscure, settled disputes ornaments-was made with expressions of care and affec ­ and generally furnished guidance for the group :• In most tion, and the Dakotas tried to teach pride and dignity to cases their decisions were not enforced by direct coercion their children by regarding them as rational creatures en - but the announcement of their concensus was probably equi­ dowed wi::h the ability to exercise their powers of choice valent to a finaldeci sion which no member of the group and responsibility. The rearing of Dakota children was would dare question. Undoubtedly "the end of discussion designed to socialize them with the feeling "that theywer e in counc il was to reach agreement, not as to expediency, part of nature, or relatives of all things," and this related­ not as to thepr eferable, but as to the only right course.''3 7 ness and mutuality with nature was correlated with their It has been suggested that "behavior which function, 3 2 responsibility to their kinship group . on a family level is the most difficult to change," even Youth was taught that to serve himself he must first when the society is in violent transition, because of the serve his people. "To fail in one's duty to others, meant sentiment associated with consanguine relationships . 3 8 In to fail in the test of manhood," and the young man's duty the case of the Dakota Indians this generalization would was to develop himself, "to increase in hardihood, in seem to be empirically demonstrated, for it is evident physical prowess, in skill, in bravery, because through en­ that the one element of the traditional culture which has hancing himself he enhanced his society." been retained almost intact is theirclose family attach- From the time a child could walk, he was encouraged to give to others. When mothers were giving !O the weak and old, theygave portions to their children also, so that they could give their own gifts to those in need. 31Ella Deloria, ?peaking of Indians , pp . 29-30 . The good man, the "man whom all praise," 32 was the man who trained himself rigorously Dorothy Lee, Freedom and Culture, p. 63 . 3 3 33 in responsibility. Ibid. , p. 64. The ideal parent-child interaction among the Dakotas 3 . was based on attitudes of deep-seated affection; children 4 M acgregor, op. cu. , p. 56 . were granted a large measure of independence but indoc - 35 Malan, The Dakota Indian Family, pp. 12-13 . trinated with a fierceloyalty to their kinship group. From 36 an early age , the parents regarded their children as auto· Macgregor, 2.2.�ci t. , p. 60. nomous individuals with responsibility for their own actions 37 Lee, op. cit. , p. 69. and in return demanded much cooperation from them . 3 4 38 Child training was accomplished by rewarding correct be- Steward, op. c it. , p. 62.

9 ments, and this has continued despite the efforts of govern - as neighbors, theyco ntinue to act according ment officials to destroy the basic pattern of the tiyospaye, to the role of their relationship position. Thus the deterioration of the role of the father, the loss of reli­ a child born into a group receives treatment gious sanctions for family behavior, the material transfor ­ as a son, a grandson, or a brother from those mation ofthe reservation, and an accelerating rate of social he is taught to call "father;· "grandfather," or change in the larger society. "brother:· If het younger people appear lax The purpose of the Allotment Act was to dissolve the in this behavior, a grandparent will often communal control and substitute family ownership of the reprimand them fornot adhering to the Indian land resources, thus it was a blow designed to weaken the way.43 bonds within the kinship group� and break them into nuclear Perhaps the greatest change that has taken place in the family units . "The allotment system would thus weaken Dakota family is the loss of prestige by thead ult warrior or destroy the cooperating unit of tribal organization," but who no longer plays the essential role of provider and pro­ by so d:>ing the government was "also assailing the only tector to the other family members . The gradual loss of sound foundation upon which it was possible to rebuild a honor and respect has eroded the authority of the family transformed Dakotasocial and economic organization:• 39 head until the point has b een reached at which the status Even forcedset tlement oa family units and dispersion of of women, especially if they have a dependable income , kinship groups was not completely successful in accom­ hassuperceded the domination of the family by the males . plishing the purposes of the act_ because related families Superficially, the adult male may attempt to establish his were frequently able to obtain their land allotments in position by emphasizing his traditional role as chief contiguous areas. The camp circle was stretched into an decision-maker and head of the family. At the same time irregular, meandering settlement of one-room log cabins if he cannot provide for the material needs of his family, the along the creek or river . The result is thatfam ily homes status of the female increases in proportion to her ability are arranged spatially in a widely separated geographical to assume responsibility fortheir economic needs . This pattern today in comparison with the camp circle. shift in statuses is "still causing the Teton Dakota family There has been a decline in the frequency and inten­ to appear shaky and contentious , and this change has been sity of intimate kinship contacts and the family circle has compounded by a sloughing-off of the extended kinship contracted , thus excluding more distant relatives. Yet it ties. The resulting insecurity can be temporarilycompen­ is unusual foran individual to live completely isolated from sated by reemphasizing the old values of mutual aid and his relatives and most individuals will have a few immediate assistance in times of crisis ."44 family members living near by. It is not uncommon for The attempted destruction of the extended family married children to live with their parents or even in a ten;t groups, the decline in use of kinship terms, and the de­ beside the parent's home. The nearest neighbors are fre­ teriorating role of the malenead have all been detrimental quently brothers or sisters, uncles or aunts, andot her close to the retention of traditional familyse ntiments . Never­ relatives �0 In a recent study of the nonranching com­ theless, the reduced family unit has remained as the last munities on the Pine Ridge Reservation, it was observed refuge of meaning and significance for many of the older that nearly one-third of the households had relatives not Dakota people. Some kinship remnants are still found in 1 belonging to the biological families living in the home. 4 the small in-group rel ationships and these serve as secure The evidence of sharing, visiting , and generosity within retreat in times when there is some threat to their way of these extended family groups is sufficient to conclude that living.4 5 vestigial kinship sentiment is the most potent force in 2 holding the more traditional communities together .4 The retention of traditional kinship terminology has been observed in some reservation areas but it is difficult to ascertain how extensively it is known and used by the 39Malan, Acculturation of the Dakota Indians, p. 26 . youngest generation. The use of English terminology is sometimes noted in conjunction with the Dakota kinship 40Macgregor, op. cit. , p. 61. terms. One measure of assimilation might well be the 41Ernest L. Schusky and Vernon D. Malan, The Dakota extent to which the traditional kinship terms of address have Indian Community, (unpublished manuscript), p. 22. been retained because, as Macgregor observed, a young person is ordinarily aware of both systems and may clarify 42 Malan, TheDak ota Indian Family, pp . 46 -53. his reference by saying, "That is my fa ther--of course,he 4 3 Macgregor, op. cit. , p. 62. is really only my uncle--but we call 'father' in Indian." 4 4vernon D. Malan, "Theories of CultureChangeRelevant Among the families which still speak the Siouan language to theSt udy of the D the preservation of traditional terminology and related akota Indians ," Plains Anthropologist, Vol. 6, June 11, 1961, p. 16 . behavior is more frequent: 45 When members of the extended family live D,id. , pp. 13 -19.

10 Values: The moral code of the Dakotas has been con- and lower level of living, and with full Indian ancestry; densed four essential virtues phrased in words of 4) these selected indices acculturation were not neces­ Gordon Macgregor: sarily associated with participation in marginal religious 1) "As children they were taught to be brave, to fight activities; 5) significant association was, however , dis­ against if need be and not run away without honor . covered between marginal religious participation and the Honor could be had by outwitting and by stealth as well as degree of acceptance of Dakota values, and from these dashing openly into combat." findings it was concluded: "themore theIn dividual accepts 2) "Fortitude, the second great virtue of the Dakota, the values of Dakota society along with Western values, was closely related to bravery. It was not onlycourage in the more likely he is to develop value conflicts whichhe 48 battle the courage which enabled them to atte.mpts resolve in marginal religious activities." accept long hardships and to suffer pain and the self­ If the evidence is adequate to conclude that the con - in fiicted tortures of their ceremonials:• flict.ing att.i. tudes expressed by Dakotas are the result 3) "The third virture, generosity, was one of thebase s of confusion in th eir basic values, it can be interpreted to · of behavior among one 's own kindred. The 'give-away,' a mean that they are "under the influence of two cultures dramatic ceremony of distributing all one's own belong­ but not lh· completely either," and th at "conflicting ings, was a means of honoring others and gaining social standards of behavior make it inevitable that almost any prestige." action of individual out of IIne with the standards of 4)" fourth virtue of Dakota life is sometimes some members of the community."'" It is not surprising termed 'wisdom' and sometimes 'moral integrity.' Both then to find a wide divergence of viewpointsre garding the were certainly ideals manly behavior. men were ethicalqualities ofthe indians . Non-Indians who have expected to be wise and composed, and those who spoke indoctrinated with values of the American frontier -indi· well and showed good insight judgment were electedto vidualism, hard thriJt, and aggressive materialism the council.s. the family thegrandfa thers were respected are likely regard traditional Dakota values such as co­ for their wisdom and were expected to pass it on to their operation,ge nerosity, and nonmaterialism with abhorrance. H46 A more generous view of the value traits of original These were not just a list of ideals that were supposed Americans would probably be expressed by individuals who to guide the behavior of the individual traditional Dakota had grown with these values undersmod their appli- society; were values which were woven into the fabric cation in Dakota society. would probably agree of their existence. Thepene tration of religion into every with the contention of Dr. Charles A. Eastman that the of their li.ves made these valuesli ving codes as vital ideal person was motivated by philosophical realism: and binding as any code of behavior has ever been. As they gift of eloquence, wit, humor, and poetry is well esta­ sought to complete the c yde ofthe.ir life, living in harmony blishe.d; democracy and community life was much nature and participating the kinship pattern, the nearer the ideal than ours today; standard of honor and Dakotas were a ware that these ethical goals were the mor - friendship unsurpassed, and all his faults are the faults of tar which held struc tnre of their universe together . 4 7 generous youth. "cl(l It seems likely that the Dakota people retained many of their older values after theywe re placed the reser ­ !'Jorms:. The belief in harmony with nature, rhe semi­ vations. thatgradually during the recent years thevalues mcnt of kinship and the values of bravery, fortitude , of Western Civilization have been superimposed upon the generosity and wisdom were interrelated in the culture existing codes . Since two value systems differ in im ­ pauernof Dakotas. These ideals servcd as founda­ portant areas, they cannot be readily assimilated in all tion for the mythological orientation of their society. From areas of theirlives , and there sult is they suffer from these conceptualizations they extracted the beh.avioral considerable unresolved value conflict. This "conflict in rules and standards whichguided the conduct of their lives . values" thesis would explain much of the disorganization The traditional norms of Dakota society were fundamentally reservation the high rates of personality malad- elaborations of their belief system into a code of proper justment and the striving for a solution to the value con­ conduct. flict in marginal religious activities. The qualified conclusions from a limited study values on the Pine RidgeRe servation revealed that: 1) the expressed attitudes indicated virtuallyuni versal acceptance Macgregor, op. cit. , pp. -107. of some of the ideals of Western Civilization; 2) approval 4 7 P.1ul Radin, The World of PrimitiveMan, pp . 53 -54 . of traditional values in the Indian culture was less pro- 8 nounced, indicating gradual decline in influence Malan and Je�sser , op . cit., p. 57. these values on the contemporary life of the reservation 49 . . M acgregor, i:i� , p . 11"cl. people; 3 traditional values have greater acceptance 5 among those individuals who were older, had less education 0Eastman, op. cit. , p. 188.

11 As a vital part of the natural world in which they lived, honored warfare activities . They couiJ no longer amass the Dakotas were careful not toexp loit the land, and their prestige according to the old codes which reserved the attitudes toward the animals which served as their food greatest recognition for striking an unwounded enemy in 5 8 were not predatory. Since every living thing had an equal battle . right to existence, they were convinced that life should not Nonmilitary resistance brought forth the supreme skill be needlessly wasted. When it was necessary to take the of the Dakota leaders in oratory and obstructionism. They life of the buffalo for food, they recognized the gieat were soon engaged in a battle of wits and strategy with the sacrifice their brother was making that they might live and Indian Agents sent to supervise the reservations . McGilly­ they ceremonially praised him forhis generosity. Their cuddy, one of the agents at Pine Ridge, tried unsuccess ­ greatest fear was of the lightening which could ignite vast fully for months to convince the leaders that they should prairie fires destroying the grass upon which the bison herds send their children to the reservation boarding school, bur depended. They were aware of the equilibrium that existed first they objected to having the children bathed. After in the ecology of the plains, and their actions were always he had explained th e need for cleanliness in the school, designed to avoid serious disruption and to restore the natural they adamant! y refused to have their children's hair cut, balance which existed between the earth and its flora and because th e scalplock was a badge of honor . The agent fauna. 11ley were the original conservationists in America . was finally forced to make some concessions to Dakota . Membership in the kinship group implied that the indi­ customs, and even convinced Red Cloud to risk sending his vidual Dakota woulC: abide by the established p:actices daughter. But the old chief, on an unannounced inspection governing the degrees of familiarity and respect required of the boarding school , "found his little princ ess scrubbing among kinsmen. Since the kinship group provided him the kitchen floor, a buxom white cook standing over her with a primary focusfor his interests and loyalties, it was threateningly . The enraged chief almost frightened the his duty to cooperate, to assist other members, and to female staff to death before he went storming off to his 5 9 place group interests above his own. The members of the camp, bearing his rescued child with him " kinship group were considered in close and continuous This passive adaptation is most apparent today in the friendly interaction and quarrels between them were con­ resistance the Indian people exhibit to accepting the mate ­ sidered much more reprehensible than quarrels between rialism, economic competition, and money economy that members and outsiders.51 has been thrust upon them by the dominant non-Indian so ­ The valued behavior of the Dakota moral code pro ­ ciety. This does not mean that they have not accepted most vided additional norms of generosity, integrity, courage, of the mechanical conveniences offered by their conquerors. self-control, wisdom, and sociability . The ideal sharing They could easily observe the advantage of automobiles - pattern was so definitely the object of training ofyouth �pd fortransp ortation, but they do not use them in the same way the focus of prestige for the adult that even slight deviations as their non -Indian neighbors because they have different from the norms were regarded as despicable.52 Their norms. The assimilation of these material elements was scrupulous code of honesty received ample testimony from made to jibe with their customary practices, and it is not early missionaries. They traveled extensively through uncommon for modern equipment to serve traditional func ­ Dakota Territory without lock or key on their belongings tions. One of the principle uses of the automobile, for 5 3 and "did not lose from a thread to a shoestring." R-....:og­ example, is to provide transportation to the family for nition of courageous acts was ceremonially accorded the 5 individual who performed an unusual feat of valor. 4 Self­ approach to danger, self-sacrifice, feasting, penance, and 5 5 5 1 purification. The dignity of wiseoldmen of the Dakotas Ralph Linton, The Study of Man, p. 152. was legion; in council they had to make their decisions 5 2 Erick H. Erickson, "Observations on Sioux Education," with foresight; and in spirit they achieved unusual freedom The Journal of Psychoiogy, VII (January, 1939), p. 117. in a society dominated by stereotyped formulas of group 56 Iiving. Visiting, joking, and friendly conversation was 5 3 Stephen R. Riggs. Mary and I: Forty Years With the valued because of the affection and devotion which it Sioux, p. 395. 5 implied between compatible members of the band . 7 These 5 4 George Devereux, Reality and Dream , p. 70. basic traits were internalized by the individual members 5 5 of Dakota society, appearing in their attitudes and actions, J. W. Lynd, "History of the Dakotas," Minnesota His­ these traits must be regarded as the principle behavioral torical Collections, II, p. 170. norms intricately bound into their total value system. 56 Paul Radin, The Story of the American Indian, pp . 307-309. The struggle for survival, which was initiated by the 5 confinement on reservations, gradually evolved into a 7 Francis Parkman, The Oregon Trail, pp. 124-125. passive resistance which appeared to the Dakotas as the 58Erickson, op . cit. , p. 107. only reasonable adaptation to reservation living . As a con­ quered people they could no longer engage in their most 59 George E. Hyde, A Sioux Chronicle, pp. 101-102.

12 celebrations visiting relatives. but the support for the assumption of this role was badly The acceptance of extern,\ l, material traits of Western eroded by loss his traditionally honored activitie3; Civilization is most evident on the Dakota reservations, 3) therole of the mother consequently has come to possess on other hand, the nonmaterial culture-based on p:imary responsibility for the direction financial sup traditional attitudes and values-has been modified very port of the immediate family unit, although she must still thus is difficult disct,m any basic shift in show deference to her husband, who ostensibly exercises their fundamental value system. The behavioral norms his prerogatlves as head thehonseh old, often appear inconsistent, because they must be twisted to The shifting status-roles of contemporary reservation conform both the traditional. values and modem techno­ society are associated with confusion the atti.tudes logy at the same time. These norms are likewise subject many members of the transitional communities. Women great variations in the degree ofacceptance which they may now commit acts that were forbiddenin former times. are acco rded by individuals who are in the process of tran­ such as beating thei.r chil cfren, berating their husbands, sition from one culture to another. Although the changes deserting their families. Men may try to reassert their the norms are not so easily observed as changes the authority full rnaster of the family by mistreating theii material culture, "the evidence seems to suggest that in wives and children or tryto prove their masculine license last years the Dakota people have retained much to periodic alcoholic intemperance. The old society pro- the meaning their custom; and traditions in of vided a me,1:1s of e:scape from unsatisfactory famU 6 all the external cultural pressures ." 0 situation for children. They could go to live in the lodge of relative because they usually had several "n1other," Status -Roles or Positions: The crucial status-roles in who were responsible fo� their care. In some cases it is traditional Dakota soc were based either on the sex still possible for them to escape the biological family i,f dichotomy or on differentiation betwetm age groups. The conditions become toopainful, bm emotional conflictma> roles of hunter, warrior, horseman, orator, and councilor pervade any of the homes to which they might move, and were synthesized in the most honored male vowed to theehronic exposure tofricrion and disappolntment opera 64 risk everything forthe welfare and prestige of the kinship as the essential conditioning factors. gcoup. 111e status-giving roles of the women-wife. mo- The role of the older people in guiding and advising and helprnate-were undergirded by thei.r concept of yomh has :rndergone considerable change from earlier generosity. The female members of the kinship group modern times, In the more traditional communities there demonstr:ired generosity by cooperatively assisting are still some respected older people who have heen able each other in caring forthe needs of the males and rearing to retain their roles as counselor and sage, but unfortu- 61 children. nately many of these people have reached the age where The principle distinction age roles becwcen their influence is longer significant , and the younger children and adults . The great change from the status - people distrust their advice, although they may still be of childhood to of adulthood was marked by a will to a,ecept their generosity. The wisdom of vision-seeking ritual preparing the young man for the re­ ancients may not be appropriate to the conditions of present sponsibrnry and self-sacrifice of adult life. The quest for day living. The respository of beliefs, values, and know­ vision providccd "the supernatural reason conditions ledge which r.he older people possess cannot be forcedupon 62 for uncompromising acceptance of the group 's roles ." those who are learning new ways from non -Indian society, While the transition fron1 childhood to adult would not and only in times personJ.I crisis or fiiuncial need require the same degree of ceremonial observance forthe the young people likely to revert to the security and as fernales, there was a definite period of training forthe ro).es surances which are offered by the concern of the aged for wife mother. There was another signLficant chenge their people, in the status-role of the individual as they reached the age The introduction of new status -roles based on the dif­ wisdom which was regarded the special qu 11 ityof Ltter ferent i.ation of occupatioii.s in non-Indian society maturity. The main trends which can be observed in the changing status-roles contemporary reservationsociety 1) the role of the kinship group in protecting and p::oviding for 6<\remon D. Malan and M.min Kallich, "A Changing Dakota gro,v ing children is being assumed the biological parents . l!tdian Cultur,:, " Sourh Dak:.it :1 Farrn and Hon2e Research, but when the authority of the extended family exist con (May, l'.0:17), p. 15. currently, they may undermine each other to the degree 61 },1ala11 . "[he Qakota _In dian F.nnily, , 27. that "'the individual finds it possible now rnove from one 62 level to the other and escape the concerted action that Hagen and Schaw, op. cit. , p. 8-11. made thetrJ.dltionaI society so effective regulating be­ 63 Ibid. , . 10 havior"" ; 2) the role of the father changed from p:ovidcr 4 and defender to executive head of the small family group, 6 }bid. , p. 10 -7.

13 occurred along with the assimilation of ther of buffalo hunt, Service in the akicita was honor ;,;hid1 dominant society. Therole of the Indian who works for added to the prestige of the familyas well as a duty to the theBureau of Indian Affairs, for example, may differ dras kinship group. They were for carrying out the tically fromthat of the unemployed, unskiHed, traditional ­ decisions discussed and agreed upon in council and to keep oriented individual living in one of the isolated commu­ order during expeditions, "guardingagainst surpriseattacks , nities. Therole of the reservation Indian who has achieved restraining the overzealous, urging the stragglers, and some degree of success in ranching or farming may be dif- insuring that no one left the group without proper '68 ferentiated from role the seasonal worker who pro authority : vidcs much the agricultural labor on the farms western The social control function of the "soldier societies" South Dakota and Nebraska. There are essential distinc­ was supplemented by group sanctions, It was not necessary tions between the roles the migrant and the non­ for the members of the societies to greatly differentiated 65 migrant . All of thesedifferences in roles are related to the from theothers by special ranks in order for their efforts to acculturation process.since can demonstrated that be successful. In the closely knit camp circle their duties tend be assumed individuals have given up or were to act as guards, prevent violations of tribal codes, in theprocess of giving up their traditional culture. Thus it settle disputes, detect and judge the innocence or guilt of can assurned'that these new roles tend imitate those suspects, punish guilty individuals, and cornpensate indi­ of the non -Indian society, but will be modified to fitint o viduals harmed by the actions of others. These obligations therc,servationsituation. is probablybecause these roles were ful filled close identifieation with the family group are superimposed and arbitrarily defined that they have which supported and sanctioned responsible behavior •69 served adequately to provide models by which the tradi- As long as the Dakotas were free, they traveled in tional person on the reservation visuaIIze the steps compact bands knit together by the camp circle kinship the process of transition from his own position to accepta­ system and dedication to their respected leaders. On the bility in the, farger society reservation early governrnent policy tended to destroy the system of extendedfamily organization and undermine Ranks: The concept of an all -powerful chief with theinfluence of the leading men.70 Public officials and authority over the whole Dakota nation was an arbitrary educators on reservationprobably failed to appreciate invention of the governmental representatives who wished the need for progressive leadership. There was much con­ to facilitatetheir negotiations withthe Indian trib,)s. The sterna1.ion when the governn1ent agents realized that the elevation certain outstanding rnen to such a lofty older generation had taken the responsibility of indoctri­ 66 sition was foreignto the Dakota view ofleadership. Their nating their youth with traditional culture patterns and leaders were men the pc(lple, believing resolutely insisted that conservatism the means that would equality, and dedicated to the welfareof their tribe. Par - avoid chaos which had arisen from cultural change. They ticipating in the council of elders, they sought concensus tried pe.rsuasion, and then coersion, and direct vio­ on important questions. Their recommendations were lent nction to enforce their laws, but thepa ttern of pas­ spected, but they nevertheless lacked arbitrary power to sive resistance was effectively instilled in many of the enforce their decisions. Because thehonor with w�,ich peoplelivin g thenwre isoiated rescrvation areas among they were regarded, it seems unlikely that the opinions of these elected representatives of the kimhip group were ignored, since they exercised leadershipwhich demo· cratic,reasonable, and permissive. There were special circumstauces which elected Frank C. Estes, A Srudyof Sclectcd FactorsWhich May leaders could demand more absolute control over their be Associated With the hnminent Migration of Individuals charges. The most successful warriorsmi ght be elected From _ Lower Brule_ Indi�r\ Resecvation, (Unpublished to lead a raiding parry or buffalo hunt, and during the Master's Thesi.s, South Dakota State College, Brookings, time that the event was in porgress, the authority of the S. D., pp. 89-90.) leader had to respected. theskirmishes with armed 66 Hvd' e ' Cloud 's Folk, p. forces on the frontier, the Dakotas became aware of the 67 necessity for more organized effort under the control of a Frances Densmore, "Teton Sioux Music," �ureau of chief, but were never able adequately unite American Ethnology, Bulletin 61 (1918). . 48 their forces or police the heedless actions of their brave 68 Fred Eggan, Social �nthropolo�North .Americall young men bent npon achieving individ1.i.tlhonor in warfare. Tribes, p . :347 . Within the band the "soldier societies" or akicita were 69 responsiblefor maintaining order. They were associations Norman D. Humphrey, "Police and Tribal Welfarein ofyoungmenchosen on basis of theirindividual accom­ Plains Indian Cultures," Journal of Criminal Law aud plishment to act as a policing unit in the camp circle, as Criminology. XXXllI (May, 1943 ), p. lGO. 0 moved to hunting grounds. and during the actual 7 Hyde, �t:_� Clou�. Folk, 31:5 those extended families held together by the leadership of tortion of democratic goals in tribal elections have been theold er people. sufficiently common to be regarded by many reservation In the moreisolated communities today there are still residents as the accepted p:·ocedure. remnants of this pattern of permissive leadership. It is Factionalism has been the significant outcome of that founded on the knowledge of the traditional cultural ways fact that "the everchanging members of the council do not possessed by the older members of the community; it em - command universal respect or maintain a strong influence phasizes unity and cooperation within the kinship grou?; it with the sub-band as a whole," and it has been complicated depends upon willingness to seek out the recognized per­ by social groups with varying degrees of acculturation. In missive leaders fortheir advic e and example; and it is never most cases there seem to be at least four important factions : aggressive. often goes unrecognized, and is most effective 1) thetraditional group of tribal leaders who function within in times of crisis. The position of the permissive leader their own family and community and are antagonistic to the in the traditional community and the influence they are tribal council; 2) the "younger group of highly acculturated able to exert is revealed in the patterns of sharing and and relatively well-educated Indians who form a faction in visiting, participating in social activities, such as joking • the tribal council"; 3) the more conservative,politically­ gossiping, and discussing old times, and attending feasts oriented sociological full-blood group who are usually the and celebrations.71 other faction on the council; and 4) the "numerous socio­ A different kind ofleadership, fostered by the example political group .••comp osed of economically depressed, of practical politics in non-Indian society, has developed relatively maladjusted Indians who have little formal 7 out of the torn fabric of reservation life. It is the more politics:' 2 aggressive, authoritarian, uncompromising leadership The persistence of these factions has influenced the exhibited by the elected members of the tribal council. system of social stratification which exists on most reser­ The council is a transitional institution, split by all of the vations. While there are still no rigid class lines, in areas conflicts which are associated with change from the old where there are a sufficient number of Indians who have to the new way of doing things . In most cases the tra - achieved some success in agriculture or in semi-professional ditional and modern factions are represented on the council, activities there is class-like behavior. The great majority although a dynamic kind of leader seems to be evolving , of the people in the lower socio-economic level are ranked who is able to dominate both factions. The most successful in the inferior faction which tends to be dominated by a tribal chairmen are likely to be individuals who have gained small number of individuals who are striving for a more sufficient prestige because they are able to accomplish middleclass existence. these paradoxical goals simultaneously: 1) they are able to effectively bargain and compete with government of­ Control: Theancient tribal customs were inherently ficials and other non -Indians because their proficiency in effective in controlling the behavio: of the Dakotas with­ speaking and understanding the English language and their out the necessity of substantial government or laws. These knowledge of American culture is on the same level as the essential rules were organic,emanating fromthe compulsion non-Indian and 2) they are able at the same time to con - attendant upon theirancien t communities to preserve social vince the more traditional people on their reservations that order and promote the communal welfare. These mores they haveknowledge of the old ways, favor them, and will served them well because they were "self-made and com ­ 73 fight for theretention of their land and culture against the mensurate with the enlightenment of the body politic." machinations of stockgrowers associations, evil congress­ The institutions of kinship and family were admirably con­ men, and any other out-groups seeking to take advantage trived to vest authority in the older generation. This po ­ of their position of subjugation to the rules of the Bureau of tential power was used with restraint and was buttressed by Indian Affairs . the example and tutelage which the adults provided their Political leadership imposed on the old social organi­ youth. zation of theDako ta people has never penetrated effectively Authority vested in the kinship group was used sparingly into the local neighborhood of related families. They tend and with extreme caution because of the respect the Dakotas to regard it with suspicion. Observing superficiallythe kind held for the autonomous responsibility of each individual. of political chicanery occasionally publicized in national The ideal expression of the Dakota attitude toward respon­ elections , they may model their own tribal politics after sibility was: "The Dakota were responsible for all things, the worst examples ofundemocratic practice. They have a "knowing" attitude--a cynical belief that anyone running for election to the tribal council cannot be trusted. Thus this dubious honor should be passed around in order that everyone might have the opportunity to benefitdirectly or 7 1Malan, The Dakota Indian Family, pp. 40 -56 . indirectly from the financial rewards seemingly duly 7 2 Hurt, op. cit. , p. 20 . accorded to those serving on the council. The cases of 3 corruption and dishonesty of council members and of �is - 7 Charles E. Deland, Rambles in Realms, p. 125.

15 because they were at one with all things:· In one way, The federal government inaugurated a centralized this meant that all behavior had to be responsible, since system of education whereby the children were taken from its effect always went beyond the individual. In another their homes and placed in boardingJ>chools where they were way. it meant that an individual had to, was responsible to, virtual prisoners and which hired special, euphemistically­ increase, intensify, spread, recognize, experience this designated, "disciplinarians" whose main duty was to thump relationship. To grow in manliness, in humanness, in recalcitrant Indian boys and girls into submission.77 The holiness, meant to plunge purposively deeper into the intention was to convert the semi-civilized, Dakota- relatedness of all things. A Dakotanever,!_ssumed respon­ speaking, family-centered youth into an independent , sibility, because responsibility was had, was there always. English-speaking, sophisticate. Methods in the boarding Where we would say that a man assumed a new responsi­ school were antagonistic to the family socialization and bility. theywould consider that, in such a situation, a man came into conflict with the home. 7 8 made an autonomous decision to carry out this particular The basic education problem -how to increase the had responsibility, or to act responsibly. For the Dakota, educational opportunity and achievement while retaining to be was to be responsible; because to be was to be related; the security of Dakota familylife-has still n ot been solved. and to be related meant to be responsible.74 Itdoes not seem logical toseparatechildrenfrom an affec­ In addition to the power of the parental generation to tionate family group to attend school, if one of the pur­ control their children in the kinship group the males tended poses of the education is to encourage the cooperation of to have authority over the females . This was based pri­ the school and the home in thesocialization process. Fur­ marily on the higher honor which the male couldobtain in thermore, the functionaries of theschools, the principles his difficult roles as hunter and fighter. The female roles and the teachers, are frequently minor bureaucrats com­ were just as essential, but they were secondary, since they pletelyout oftouch with thefamily-centered communities supported and encouraged the more essential functio:is­ from which their pupilscome . providing food and security. It seems unlikely that this The whole bureaucratic structure of the Bureau of In­ male authority was used without caution, and there are dian Affairs and theassoc iated agencies, Public Health enough recorded cases of heroic acts perfo:med by women Service, CooperativeExtension Service, and State Welfare to indicate that they were never completelydominated by Deparnnent, throughtheir rules andregulations exercisea themen. As in any society with a preliterate division of degree of control over the lives of theD akota people that labor, the influence of women maybe more effectivethan cannotbe precisely estimated. Bureaucratic authority em­ evident. bodied in institutional norms is subtle, but pervasive, and The control oftheir leaders over the Dakota was never is mostrestrictive when it is least understood. The people _ arbitrary and certainly never tyrannical, and as long as th�.}' on the reservations have not had the experience necessary were equitably selected by the kinship groups, they repre­ to learn all the techniques of avoiding or manipulating the sented the will of their family group. Theproblem of di­ more unwieldy bureaucratic structures, and without gui- vided loyalty and questionable authority occurred only after the selection of chiefs was appropriated by the government­ appointed agents who wanted weak or flexible leaders that they could control rather thanthe more effective and vigor­ ous men that were accepted by the people.7 5 The control 74Lee, op. cit. , p. 61. of the agents of the government was arbitrarily established 7 5 Hyde, A Sioux Chronicle, pp . 229-30. by military force after the final resistance of the tribes had 7 been subdued earlyduringthereservationperiod. They were 6 Isaac Heard, History of the Sioux War and Massacres of able to enforce the most oppressive and coercive system 1862 and 1863 , pp. 33 -34. of bureaucratic control on the Indians that has ever been 77 Hyde, A Sioux Chronicle, p. 57. known in the United States under the guise of enforced assimilation. This control was associated with an unin­ 7 8 South Dakota Planning Board, Indians of South Dakota, telligent paternalism which completely destroyed the in ­ p. 80. "Thewhite man's education conflictedev erywhere itiative of the Indian people. with traditional Indian culture; school life was so different The traders, working in conjunction with the agents fromIndia n home life thatthe two could seldom be recon­ to whom they were indebted for their license were, during ciled. When the Indian child had completed his course of the early reservation period, instrumental in subjugating education, he usually found himself a misfit in his own the Dakotas and enhancing thecontrol of the government. home, yet unable to take a place in thewhite civilization. By reason of their facility with the language and marriage The only course of adaptation open to him, in many cases , into the tribe, they could easily gain acceptance, and was to renounce the Indian school education and to return acting as interpreters, they used their influence to get the to his former wayof living. 'I'h.e successoftheold boarding Dakotas to sell their land and in anticipation of the money schools was measured by the records of the children who which would be forthcoming from the government in pay­ never went home after leaving school and thefailure of 6 ment, sold goods to the Indians on credit . 7 those who went "back to theblanket. "

16 dance from Extension or welfare personnel are frequently to restrict the issue of rations necessary forsu rvival in the 2 confounded by thecomplexities of a system about which early reservation era. 1 Despite all their efforts to give few non-Indians would claim to have workable knowledge. assistance and programs to improve the economic welfare It is not possible to explore here the historicalreasons for the of the Indians, government policy has unintentionally present relationship between the Bureau of Indian Affairs evolved into sanction of threatened pauperization. Their and the Dakota tribes, but the story has never been a pro­ protestations to the contrary and their feeble attempts to fitable experience forthe tribes.79 raise the level of income belie their purposeful or malicious Legal institutions are likewise complicated by a variety use of this threat, but nonetheless it has been used more of federal, state, and local agencies with overlapping or successfullythan any other technique to keep the reservation disputed jurisdictions enforcing outmoded and inappro­ people under control and force their assimilation. Pauperi­ priate laws in courts that are either ill-prepared, indif­ zation is only an efficient sanction in demanding surface ferent, or discriminatory.80 The tribal government makes conformity, because it does not suike at the root of the decisions which control large areas of civil and criminal problem. As long as they are faced with possible starvation, law and the tribal courts may deal with "questions of tri­ the Dakotas will cowtow and scheme to "beg, borrow, or bal membership, property, taxation, the conservation, steal" enough money from the Bureau to survive, but they development and use of tribal resources. social welfare, will likewise resent every concession they are forced to domestic relations, health, housing. inheritance, and the make to those who dispense the "filthy lucre," and vow in 8 form of tribal govemment." 1 The federal government , their hearts and minds not to let their "left hand know what through the Bureau of Indian Affairs and the federal law their right hand is doing:· They extend their right hand to enforcement agencies, controls most other areas of civil receive the handout while their left hand is engaged in and criminal jurisdiction, except for some doubtful or sharing the spoils with their kinship group. state-appropriated areas where jurisdictional problems are Rec en ti y the government policy of mediated land sales overwhelming. Finan y, all these control agencies impinge has continued this process of pauperization. Supervised sales upon the individual Indians at innumerable places, any may of land are not entered into by the Indian people by "free differ from one place to another, and place him in the consent" when they need the money desperately to meet most legally unfavorable, but lawyer-favored, position of their material needs forsu rvival. They are virtually co erced any minority group. by economic pressure and a policy which regards consent "insjdious" to give up their only capital resource in ex­ 8 3 Sanctions: Informal group sanctions, such as shaming , change fora fewmonths of adequate foodsupplie s. When weremost effectively used in the traditional Dakota culture the money is spent, the alternatives are relief, deprivation , to guarantee conformity to the folkways and mores. The or migration. It could be readily anticipated that a relo­ satirical sanction was essential to indicate disapproval of cation program of assisted migration would be attempted, the unacceptable behavior of children and youth. As pre­ and that it would not be successful in these cases in which viously mentioned, the early child-training experiences , economic sanctions have been utilized to encourage while permissive, were thorough and indoctrinated the child migration. with the ways of the Dakota people. Other informal con­ trols were evident in adult life and served as an example to the children . There were positive group sanctions, such as occurred in the public commendations and recitals of meritorious deeds beforethe congregated kinship groups, and there were also negative sanctions, such as gossip, which in intimate, primary group relationships, was a 79George D. Harmon, SLxty Years of Indian Affairs, gives means of conveying the social offense "from mouth to a review of the overall problem, pp. 361-36 7. myth," and could turn the offender from a minister into a 80The bibliography material discussing the legal problems mouse, a louse, or a lout. In extreme cases , if the crime of the Indians is immense . The best summary is Felix S. against the group was a violationofthemostsacred mores, Cohen, Handbookof Federa] Indian Law. For other sources the sanction of banishment might even be invoked and see the Harvard Law Record, "Bibliography on American unless some other kinship group would succor the criminal, Indian Affairs." exiJe was equivalent to death or even worse. These early group sanctions have not entirely dis­ 8 1 Theodore H. Haas, "The Legal Aspects of Indian Affairs appeared from the Dakota reservations, but their effec­ from 1887 to 1957," !he _A nn��· 311 (May, 1957) p. 20. tiveness in controlling individual behavior has markedly 8 2 See J. B. M cGillycud y, c declined. To say that conflictwith the more formalbu reau­ d �l �_!!!l:£':!.�t.-��· pp. 167-168. cratic sanctions has not worked tothe advantageof the tra­ ditional culture patterns would be a ridiculous understate­ 8 3 William Zimmerman, Jr. , "The Role of the Bureau of ment . Even the best of the early government functionaries Indian Affairs Since 1933 ," The Annal� 311 (May, 1957) were not adverse to enforcing their decisions by threatening p. 3 2.

17 Facilities: The available land and reservation re- The contemporary situation is colored by its historical sources, skills and handicrafts, employment, educational antecedants and is characterized by a retention of a few and recreational facilities, housing and equipment elements of traditional culture, some elements been described other studies. of American culture, and in there is no no rule, Summary and Implications: In their aboriginal con­ behavior. This normlessness has resulted from the rapid dition the Dakota Indians had achieved a measure of adap- collapse of traditional culture values . There has not been tation to geographical conditions was founded time new norms learned the The the concept "unity with nature:• kinship Dako tas have been reduced to a and other institutions were suffused with this essen- apathy , worthlessness , rampant tial elementof oneness and thus in everyphase ofthesocial social ills which run the gamut of known deviations . Dakota system there was a quality of meaning and morale that society is "neither fish, nor fowl" ; the direction of accult- molded the of the individual into social whole. uration been and in and was "a life that worked," an interdependent social values have a concerted effortto generate interrelated of social rights and responsibilities, any movement which might to revitalize the a pattern of behavior satisfying to the needs of each tribal reservation communities . member . In the future the story of the Dakotas needs revision , During early reservation period government is still late to a happy policy of assimilation was a gross failure. If the history these brave When was replaced the New policy that cannot made in 1934, it is a fair question whether the over - coercively, and that the goal should be to provide the Da­ all Indian problem was any nearer solution kotas with means of adapting themselves to the larger so- than was in 1887. From the economic point a minimum of and social of the Indians a pauperized people. of democratic "freedom of choice" The education which younger Indians had which be bolstered by received had made them marginal individuals increased opportunity to achieve any of these ends which not yet ready to take their place in the white they deem desirable. It is their fervent hope that a new American world unsettled Indian social system can peaceably and harmoniously created life. The health the Indians sub - which provide their normal although improved to- social, ward the latter part of this period. This policy failed in part because it attempted the forced acculturation of one cultural group another, procedure social science now knows cannot be It is least surprising that such a policy should have failed when applied to the Indians, whose cultures were more markedly from les F. Marden, Minorities American So :::ietv, white American than in 84char ------�------____ ...... any minority. p.

18