Lakota Sioux Creation Mythology::

James R. Walker

Most of the myths reconstructed in this article are from the narratives collected or re-written by James R. Walker. Walker lived as a physician among the Oglala Lakota on the Pine Ridge Reservation for eighteen years, from 1896 to 1914, and made a thorough and systematic study and collection of Lakota mythology, belief and ritual. Most of his research participants were, apparently, 'traditionalists' such as elders, 'holy men' and medicine men, and there seemed to have been a sense of urgency among them to record Lakota religious and philosophical tradition before it was forgotten. Walker arrived at the reservation at a time when Lakota culture and religion was being suppressed and the government seemed determined to pursue its policy of assimilation. The holy men saw in Walker a chance for Lakota traditions to be recorded for future generations - a way for Lakota knowledge and practices to endure.

© 2002 by Bornali Halder

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