We had a fascinating assembly at school yesterday, Jay Red Hawk talked to our kids about Lakota culture, goal setting and integrity. He and his family, several generations together, raise and train horses and follow traditional ways. Among the unique skills Jay has is that he is one of the only Lakota men today who hunts buffalo from horseback with a bow. This is the style of hunting that George Cattlin depicted in sketches and paintings from the 19th century (see below). Can you imagine the courage and training necessary to have a successful hunt? Jay hunts with a handmade bow of Osage orange, hand-fletched arrows with stone arrowheads!
Among the things that he brought to show the kids were toys that helped teach the children their adult roles in society. The boys' toys on the table are horses. The kids played with them like modern children play with Transformers or action figures. These toys, however, are not plastic, they are toe bones from the foot of the buffalo. They are painted to resemble the roan, sorrel and palomino horses from the family herds.
2 comments:
so cool. I would have loved to be there to listen.
I wondered why what came up first looked for all the world like painted buffalo toe bones! Ha. Sits-with Knife, the buffalo butcher would be the one - to wonder.
M
Post a Comment