No comments about Pensioners on the Roll As of January L, 1883 (Living in Dakota Territory.

5 comments about Dakota - A Spiritual Geography.

1. Folks such as I (reared on the high plains and inclined to contemplative ways) will relish Kathleen Norris' Dakota: A Spiritual Geography (New York: Houghton Miflin Company, c. 1993), but I think the book can also nourish all Christian pilgrims. Norris is a published poet who, with her husband, left New York to settle in Lemmon, South Dakota, occupying the home of her deceased grandmother.
   Dakota tells how she settled in, finding a place for herself, a spiritual base she'd never found in the busyness and rat-race pace of New York City life. She discovered how important it is to have a geography conducive to spirituality. She learned to revere the bond between silence, "the best response to mystery" (p. 16), solitude, simplicity, prayer, listening ("the first word of Benedict's Rule), to the awakening of one's awareness to God. Indeed, "the Plains have been essential not only for my growth as a writer, they have formed me spiritually. I would even say they have made me a human being" (p. 11).
   And her writing brings us into her world, discerning transcendent truths symbolized in the rugged grandeur of western Dakota landscape. "The land and sky of the West often fill what Thoreau termed our 'need to witness our limits transgressed.' Nature, in Dakota, can indeed be an experience of the holy" (p. 1). In the openness--in fact the "emptiness"--of space on the high plains, Norris found her face to face with permanent things.
   The great Spanish philosopher, Jose Ortega y Gassett, said "Tell me the landscape in which you live, and I will tell you who you are." Dakota landscape appears stark faceless to the cavalcades cruising down the interstate highways which carry traffic across the region. People have, throughout this century, slowly deserted the area, finding it impossible to earn a living. Norris documents this process, providing portraits of pioneers' descendants who have lost the will to preserve a toehold on the "home place." The heat and cold, the thunderstorms and blizzards, make Dakota (to many) unattractive. One cannot long live there without losing humanistic, Promethean pretenses, for the elements of the Plains often overwhelm puny man!
   Yet this austere region, so "lifeless" at first glance, has the potential to enliven one's soul. Those who live there sometimes share the wisdom of a young rancher, "a third-generation Dakotan who says 'the land lives'" (p. 128). Certainly it lived for the Sioux who still hang on in various parts of Dakota. As Paula Gunn Allen said, "'What makes an Indian an Indian,' she explains, is a deep connection to the land, built over genera¬tions, 'that imbues their psychology and eventually their spirituality and makes them one with the spirit of the land'" (p. 128).
   Earlier in life, Norris had abandoned her adolescent faith when a German professor of religion, who'd studied under Bultmann, taught her Sunday school class in Hawaii. As she remembers, "I needed liturgy and a solid grounding in the practice of prayer, not a demythologizing that left me feeling starved, thinking: If this is religion, I don't belong" (p. 92). So she left and never visited a church for 20 years, living a thoroughly secularized life before returning to Dakota.
   Once there, however, she sensed a hunger for spirituality. She hungered for something of the fulfilling faith her grandmother had lived by. So she slowly involved herself in the local church, even taking on "preaching" assignments in time. "Step by step, as I made my way back to church, I began to find that many of the things modern people assume are irrelevant--the liturgical year, the liturgy of the hours, the Incarnation as an everyday reality--are in fact essential to my identity and my survival" (p. 133).
   Still more: she discovered, in Benedictine monasteries scattered throughout the Dakotas, a ancient way of life more nourishing and satisfying than the godless years of her urban past. Benedict's Rule provided cohesion for the communities, proving the durability of permanent things. Theology took on life, full of practical activities, proving its truth in personal experience. Better than most of us, monks face reality, especially the reality of death which is so evident on the plains, charting the course for pilgrims of the Absolute.
   Yet for all their devotion, their serious vocation, the monks delighted Norris with their "contemplative sense of fun" (p. 215). They fully enjoy life! As St Bernard of Clairvaux said, speaking of the monastic life, "'It is . . . a good sort of playing which is ridiculous to men, a very beautiful sight to the angels . . . it is a joyous game'" (p. 207).
   Through the Benedictines Norris discovered the riches of the Ancient Fathers, especially the Desert Fathers and Mothers who followed the example of St Anthony, who answered a question concerning his lack of reading material by saying: "'My book, O philosopher, is the nature of created things, and any time I wish to read the words of God, the book is before me'" (p. 132). In that desolate place, his biographer, St Athanasius says, "'Anthony, as though inspired by God, fell in love with the place'" (p. 132). So too Dakota provides the place which, if it's loved, affords one access to God. Indeed, "like mystics, monastic people have often been a counterweight in a religion that has often denigrated nature" (p. 184).
   Norris discovered that "A person is forced inward by the spareness of what is outward and visible in all this land and sky. The beauty of the Plains is like that of an icon; it does not give an inch to sentiment or romance. The flow of the land, with its odd twists and buttes, is like the flow of Gregorian chant that rises and falls beyond melody, beyond reason or human expectation, but perfectly" (p. 157).
   Dakota is a finely crafted literary work, full of wisdom and beauty. It stands as a witness to the incurable longing of the human heart for transcendent reality. It reveals the importance of creation in directing one's mind to ultimate truths. As Melissa Pritchard wrote, in her Chicago Tribune review, it's "a contemplative book, a book of stories, a book of prayer, a book to be read meditatively and well. It is a gift of hope and balance, a place to begin."



2. Excellent and compelling reading of place, and time. Exquistly written, for the thoughtful. I have given it as gifts and will do so again.



3. 'Dakota' was somewhat rambling but had several good nuggets of thought about how location affects our outlook. Broadens the mind to stretch now and then.



4. In Saudi Arabia there is a vast area, almost a fourth of the country, known as "The Empty Quarter," (Rub Al Khali), with perhaps a thousand permanent residents. It is the lack of good water that makes permanent inhabitation practically impossible. America has a similar region, although the conditions are not as dire. It is the area between the 100th and 105th meridian, roughly spanning a seventy-fifth of the world's circumference. Due to the lack of sufficient rainfall (less than 20 inches per year), John Wesley Powell (as well as others) said that the land should never be tilled. It was; one of the "fallouts" was the Dustbowl days of the `30's. Today, those who have not emigrated face a hard-scrabble existence, with the remaining farmers tapping deeper and deeper into the Ogallala aquifer. The area is called the High Plains, largely pancake flat, has strong winds, and unlike Saudi Arabia, particularly in the Dakotas, it can be bitter cold.
   
   Why would anyone voluntarily move there? Kathleen Norris did. She left a life in New York City, and embraced the austere bleakness that is northwest South Dakota. Many of her friends were flabbergasted at the move, and this book is largely an answer to why she did it. There are three principal subject matters: the environment, which encompasses the land and the weather; the kind of people who struggle to live there; and, as indicated by the subtitle, "a spiritual geography," dollops of philosophical musings. Norris has brief chapters entitled "Weather Report", with a given date, and generally the reports are not surprises, save, perhaps, the extremes that they can cover. Early in the book she assesses the dynamic tensions and contradictions in the people with a: "...between hospitality and insularity....between open hearts and closed minds." Later she says: "Small-town society often reminds me of the old joke about academic politics--they're so vicious because there so little at stake." And one of the sadder observations that she makes, and counterintuitive in some ways, since you would figure that it is the remote places that reading is more likely alternative: "Many teachers here also seem to give up any thought of lifelong learning... why so many adults in a town like Lemmon stop reading. More than once I've been surprised to discover that people who show no sign that they've ever read a book in their lives, are in fact former teachers, college graduates from the days when an education was said to mean something." She fleshes out these general observations with pithy vignettes involving the very real people of the town.
   
   Concerning how the inhabitants relate to the past, Norris says: "One popular form of writing on the Plains is the local history. These books reveal a great deal about the people who write them but do not often tell the true story of the region... As one old-timer told me, `people have been writing it the way they wished it had been instead of the way it was.'" But it this a "differential diagnosis" of the region's people, or a broader observation on how much of history is written?
   
   As to the philosophical musings, her erudition shines through, and her referential points bounce from Gregory of Nyssa in the 4th century to Carl Jung. Fitting for a place with `spiritual geography', she becomes involved with a nearby Benedictine monastery, and mentions the tales of Heloise and Abelard, when the "monk's face brightens, almost innocently, as he says, "It was the Benedictines who castrated him, you know.'" One might assume it was time to move on! Some of her spiritual geography might be too "new age" for some readers, but I was able to suspend some of my natural cynicism, and reflect on the impact of that "infinite horizon."
   
   So few people live in this area, and only a hand-full have Norris's knowledge and perspective, which is the real strength of this book. Particularly for those on the coasts, looking out their windows as they do indeed "fly over," this book would make their journey much more insightful.



5. This book came recommended to me during a spiritual retreat. I found it a thought provoking read in prayerfully reviewing my spiritual direction, as well as informative on small town, prairie living in a place dying, but unwilling to embrace outsiders. It also provided alot of information on the Benedictine monasteries. I took my time reading it and the book will be one I long remember.

1 comments about Honor the Grandmothers: Dakota and Lakota Women Tell Their Stories.

1. "Honoring the Grandmothers" is a slim book, barely bigger than your average sized pamphlet. Edited by Sarah Penman, a video and radio commentator living in Minnesota, the book is a collection of musings by four Dakota/Lakota grandmothers about traditional Indian knowledge and customs and how they relate to today's fast paced world. Penman captured the stories on tape over a period of years, working hard to overcome many obstacles to get the stories to us, the reader. There is little commentary on the stories; Penman allows them to speak for themselves. Two of the grandmothers have since passed away, but their words do continue to speak about maintaining dignity and culture in a world that likes to forget about the Indians and their way of life.

   Celane Not Help Him is the first speaker presented in the book. Celane did not have an easy life; she lived in poverty for most of her life, with little formal education. Her family lost their property when the United States Air Force confiscated it during WWII for use as an artillery range. Celane is the granddaughter of Iron Hail, a Lakota who survived the Battle of Little Big Horn and the Wounded Knee massacre of 1890. Celane provides an oral history of Wounded Knee that is both enlightening in historical terms and depressing in an emotional sense. It is hard to read Celane's account, as her speaking skills do not land easily on an English-speaking ear. It is best to read the account straight through, and then think about it for a time. When this is done, Celane comes across as clear as a star in the sky.

   The next set of stories comes from Stella Pretty Sounding Flute, a Wahpekute-Hunkpati Dakota. The Dakota people, like most Indians, had difficulties dealing with the burgeoning white population of America in the 19th century. After years of declining fortunes, an 1862 uprising in Minnesota brought down every bit of force the American government could muster on the Dakotas. The Dakota did not disappear, but scattered throughout Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota, and Minnesota. Stella does not concern herself with these events as much as she does with the traditions she learned from her own grandparents. Her grandmother passed on skills and knowledge that no school can teach. Stella discusses the loss of the Black Hills, the traditions of pipe carrying, and spiritual beliefs.

   The third storyteller is Cecilia Hernandez Montgomery. Cecilia is part Mexican, part Oglala Sioux, and part firecracker. This is one tough dame. Cecilia spent time in a Catholic school (back when they REALLY used the ruler), studied music, and worked herself dizzy at a series of low paying jobs. Cecilia really came into her own when she started a career as an activist in South Dakota, working hard to improve the living conditions of poor people (all poor people, not just Indians). She sits on many boards, committees, and still pounds the pavement when problems arise. She did all of this into her seventies and beyond, not only exploding the myth of the lazy Indian but also causing irreparable harm to the conception that old people cannot do anything of value.

   The last narrative comes from Iola Columbus, a Sisseton-Wahpeton Dakota. Like many other Indians, Columbus spent time in an Indian boarding school, where military discipline combined with strict adherence to corporeal punishment attempted to erase the "Indian" from the Indians. Columbus's story is different from the others because she went on to become the first woman elected to tribal chair in the state of Minnesota. She later founded a grandmother's society, where women elders can gather to share traditional knowledge with new generations.

   "Honoring the Grandmothers" is really a book about the elderly and their marginalized role in American society. This is occurring not only in white society but in Indian society as well. A couple of the grandmothers lament the fact that their knowledge is not passed on, but disappearing as older members of Indian tribes pass away. In short, the same mentality (of the doddering old fool who is well past his/her prime) that leads whites to toss the elderly into nursing homes happens in Indian society as well. The elderly are rich sources of knowledge and culture in every society. We ignore them at our own peril.

No comments about After the West Was Won: Homesteaders and Town-Builders in Western South Dakota, 1900-1917.

No comments about The Prairie Winnows Out Its Own: The West River Country of South Dakota in the Years of Depression and Dust.

No comments about Historic South Dakota - A Collection of 20 Books Relating to 18th and 19th Century South Dakota History, Genealogies and Its People.

3 comments about Black Hills Ghost Towns.

1. Watson Parker's book is a wonderful reference to use to understand the frenetic development of the Black Hills during its Gold Rush days. It also goes on to show the coming and going of little towns throughout the Black Hills. It is well organized and can easily lend itself to spending a day or more driving through the hills trying to find the remnants of the ghost towns. It is a book that I have gone back to year after year to learn about the Black Hills.



2. This is a great book on the basically unknown ghost towns found in the beautiful Black Hills area. I am originally from the area and still learned quite a bit!



3. All that have traveled the Mid-North West have found magic in the Black Hills, I believe because it truly exists there. I this book is captured the last 100 years of discovery, and what can still be found, for now. Protected as a National Treasure won't stop our Earth from doing her renovations. This is a guidebook, with much accurate work put into it, valuable to our time, but with a generation or two to be lost as memory and legend in the future.

No comments about Tracing Your Dakota Roots: A Guide to Genealogical Research in the Dakotas.

3 comments about Pine Ridge Reservation (Images of America: South Dakota).

1. this book is very richly documented. really interresting pictures and the nice thing is all the titles are translated from lakota. nice idea!



2. This book was an outstanding tool in researching the Indians of Crow Creek Reservation. I am doing research on a friend's family and was astounded at what I did NOT know about Indian history.



3. This book is mainly photographs with some very descriptive captions. I think it would be a good reference for anyone studying Native American history or who has ancestors from the Pine Ridge area.

1 comments about The WPA Guide to South Dakota: The Federal Writers' Project Guide to 1930s South Dakota.

1. I bought this as a birthday gift for my stepmom after seeing it in a literary catalog, Amazon had it cheaper of course. She is from South Dakota and I had an idea she might like the book, but she LOVED it. She said she clocked in 20 minutes late from her lunch break on the day I gave it to her, because she couldn't put it down. I later learned that she lived in the country and had lots of homes, wells, etc. that were WPA projects. A home run gift on this one, too bad they are not all this easy.