The Lakota Way: Stories and Lessons for Living

One of the great outgrowths of doing the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge is that I have found some genres and subject matter I would not have read before, and have made them central to my reading choices. Books by indigenous writers are one of those subsets. The BR challenge coincided with my spending a couple of years living in North Dakota, and for the first time in my life bearing witness to rez life, and having the opportunity to count among my friends, colleagues and acquaintances a number of Native American people, most from one or another of the Sioux tribes. So over the last couple years I have read about a dozen books from indigenous authors, mostly from Native American writers, but a couple from Down Under as well. This year I show more am looking to expand to Canada and Central America, and then expand again beyond indigenous people to all colonized people. It has been incredibly illuminating so far and I expect this will continue to teach me about the world.

This book, The Lakota Way, was a particular joy. Marshall has distilled the most prized values of Lakota ethics/religion/life to its most bedrock tenets. For each tenet he has included a couple of folkloric stories, and personal reminiscences. Marshall concludes the book with a brief history of European efforts to destroy the Lakota, and really all the Sioux and Ojibwe people. I recently finished The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee, so the historical portions covered things mostly quite fresh in my mind, but still, the way he boiled it down to essential events was effective and illuminating. Also illuminating, the wonderful stories in this book. I find myself looking at my own life and choices differently, and I am generally not as given to self-reflection as, perhaps, I ought to be. I hate the trope of the the wise old Indian, I have no doubt there are as many foolish Native Americans as there are foolish European, or Latin, or Asian, or African Americans. Marshall though is in fact a wise old (or at least middle-aged) Indian. So wise. And a wonderful storyteller. I listened to this book, read by the author, and his storytelling made this very special for me.

I recommend this to all readers. It is a simply remarkable book. My son will be 21 in a couple weeks, but when he was younger we often read books simultaneously and then discussed them, and this would be an exceptional choice for for readers middle school and above. (Nothing inappropriate for younger readers, but there are grand concepts most kids under the age of 11 or 12 would not fully grasp.) show less

In this work Marshall shares stories he learned from his grandparents and the other elders in his life. Each chapter centers around a different virtue valued by the Lakota. The virtues addressed are: humility, perseverance, respect, honor, love, sacrifice, truth, compassion, bravery, fortitude, generosity and wisdom. Most chapters begin with a Lakota story passed down through oral tradition. Marshall ties these stories and the virtues modeled in them to modern culture and events that take place today. Marshall gives Native American historical background and tells this history from a Native American perspective.
Marshall speaks directly to the reader warmly, and sincerely - one gets the feeling that he cares deeply for and respects each show more of his readers. As he moves on to modern day application of the teaching of his elders it made me think deeply about the values in our lives and the lack of virtue that we witness on a daily basis.
As educators we often have a hard time teaching morals and values because they so often are tied to religion. I appreciate the opportunity to address these issues with students without having to refer to biblical teachings. The way the stories are related to modern day events would makes the stories relevant to today's students. show less

This is a very well done book. The author identifies different, important virtues, and then tells a Lakota tale that exemplifies said virtue. The stories are well told and entertaining as well as poignant. Following each story is an exposition about the story and the virtue which is, again, well done.

The stories told are then followed by a short history of the westward expansion of european settlers and the US government from the Native American perspective. The history is very short and general, but it does show how the virtues talked about in the main body have been maintained and displayed by the Lakota. In addition, by showing how the Lakota have held onto these virtues, it shows how they have been able to claim some cultural show more victories in the face of adversity. show less

The wide variety of stories in this collection is its greatest strength. Marshall's tone is also appealing.

traditional virtues illustrated by tales

Wonderful

Six classic Lakota stories, as passed on by the author (and read by the author).