A Sense of Community: Learning, Culture, and Leadership

Childhood Education, Spring 2004 by Maldonado, Nancy S, Winick, Mariann P

The ability to construct communities is inherent to human development. Whether we are creating communities of learning, culture, or leadership, we need clear, shared values, goals, and rules to make a community function. Each generation is heir to the values, rules, and goals that have been created, honed, and practiced over the years in their communities. The videos reviewed here are directed to two different audiences: students and school staff. What is common to both is the need for community, the value of time in the development of knowledge, the enormity of the learning experience, and the hard work and perseverance involved in developing resilient communities.

Sioux Community

The following films present the legends, practices, remembrances, and traditions of the Sioux Culture of the Northern Plains Indians. Although these films are educational, educators should exercise some caution, because of some graphic content and some nudity. Therefore, these films are only recommended for upper middle school and high school curricula.

TAHTONKA: The Plains Indians and Their Buffalo Culture. 1973, 27 minutes, $31.95.

This short video presents viewers with over 300 years of Sioux history. The Sioux cultural infrastructure is largely based on the buffalo (tahtonka). In 1820, 40 million buffalo roamed the United States, giving the Sioux an abundant resource for food and clothing, and a pervasive influence on art, dance, and music. Narrator Ben Black Elk, Sioux elder and Holy Man, helps viewers learn about the symbiotic relationship between the Sioux and the buffalo through actual footage of various practices. The footage shows cultural practices done in the same manner as they were 300 years ago. The depiction of certain age-old traditions-men hunting buffalo and painting animal hides, and women mashing black berries and making jerky-sheds light on the values, roles, and responsibility of the Sioux community. The buffalo hunt was a seasonal event conducted for the purposes of nourishment and warmth, not for sport; it required maturity and skill. The film also features the traditional Mandan buffalo dance, and relates the history of this Native American nation, including the massacre at Wounded Knee. Some of the scenes are graphic (e.g., the hunting of a buffalo and eating of its heart). Despite a graininess in film quality, this video is valuable in its authentic view of the traits, characteristics, and practices of this vibrant community.

Extensions: Due to its graphic content, this film is only recommended for children in the 6th to 12th grades. This film can provide an exciting indepth history of the Sioux culture as well as a perspective on the life and culture of the Sioux nation before colonialism. Teachers and students can extrapolate the information to develop a research unit on the Sioux nation and culture and its place in American history.

NAUMAN FILMS, INC. Box 232, Custer, South Dakota.

LAKOTA QUILL WORK-Art and Legend: A Story of Sioux Porcupine Quilling, Past and Present. 1990, 27 minutes, $31.95.

Viewers will learn about porcupine quilling, a Lakota tradition still practiced by the women of the community. Quilling is considered to be the highest form of all of the crafts pursued by Lakota women. The filmmakers show a past and present view of Lakota women working on intricate designs using quills. Two communities are represented: the present community on the reservation, and a reenactment of life in the early Lakota community. Modern-day Lakota women, on the Pine Ridge Reservation of South Dakota, are shown using the techniques handed down for generations to make robes, baby carriers, headdresses, etc. Viewers can see the entire, complex six-step process, from hunting for the porcupines to dyeing the quills and weaving them into various articles of clothing and goods. Again, nothing is wasted; the entire porcupine (from hair to quills) is used for both utilitarian and artistic purposes.

Extensions: This is an excellent resource for study of native cultural arts and community needs. This video would fit very well in a number of discipline areas, from the arts and crafts of native people, to economics past and present, to the role and contributions of women to culture. It is also a good example for the lesson of "waste not, want not."

Sun Dog Films, Box 232, Caster, South Dakota.

LIVE AND REMEMBER (WO KIKSUYE). 1987, 30 minutes, $29.95.

This film provides a behind-the-scenes look at several of the ancient religious rituals and cultural practices of the Sioux community. Filmed on Rosebud Reservation, South Dakota, this video informs viewers about the Sweat Ceremony, harmony with nature, family traditions, etc. Storytelling and sharing is the format for this documentary on how Sioux traditions have been maintained and how they have been influenced by modern-day society. Several members of the Sioux culture are interviewed. They voice their experiences as medicine men and as witnesses to the merger of Sioux culture and contemporary life. They also discuss the importance of the ancient oral tradition of Sioux elders relating the people's history to children, and explaining the spirituality present in all life's activities. Members of the Sioux community share their traditions and practices, making this film truly worthwhile.