The Law and The Hoop

This morning we heard from an elder who has actaully taken a case against the government (US vs Big Crow) and won. He discussed a wide variety of policy problems, from the small (if a person starts taking classes at the college, they lose their unemployment money) to the large (the land in the Black Hills belongs to the Indians). He articulated, in my mind, an outdated view that looked at money as a fixed quantity and that the fight was not for money creation, but money division. (Side note: Larry, the pastor here, pointed out that even the different Souix tribes in SD have to fight for resources from the state). A certain cynicism filtered his thoughts; but then again, he was falsely accused of embezzlement by the Government. Perhaps the most humbling comment he made was when he talked about filing for unemployment and his need for signatures to show he was looking for a job. He quickly pointed out how few places offered employment on this reservation: schools, the hospital, government offices and a handful of businesses.

This afternoon we saw a hoop dancer at the local elemenary school. A hoop danced dances with leatherly hola-hoops. It was pretty good dancing and some pretty good acrobatics. He also had taught the kids some of the dances and that was neat to see. However, most interesting was his teaching of Indian culture. He asked the kids if they had done their assignment: to show their friends the circle on the horizon, the line where father sky meets mother earth. He offered that we needed both the masculine and feminine energy. At one point he told the kids to get into a half-moon (as opposed to a half-circle). He later commented during a game with the kids that people had abused mother earth, polluting her and mistreating her children, but that, during this game, if they stayed very close to her, they would be safe. It was odd to hear such talk because this was not some tree-hugger or naturalist or romantist, but someone articulating the beliefs of their culture.