Ivan F. Star Comes Out
Why should we learn about traditional government?
By Ivan F. Star Comes Out I have been hearing an occasional word or two among a small percentage of our young people regarding traditional government. These few seem convinced that it is useless to learn about traditional government. They seem to believe that we can never again retrieve our ancient tiospaye system. Although these conversations are a small sampling, it is a mistake to trivialize or to ignore them. Their chats may have been casual but I believe they are speaking of reality also. Initially, I was troubled by it but after giving it some thought, I have a tendency to agree with their views. It is a new development but it has a good potential to grow. I, for one, am only capable of stating my personal assessment on the subject of traditional government. Nearly 100 years have elapsed since the system was last employed. Ideally, our schools should have been teaching it to our youth along with the “English education” as stated in the 1868 treaty. Instead the government schools suppressed it along with Lakota language and culture. Simply said, our traditional system of government was never formally taught to anyone living today. This was the federal government’s efficiency at suppressing an ancient but efficient and very ethical governance method. One must always keep in mind the fact that our ancestors did not need jails to keep order in a tiospaye and the nation. Children learned this centuries-old perspective of life as soon as they were born and since they owned it, they had unlimited respect for it. Realistically though, we no longer have that knowledge base our ancestors had developed and adhered to in their time. That traditional government and the old way of life both require several ethical and/or spiritual essentials to function effectively. These crucial elements are nearly gone now even as small remnants of Lakota people continue to practice the old way of life. The other element that is required is a solid knowledge-base of how the system worked. For years I’ve watched our elders sit around a table and discuss these things amongst themselves. As a group of people we would have benefitted greatly if they had only shared their knowledge and expertise. Instead they chose to keep it to themselves. As a result, no one knows how traditional government is to work. The history of the new constitutional system of government under the congressional Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) was also suppressed. Consequently, most people today do not understand how it is to work. Sadly, many believe our salvation is in this system as we go to the polls every two years and vote for that one person who will bring about those desired changes. We have endured poverty for 80 years now and that is a reality many refuse to “see.” This IRA system was not designed and is not equipped to deal with poverty, if it were we would not be in this situation today. It is incapable of handling economics, if it did, we would not be in this situation today. I believe that system was not designed to benefit Lakota people at all. In actuality, it has benefited a small handful of tribally enrolled politicians and their families and friends. Yet, we continue to look in that direction with a distinct hope for resolution and relief. Tribal government corruption is present and has always been within this federally-sanctioned IRA system. As a result, traditional government is on the lips of many who are tired of their current living conditions. Some say it is the only way out while a small number are now talking about the futility of reviving traditional government. Imagine an airborne craft whose single engine had been barely keeping it aloft and has now petering out and is slowly beginning to descend. Those individuals and groups who have been persistently transmitting language and culture to our youth have done all that they could possibly do. This does not mean they failed. They can continue doing it but it is actually up to the youth. Their future is on their shoulders. They have the option to make a life that is worth living for or they can endure a life that is worse than our ancestor’s and ours. Anyway, for our older youth, I suggest they learn as much as possible about our time honored traditional system of government. As for future generations, the ideal situation would be to teach about the spiritual and ethical aspects of the Lakota way of life as well as our history and language. For one, the benefits of possessing accurate knowledge of traditional government far outweigh our knowledge base as it stands today. This standard also applies to the often despised IRA system. I have always believed that we could turn this oppressive system around and turn into a people’s government or a traditional system. Realistically though, we have a huge educational chasm to fill in. Another point to muse on is the fact that civilizations throughout world history have risen and fallen and the United States is not exempt from that. We experienced that rise and fall here on the North American continent. Strangely, my hope of a Lakota future is based on ancient prophesies that predict a time when the people will live again, as humans. Also, there has been considerable talk among Lakota people about the possibility of removing the IRA system. If this happens, we have to have something to fall back on. As an individual, I could not bring myself around to accept that possibility because of the lack of knowledge of traditional government among the population and because the state is right there. The Lakota tiospaye system once efficiently governed small groups and even an entire nation of people. It is not completely gone as it has survived among a small number of Lakota people. Sadly though, some of these people hold a strange reluctance to share their knowledge. Also, people are constantly at each other’s throats about the “right way.” One more thing, we must work through the politics or “road blocks” our local politicians have been instigating to keep us under the IRA. I have seen that these few do this very thing for personal and family wealth. It is common knowledge that this system is rift with government corruption. Again, I believe we can turn the system around and make it a people’s system. We have to take it away from these few. We may not be able to bring traditional government back into play at this point in time, but having knowledge of the system itself is a great benefit to a people on its last leg of life as a truly indigenous nation. Throughout the past 200 to 500 years, Native people have held on to what they could of their languages and cultures and we are responsible to learn them and to keep them alive. (Ivan F. Star Comes Out, POB 147, Oglala, SD 57764, (605) 867-2448, mato_nasula2@outlook.com) Copyright permission Native Sun News
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