New book, The Red Road ... Dakota Sioux by Mniyo & Goodvoice

[danmbeveridge]

The Red Road and Other Narratives of the Dakota Sioux,

by Samuel Mniyo and Robert Goodvoice,

edited by Daniel M. Beveridge


Preface

Daniel M. Beveridge


This book is like a rope made up of strands representing several voices, voices from the past.

The first voice is that of Samuel Mniyo, the major author of this book. When we first met in 1962 he told me he wanted to write a book, a book with stories about the history of the Dakota people. Some years later he said, “I want to tell the story of the Dakota people as my elders and sponsors gave it to me. This book will be for the younger generation of Dakota to look at, to learn about who they are and where they came from, and for other people who are interested.”


The second major voice is that of Robert Goodvoice, an uncle of Sam’s. Their grandparents were among those who left their homes in Minnesota and the adjacent Dakota territories after the 1862 Dakota War and settled in what is now Canada. A knowledge keeper, he recorded much Dakota oral history in the 1970s. Other voices are those of James Black (Sapa) who was a major mentor of Sam’s, and Henry Two Bear. These four men (all now deceased) were members of the Wahpeton Dakota Nation, near Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada. They represent four of the seven branches of the Dakóta Oyáte (Sioux Nation): Mdewakanton, Wahpeton, Sisseton, and Yanktonai. Another voice is my own: as editor, I see my main task as helping Sam’s wish come to be fulfilled.


My hope, and I trust that I speak also on behalf of Sam, is that these strands come together in this book in a mutually reinforcing way. I trust that these voices will reach you and speak to you, the readers, with one voice about the Red Road as understood by these Dakota people.


These narratives of Dakota oral tradition tell one story of the Dakota people starting with the distant past and moving to the twentieth century. They take us back in time seven generations in the history of the Isáŋti Dakota people, most remarkably, to the time of the great-grandfather of Robert Goodvoice’s grandfather! The central threads through this story are the Ċaŋkú Dúta (Red Road) and the Wak̇áŋ Waċípi (Holy Dance or Medicine Dance): their supernatural origin, evolution, importance in the society of the Dakota, and final days. A central feature of eastern Dakota society was the Wak̇áŋ Waċípi ceremony. It persisted much longer in Canada than in the United States and was practiced until 1921 at the Wahpeton.


This book contains several unique features: one of the only two photographs of the Wak̇áŋ Waċípi known to exist; the actual songs used in the Wak̇áŋ Waċípi at the Wahpeton in the early 1900s; a tracing of the Wak̇áŋ Waċípi song board that was used there and may have belonged to Mázamani, a Wahpeton chief and Wak̇áŋ Waċípi leader in Minnesota in the early 1800s; a participant’s account of the last ever complete Wak̇áŋ Waċípi ceremony performed, in 1934; and pictographs (drawings) from notebooks used in the Wak̇áŋ Waċípi ceremony.


Other important features include the distinct voices of the Dakota authors, presented at length, with relevant photographs; an account of the origin of the Ċaŋkú Dúta (Red Road/Red Path), the path to a good and long life, from Robert’s grandfather’s great-grandfather; an account of how the Dakota people began the Sundance; some details of the 1862 Dakota War in Minnesota; the editor’s placing these oral history narratives in the context of the relevant literature from early missionaries, anthropologists, archaeologists and others, augmenting the book’s ethnographic or ethnohistorical value; a family tree chart and notes that take us back to Sam’s great-great-grandfather and great-grandmother and show connections among the four Dakota “voices” of this book (one of Sam’s paternal great-grandfathers was the Sisseton Chief Wapáhaska (Whitecap)); and the storytellers’ extensive use of over 230 original Dakota words, names, and concepts which will support current efforts of Dakota language and culture revitalization.


Indigenous youth face more than their share of immediate challenges. The future of the Dakota language is uncertain. Similar to biological diversity, the cultural diversity of small Indigenous groups in Saskatchewan and around the world is under threat from various forms of globalization and colonization. As Indigenous people become a major demographic feature of the population of Saskatchewan, their full participation in the life of the province is crucial. My hope is that this book may be of some value in illuminating part of the history of the Dakota people and thus assisting those, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, who are seeking to understand and recover that history.


Readers are reminded that the voices in this book reflect the realities of the times, the mid-1900s, the way these Dakota men saw and spoke about their world, what they felt comfortable talking about. Much has changed since then. Some of the terminology used in the book, including quotations from other sources, no longer may be considered acceptable, but is retained for the purpose of historical accuracy.
Likewise, attitudes and awareness regarding many subjects may have changed over the decades, colonialism, traditional Indigenous beliefs, etc. Readers should not expect to find such changes reflected in this volume, where the intention is to present the voices of the narrators.


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The book may be previewed on Amazon (books Mniyo) or Google (books Mniyo). For the price of US$45 (a savings of 40%) in buying the book from the University of Nebraska Press, use promo code 6AS 20. In the United States or Canada you may order online at nebraskapress.unl.edu or call the distributor Longleaf at 1-800-848-6224. To order outside of North America call Combined Academic Publishers in the UK at [phone] and use discount code CS40UNP.