You see the words all over, on bumper stickers, on lapel pins, on refrigerator magnets, the words ‘Mitakuye oyasin.’ I’ve even seen them in California. Do we stop to really think what they mean? Sometimes I wonder.
This past year I learned about the National Grasslands. The last remaining pristine grasslands, the kind of grasslands on which my ancestors slept in their lodges, gathered food and medicine, hunted, bore their children, and talked to the Creator. I was very, very pleasantly surprised.
I thought every tiny piece of prairie and wild place had gone under the plow at one time or other. It was like finding a piece of heaven to know that there were still a few, very few, wild prairies left. It was like being on the set of the movie, “Dances with Wolves,” until I heard that some scenes might have been filmed on one of the National Grasslands.
The majority of the National Grasslands are in South Dakota, west of the Missouri River. For those who know history, this would mean that these last wild areas, although Lakota people would not call them wild, are within the boundaries of the Great Sioux Reservation. It would mean that these places, as Lakota people would say, are treaty lands. The other surprising part is that some of these National Grasslands are also bordering, or near to, 1889 reservations. (The 1889 Reservations are those that were created in South Dakota in violation of the 1868 Fort Laramie Treaty.)
The Buffalo Gap National Grassland borders the northwest corner of the Pine Ridge Reservation. The Fort Pierre National Grassland is just west of the Lower Brule Reservation, while the Grand River National Grasslands is partially on the Standing Rock Reservation and north of the Cheyenne River Reservation, all in western South Dakota. The other grasslands are in North Dakota with the last tall grass prairie, yes, tall grass prairie in southeastern North Dakota.
How does this all relate to the word “mitakuye oyasin?” Because in these areas, some of our relatives are able to live according to the ways of the Creator, according to natural law. These are our relatives, the last tall grasses, the greater prairie chicken, and the western prairie fringed orchid. (Bet you thought orchids only grew in Hawaii? I did.)
My deepest gratitude goes to all the people who had the foresight and are concerned about whether these species, our relatives, are going to continue. Most of us indigenous people have been having such a hard time just surviving ourselves that we were unable to keep track of all of the other relatives.
The thing about “mitakuye oyasin” that I wish the whole world could learn is that all of our relatives belong to, affect, and have an influence on the individual life of each one of us. Yes, if an orchid in Hawaii were to become extinct, it would have an affect on my life. That orchid might have produced the molecule of oxygen I needed in one of my breaths, or maybe its leaves carried a medicine that would heal my sister’s diabetes, or my father’s cancer. But with its passing, we will never know.
I wonder how many medicines are growing in the National Grasslands? How many medicines will disappear if the National Grasslands cease to exist in their pristine state? How many animals, insects, birds would also become extinct if the Grasslands disappear? At one time there were buffalo in these wild places. When I think of them, our older brothers, then it is hard to continue to think of all of the other relatives, four-legged, winged, with fins that were also here. Could they ever come back? Is there anything I could possibly do to try to help “mitakuye oyasin”, all my relatives? Is it too late? Will these places only be in picture books when my great grandchildren begin reading in first grade?
I am a Lakota. I have a responsibility to help my relatives. I am a human being. I have a responsibility to help my relatives. Mitakuye oyasin, all my relatives stand in the ground, or swim in the water, or fly in the air, or walk on four legs instead of two. I have a responsibility to more than just those who look like me. I have intelligence to help.
These last remaining grasslands, the National Grasslands, can be protected. How? By being given a Wilderness designation by the United States Congress. When most people think of wilderness, they think of forests and mountains. Most people don’t even know that there is another ecosystem upon which hundreds of species thrive, another ecosystem called prairie.
Once you learn something, you can’t go back to how you were before, under most normal conditions. Once I learned about the National Grasslands, and then that they could be protected, as much as possible, by a Wilderness designation, then I had a responsibility to pass this on to others.
As a Lakota, I also must speak for my older relatives, the buffalo. The buffalo need to be allowed to come back to live in all of the National Grasslands, not just in a few places like Yellowstone Park.
They are also our relatives, those men and women who walk the halls of Congress. They are included in those words when we say “mitakuye oyasin.” I hope that many people will write to them and ask them to give all the National Grasslands a “Wilderness designation.” Right now, only two small areas are being considered. I hope that the letters also remember to include the National Grasslands as a home for more buffalo.
Until then, I will continue to learn more about, and pray for, “mitakuye oyasin.” (All my Relatives)
