By Lila DeMarrias Mehlhaff

For thousands of years, the tribal peoples of
the Great Plains have told their stories to their
childrenand to one another to preserve their language,
legends and ways. Verbal history was passed down
and became an art along the way. The people
were glad to tell of the life they had lived. They told
of the difficulties they had overcome and the joys
of their simple way of life. They knew it was how
they were created and it was good.

And then, a time came when the winds of history
began to herald a change. The people did not know
that in a short time, things would be done very
differently. The people would have to fight for
their survival and find a way to hold on to the way
of life they loved…
 
BLACK HILLS, SD — Daphne Richards-Cook,
executive director of the Alliance of Tribal Tourism
Advocates or ATTA, is smiling. As she and I
and Randy Ross, Oceti Sakowin Center for Plains
Indian Arts and Performance Project Manager sit over
a long lunch at Talley’s, the legendary Rapid City,
South Dakota café, she is talking about something
that makes her very happy. And one central theme
stands out.

“It’s time that we tell our story,” Richards-Cook says.

(Read more in the Winter 2010 Issue…)

"…we must tell our own story, about our own cultures,
using our own languages, explain in our own words
what our relationship is with the land we inhabit.”
                                                          — Tina Marie Osceola