I have a "newbie question" that has got me stumped

[Deleted]

Does anyone understand why the work of James Riley Walker would not be included in the New Lakota Dictionary. When I wrote my Amazon review bringing up the subject I was given the cold shoulder. Is there something obvious I'm missing here?

[witkola]

Could you provide a link to your review?

[Deleted]

It's not pretty, but, warts and all, here it is. I could have answered what I considered to be an evasion by pointing out that without James Riley Walker we might not have the works of George Sword and Thomas Tyon, but I despaired of trying to "prove my point" in the face of such resistance.

In rebuttal, I can only quote the words of George Sword as quoted by James Riley Walker, "I cannot speak English, but I understand it so that I know when it is interpreted wrong. I have learned to write in Lakota, but I write as the old Lakota spoke when they spoke in a formal manner. The young Oglalas do not understand a formal talk by an old Lakota because the white people have changed the Lakota language, and the young people speak it as the white people have written it. I will write of the old customs and ceremonies for you. I will write that which all the people knew. [...] the Gods of the Oglala would be more pleased if the holy men told of them so that they might be kept in remembrance and all the world might know of them."

www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R35C677ZOMJAL0/ref=cm_cr_getr_d_rvw_ttl?ie=UTF8&ASIN=0976108291

[Deleted]

It was good when the Indians did not know the ways of the white man. It made the Indians like one family. Bad Indians could not become Hunka. It was not the white man’s way of teaching. Sometimes many Indians camped together to perform the ceremony. Then there were good times. This was usually in the summer time. The winter was not a good time for the ceremony, because food was not plenty during the winter. When many Indians gathered together for the ceremony, the old men counseled and the young men played games. The women provided plenty to eat. The children were happy and were never hungry. The young people made lover. Many sought a vision, and talked with the spirits. The good spirits attended such gatherings. The bad spirits also come. The Lakotas here practiced this ceremony for many years. It was not always the same. The shamans first learned how to perform it right. These shamans became Oglalas. The other Lakota learned how to perform it from the Oglalas. Other Indians are Hunkas, but they are not full Hunkas like the Oglalas. The young people do not become Hunka now. It is of no use to them. The old people do not pay attention to the Hunka now. The Hunka are not what they were in old times. Some old Indians could perform the ceremony right. An old Indian who wears the gee string and leggings could perform it. He might be afraid to talk like the Indians did before they lived on a reservation. It would not be right to teach the young Indians what was taught to the Hunka in old times. There are some secret things taught to a Hunka. These secrets are not good now. They are not about the spirits. The spirits will not come now. These are the spirits of the skies of the Earth, of the clouds, of the Thunder, of the land of pines, of the coming light of the sunset of the south, of the winds, of the waters, of flying things, of the beasts, of the insects, and of the spider. There are bad spirits also. There are ghosts and the man from the land of the pines. One spirit is stronger than another. One spirit is chief, and can influence all other spirits. These spirits come no more to the Indians of the reservation. It involved things that would not be allowed now. The Oglala did not think these things were wrong, but the white people do. For example a Hunka was taught how to steal horses and steal women from other Indians than Lakota.
-- Blue Horse

[Deleted]

From the words of Blue Horse I take it that the "common people" of the Lakota were not well versed in the secrets of the shaman and actually knew very little about their secrets. It's of little wonder to me that Vine Deloria could not find informants who knew of the old ways. All the people who knew those ways were either dead or too afraid of repercussions from the wasicu to tell of them.

[Deleted]

Looking again at "Lakota Belief and Ritual" I notice that, in addition to informants George Sword and Thomas Tyon, Lakota luminaries Little Wound, American Horse, Lone Star, Good Seat, Bad Wound, No Flesh, William Garnett, Thunder Bear, John Blunt Horn, Finger, Ringing Shield, Short Feather, Red Cloud, Meat, Seven Rabbits, Red Rabbit, Lone Bear, Old Horse, Red Hawk, Short Bull, Bad Heart Bull, Blue Horse, and Rocky Bear were contributors. Now why in the world would these men allow their stories to be told by James Riley Walker if he had no credibility among them? It passes understanding why his memory is besmirched by those who should revere him for his contribution. I remain baffled by this hostile attitude and the refusal of those involved in the New Lakota Dictionary to recognize his importance to the retention of Lakota language and culture.

[Deleted]

Document 2. Instructing Walker as a Medicine Man. Little Wound, American Horse, and Lone Star, September 12, 1896 (Antoine Herman, interpreter). "We will tell you of the ceremonies as if you were an Oglala who wished to take your part in them. We will not tell you of the parts of them that the shamans do secretly."

Document 13. The Secret Knowledge of Shamans. George Sword, Bad Wound, No Flesh, and Thomas Tyon, July 2-3. 1905 (Thomas Tyon, interpreter). "We will tell you of things that were known only to shamans."

[Deleted]

Careful inspection of "War Insignia" figures created by Thunder Bear in 1912 demonstrate the syllabic nature of the original Lakota language as described by George Sword.

books.google.com/books?id=PYwV956P_UgC&pg=PA226-IA5&lpg=PA226-IA5&dq=war+insignia+no.+3+thunder+bear+1912&source=bl&ots=1KxGXg2Ehx&sig=2FKqDEgb5iODzesFrfz70cB-_9k&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiDmvu2yb_SAhUN4GMKHWuhASUQ6AEIGjAA#v=onepage&q=war%20insignia%20no.%203%20thunder%20bear%201912&f=false

George Sword [...] insisted a great change had come over the Lakota language since it had been reduced to writing [...] Sword felt that as the language was formerly spoken – and as it was still spoken in ceremonies and formal speeches – each syllable was a distinct unit of meaning. Sequences of syllables [...] accepted as equivalents for English words were really phrases, according to Sword. But the younger Oglalas had come to accept the newer view and the language had changed to the extent that younger men could no longer understand the old formal speech.
-- Raymond DeMallie