The Historian

"White people need something written in order to believe it" waxed Leonard, a historian in the tribe who develops resources for children at an Elementary School. He was a mystic, someone wise and spiritual, someone who sees beautiful connections where others see logical gaps, but is smart enough to make you believe. He talked today us today about the Lakota before whites arrived and gave a picture of a very complex society, far more engaged in extensive commerce (even with the Aztecs) and agriculture than the simple Buffalo hunter image would offer. He also offered us a long discussion on identity, native spirituality, and the Black Hills. Perhaps the saddest thing he shared is that the Lakota custom of leaving dead bodies on scaffolds to wither had to be stopped because white people took the bodies for science. The most hopeful thing he shared was simply his attitude. In a lot of other poor communities, the hope is escape. Here the hope is in the past. Many people chose not to leave, but to better their people. That is indeed admirable.