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Originally Posted by elisi
running
i'm a bit confused....i thought arvol looking horse was the 19th generation keeper of the white buffalo calf pipe. i know some lakota and they are a patriarchal society. i didn't realize lakota women could do pipe ceremonies.
just going on what i've been told. please tell me if things have changed.
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Hi, elisi. That's what I understand about Chief Arvol Looking Horse. In fact, I just posted a comment in another NA thread about him today. here is the link to a website about this holy man:
http://arvollookinghorse.homestead.c..._bio_2001.html
I had the great fortune to listen to him at an Elders Conference a number of years back, when he (and other Elders from North America) assembled at one of our local universities to share Elder Teachings. He told us the story about White Buffalo Calf Woman's Pipe. And one of our local Lakota Elders, who I have the honour of learning from, told me he met Chief Arvol AND got to hold White Buffalo Calf Woman's Pipe! Too cool!
As for the Lakota being a "patriarchal" society .. I do not deny that many North American Indian Nations were brainwashed with the European concept of patriarchy. This is yet one more sad outcome of the colonization of Indigenous nations. But I've talked with a couple of beautiful Lakota male Elders, and the reverence and esteem they hold for their mothers, sisters, aunties, wives, and daughters is very touching. They honour the truth that women and men hold equally important roles in the community and one is not better than the other.
Women have our own sacred responsibilities and place in our societies. In fact, I am reading a REALLY good book right now: "Every Day Is A Good Day: Reflections by Contemporary Indigenous Women", Memorial Edition by Wilma Mankiller. I am so inspired and nourished by all these good words by Indigenous Women about Indigenous women. It's a good day to be brown and round! ; )
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