Native American story shields often depicted tribal legends or related tales of the owner's life. Because they were largely symbolic, however, they were not used during actual warfare.

Hope for the Hopeless

Ghost dances were group religious ceremonies. Participants would work themselves into a trance-like state through the repetition of chants. Their purpose was to unify and encourage the suffering tribes, but the Ghost Dances were very scary to white settlers who misunderstood and thought that the Native Americans were calling on evil spirits to enter their bodies.

Trance-inducing dances and rhyming verse to accompany them spread through the reservation communities. The Sioux, who were struggling mightily to survive, were uplifted by the supernatural suggestions of the chants:

Mourning Dove's Cogewea, The Half-Blood was one of the first novels written by a Native American.

The whole world is coming
A nation is coming, a nation is coming,
The Eagle has brought the message to the tribe,
The father says so, the father says so.
Over the whole earth, they are coming.
The buffalo are coming, the buffalo are coming.
The Crow has brought the message to the tribe,
The father says so, the father says so.

Keepers of Tradition

The Dream Catcher, which is now relatively well-recognized, has its origins in Native American culture.

Gertrude Bonin (Red Bird) provided an important link between the oral literature of Native America and the written tradition of white culture. Born only half Indian, she found that after attending white schools, she struggled to fit into either culture. Around 1900 she began writing for the most prominent literary magazine, The Atlantic Monthly, committed as she was to building a bridge over the gulf between the cultures. Author of two short story collections and her autobiography, Impressions of an Indian Childhood, Red Bird was the first Sioux woman to write without interpreter or editor.

"Mourning Dove" is the pen name of Christine Quintasket, the first Native American novelist. Born in 1888, she witnessed the last buffalo round-up in 1908 on which she based her novel, Cogewea:The Half-Blood. Later, aided by Indian activists, she got her book published and collected tribal lore for her fine collection of Coyote Stories.

Leadership

Gertrude Simmons Bonnin, or Zitkala Sha, was an author and a strong political voice for Native Americans in the early 1900s.

Thirty miles from safety, faced with starvation, disease, and exhaustion, Chief Joseph finally surrendered and uttered the famous words, "I am tired; my heart is sick and sad. From where the sun sets, I will fight no more." He spoke eloquently. His speeches, as he testified in Washington D.C., are preserved in the oral tradition of a proud people, obviously disillusioned by their inhumane treatment. "Words do not pay for my dead people. They do not pay for my country."

In the 1930s, a poet named Neihart set out to write an epic about the history of the American West.

On the Ogala Sioux reservation, he found Black Elk, who had witnessed both the Ghost Dance movement and the massacre at Wounded Knee. Neihart wrote down their conversations as Black Elk shared the culture and religious beliefs of Plains Indians, using his own life and visions as guidelines. Black Elk Speaks is a book that has found prominence as it has gained readers — not only whites seeking knowledge of Native Americans but also by young Indians from all tribes searching for affirmation of their culture which continues to disappear under the pressures of the modern age.

When we look for "native" perspectives on the new century, we actually need to listen. Most of the tribal literature was in the oral tradition. It was later "translated" by people who probably had only a modest understanding of the various languages. It is important to know that there was not one, monolithic Native American culture, and the tribes all had distinct religions, traditions, and languages (estimates suggest 500+). Since it was not originally preserved in writing and because of language problems, the Native literature that we study and enjoy is only a representative sample.

Native Sons, Daughters, and Events Instructions: Match the elements on the left with the elements on the right. Click on the target next to an element in the left column, then drag a line to its counterpart in the right column. Correctly matched elements will turn green in color, and the line between them will stick. If the elements don't match, the line will disappear and you'll have to try again! Click Here!

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