I didn't have to go looking for this month's selections -- they came to me.
They came in the form of a little book of poetry by the children of the Red Cloud Indian School in Pine Ridge, SD titled "Whispers of the Lakota."
Listen to the poems here:
I was struck by the insight and hope of these young Native Americans who embrace their culture, understand their history, and find strength within themselves.
Bravo!
About the Red Cloud Indian School
According to its website, Red Cloud was founded as Holy Rosary Mission in 1888 by the Jesuits at the request of Chief Red Cloud, a leader of the Oglala Sioux Indians residing on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
The Red Cloud Indian School, Inc., is a non-profit corporation (501C3) operating as an accredited private school and organized under the laws of the state of South Dakota. Private donations support 97 percent of Red Cloud Indian School. The school receives no Federal, State, or Tribal funds.
The Red Cloud Indian School provides a quality education of the mind and heart for almost 600 Native American students every day. The main campus near Pine Ridge Village consists of one of the largest private Native American schools in the country.
About the Lakota people
In popular parlance, several of the plains tribes are referred to by the loose term "Sioux".
Sioux is actually the French abbreviation of the Ojibwe (Chippewa) word meaning "snake", and was originally a reflection on the stealth and sudden striking capability for which they were well known among those groups and tribes who considered them to be enemies.
The Sioux identify themselves as Lakota (pronounced in some dialects as Dakota or Nakota), a term which means "friend" or "ally" in the Lakota language.
The Lakota Nation has had a long history of great and well known leaders such as Red Cloud, Big Foot, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and American Horse.
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