ABSTRACT
My people are the Lakȟóta Húŋkpapȟa (Campers at the Horn). The Húŋkpapȟa got their name from their hereditary right to pitch their thípi at the entrance of the horn or camp circle as defenders of the camp (Brave Bull Allard, n.d., p. 7). My dad, John Eagle Shield Sr., is a fluent speaker of our Lakȟóta language. He grew up in Little Eagle, a small community on the Standing Rock Reservation. My mom, Valerie Eagle Shield, grew up in Long Soldier, our largest community on Standing Rock. My mother also comes from the Arikara Territory. My parents intentionally raised their children in the Lakȟóta traditions and culture, and it has been a guiding force in my upbringing. I was very Lakȟóta-centric my whole life. I grew up thinking, dreaming, and later, speaking in Lakȟóta. My dad told me that outsiders called the Lakȟóta people egotistic and self-centered because of our beliefs, but I didn’t understand why until he explained how we pray. We were nomadic people, we followed the buffalo, and we have always been a very prayerful people. Our belief is that no matter where Lakȟóta people are, that is the center of the universe, meaning each and every one of us is our own center.
