The American Indian Culture

"I have this one suggestion to offer to us as we go forward, lodge by lodge, in strengthening our relationship with the American Indian and his lore and tradition. It is that we deepen our interest."

- E. Urner Goodman: Co-Founder of the Order of the Arrow

Introduction

I would like to take the time at the beginning to thank Wally Ripplinger for this packet.

This packet wasn't his idea, no; I have many youth in our Lodge to thank for that. But he was indirectly responsible for it. You see there's a story many of you don't know about how this whole project came into existence, and I have Wally to thank for this.

For those of you who don't know what a Sweat Lodge is or have never heard of one, the closest explanation that I can think of is that it is a Native American Church. It is a ceremony that takes place in a low, round blanket or hide covered lodge. A fire is outside, to heat the stones. In the middle of the lodge are hot stones that have water thrown on them at certain times. The idea is that you cleanse yourself physically from the steam and cleanse yourself spiritually from your prayers and the prayers of others. Stories are told, songs are sung, and prayers said silently or out loud. It is a wonderful combination that has a very relaxed feeling and I always feel fortunate whenever someone within the American Indian community invites me to attend one. I happened to attend one a week before the Lodge Indian Training presentation in 2003. At that sweat I had expressed some reservations about this training, mostly because it was a new training concept with very few people registered. I didn't know if I was going to make enough of an impact on the audience I wanted to speak to the most, the youth of our Lodge. Shortly after I said this prayer, Wally spoke up and told me that he felt I needed to be at this training, that he believed that there was something positive that could be accomplished from it, despite my misgivings.

A week later, at the end of the American Indian Training open forum, the youth in attendance, with a very clear and nearly unanimous voice, asked for more specific information on various aspects of the American Indian culture and crafts. I can still remember the one youth in the back row who asked, "Would it be possible for you to write this down for us?" It is from that simple question that the idea for this project was born.

It's taken much more time than I anticipated to finish this, and I'd do it all again in a heartbeat if only to prove one very important point. There is no better resource for any American Indian project than an American Indian. If I could do it, not once, but several times for every chapter, than you certainly can too. If we as Boy Scouts are going to copy the American Indian Culture, then we should at least take the time to learn more about how we can do it correctly, respectfully, in ways that won't offend anybody; especially American Indians. I've tried in every chapter to list many different resources to help anyone reading this get new ideas and different perspectives. The more you learn, the more you may discover the same passion for learning about the local American Indian culture, and hopefully even participating in, that I have had since I was a youth in Scouting.

There's no test, quiz, or loud grandstanding with words like, "YOU WILL DO THIS!!" On the contrary, I hope that you sit back, relax, and enjoy yourself. I certainly enjoyed writing this.

I still wonder if Wally had any idea where all of this was going.

Contents

Cover Page: Photo Insert, L-R; Sean Gibson, David Larson (See Chapter 5), and Jason Van Buren – 2002 NOAC Fancy Dance finalist in Outfit design and dancing.

Introduction

Contents

Special thanks to:

Chapter 1: A Brief History of Indians in Minnesota................................................. 1

Part 1: Indian Tribes in Minnesota

An Overview of Indian Tribes in Minnesota................................................. 1

Anishinaabe Reservations............................................................................... 2

Dakota Communities...................................................................................... 2

Map of Minnesota's Reservations and Communities.................................... 3

Part 2: A Brief Description of each Reservation

Bois Forte ................................................................................................ 4

Fond Du Lac............................................................................................. 5

Grand Portage .......................................................................................... 6

Leech Lake................................................................................................ 7

Lower Sioux.............................................................................................. 8

Mille Lacs................................................................................................. 9

Prairie Island........................................................................................... 10

Red Lake ................................................................................................ 11

Shakopee Mdewakanton........................................................................ 12

Upper Sioux............................................................................................ 13

White Earth............................................................................................. 14

Recommended Reading................................................................................... 15

Internet Resources.......................................................................................... 16

Chapter 2: The Modern American Indian Powwow................................................. 17

Powwow Etiquette....................................................................................... 18

Types of Powwow Dances.......................................................................... 19

Drum Basics with Brian Freeman

Song Structure.......................................................................................... 20

Types of Songs and their Purpose.......................................................... 21

American Indian MP3 Internet Resource................................................ 22

Chapter 3: Modern Powwow Dance Styles............................................................... 23

Outfit Color Choices.................................................................................... 24

Chapter 3-1: Modern Traditional Dance with Wally Ripplinger

Traditional Dance Outfits........................................................................ 25

Outfit Overview...................................................................................... 26

Outfit Part Descriptions.................................................................. 27 - 30

Chapter 3-2: Grass Dance

Grass Dance History and Legend............................................................ 31

Outfit Overview...................................................................................... 32

Outfit Part Descriptions.................................................................... 33-34

Chapter 3-3: Fancy Dance

Fancy Dance history and origins............................................................. 35

Outfit Overview...................................................................................... 36

Outfit Part Descriptions.................................................................... 37-40

Recommended Books and Videos................................................................. 41

Chapter 4: The Projects ............................................................................................. 42

Chapter 4-1: "Buckskin shirts" with John Kranitz

Part 1: Preparing the deer skin................................................................. 43

Part 2: Shirt assembly........................................................................ 45-49

Book and Vendor Recommendations....................................................... 50

Chapter 4-2: "Ribbon Shirts" with Dr Colleen Kahn

Dance and Ribbon shirt history, 1800's to present................................ 51

Modern ribbon shirt pattern.................................................................... 53

1800's ribbon shirt pattern...................................................................... 54

Fabric Cutting Instructions...................................................................... 55

Sewing Instructions............................................................................ 56-61

Sewing terms and definitions................................................................... 62

Chapter 4-3: "Setting up a Tipi" with Steve Young

Tipi Basics............................................................................................... 63

The Canvas: Storage, transport, and terms.............................................. 64

The Poles: Storage and transport............................................................. 65

Setting up a Tipi................................................................................. 66-70

Book and video recommendations........................................................... 70

Chapter 5: The Interviews.......................................................................................... 71

David Larson................................................................................................ 73

Wally Ripplinger.......................................................................................... 78

Native American Drum "Oyate Ota"........................................................... 83

Valerie Larson............................................................................................... 94

Appendix A: NOAC Indian Activities Dance Judging sheets................................. 96

NOAC Grass Dance Judging Sheet.............................................................. 97

NOAC Old Style Dance Judging Sheet........................................................ 98

NOAC Traditional Dance Judging Sheet...................................................... 99

NOAC Fancy Dance Judging Sheet............................................................ 100

NOAC Straight Dance Judging Sheet......................................................... 101

Appendix B: Vendor Recommendations.................................................................. 102

Appendix C: How to meet an American Indian...................................................... 103

Tell me what you think!

As the reader of this book, you are the most important critic. Everything presented here has come from many of the questions and comments compiled from Scouters during the past year. (2004) As such, I value opinions about what was done right, what could have been done better, or what more you would like to see.

Please feel free to e-mail or snail-mail me directly to let me know what you did or didn't like about this book – as well what could be done to make it stronger.

I am not now, nor will I ever claim to be, an expert with all of the crafts or topics related to the American Indian Culture. I have attempted my share of them, however and will try to do my best to help you with any technical questions that you might have. There are also a large number of book recommendations referenced throughout this book that should be of some help to you with this.

E-mail: sgibby@excite.com

Snail-mail: Sean Gibson

11325 President Dr. NE

Blaine, MN. 55434

I would like to give Special Thanks To:

· Sue Ketel and Loren Meinke: for their patience, encouragement, and willingness to make this project a reality.

· Janna Beard and Pam Freeman: Your editing work and suggestions have my unyielding gratitude.

· Ojibwe Theresa Drift for her help with name spellings and Indian history.

· Dave Royer for all of the technical expertise and copyright advice.

· And the youth of Tonkawampus Lodge whose thirst for knowledge made the whole concept of this project possible.

Except where noted, Copyright© 2004 Sean Gibson. Some Rights Reserved.

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons
Attribution-NoDerivs-NonCommercial License. To view a copy of this license,
visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd-nc/1.0/ or send a letter to
Creative Commons, 559 Nathan Abbott Way, Stanford, California 94305, USA.

November 2004 Second Revision

Introduction••Table of Contents••Tell me what you think!••Chapter 1 History••Chapter 2 Etiquette••Chapter 2 Dances••Chapter 2 Songs••Chapter 3 Outfits••Chapter 4-1 Projects••Chapter 4-2 Ribbon Shirts••Chapter 4-3 Tipi Basics••Chapter 5 Interviews••Chapter 5 Dave Larson••Chapter 5 Wally Ripplinger••Chapter 5 Oyate Ota••Chapter 5 Valerie Larson••Appendices