Video
Water of Life
Transcript
Water of Life 5-minute story on the Tribes of the Missouri River Narrative Script
♫ [ Music plays ] ♫
DUGAN SMITH: People have been living along the Missouri River for thousands of years. Their cultures are vibrant along the Missouri River. Today we have three tribes that call this stretch of the Missouri River home: the Santee Sioux Tribe, the Yankton Sioux Tribe, and the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska. They’re tied to this river through their ceremonies and culture.
LARRY WRIGHT, JR: Where the Niobrara River and the Missouri River meet is our homeland. It’s where our people put our earth lodges – our permanent homes.
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LARRY WRIGHT, SR: The rivers are the life-givers. We were farmers, so we needed the water for our crops, and that’s why we settled close to the water.
LARRY WRIGHT, JR: As a Ponca, the Missouri River is sacred. DWIGHT HOWE: Ni ALL: Ni
DWIGHT HOWE: Ni is water. So we’ll say that. Ni – water. ALL: Ni
DWIGHT HOWE: How do you say smoky water? ALL: Nishudeh
DWIGHT HOWE: There you go! Nishudeh – Missouri River.
LARRY WRIGHT, JR: The Missouri River is part of our DNA. It’s who we are. I get the same goosebumps today that I did, you know, over 20 years ago when I first came back up here.
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DUANE WHIPPLE: The Santee, we were moved here from Minnesota. That’s when they relocated us down here to Santee, Nebraska, along the Missouri River. A lot of people don’t understand that water is life for us. We took on our fishing skills like we did over in Minnesota. And we were harvesting the plants: the Indian potatoes and the wild turnips, mulberries – we call them buffalo berries – and chokecherries in the area. We’re becoming a more self-reliant people. We have our own businesses now. To be self-supportive is our main goal and to make sure our children have a bright future.
♫ [ Children singing in Dakota language ] ♫
ROBERT FLYING HAWK: As we take a drink of that water, it helps our body to become strong, as it helps the tatonkha – the buffalo – to be strong. WOMAN: One, two, three! ALL: Tatonkha
ROBERT FLYING HAWK: The people of the Ihanktonwan Nation are here, and will always be here.
♫ ♫ ♫ We started here along the river. Water and the buffalo and us as a people living here – we’re all connected and related. We say mani wichone – water of life – and our sustenance is from there.
KIP SPOTTED EAGLE: The river itself is a sacred site. There’s a lot of medicinal plants and fruits throughout these river breaks and along the river. Our connection to the river is not just the water, but it’s also everything that comes with it. FAITH SPOTTED EAGLE: I was born into defending the water. We believe that there is a spirit in the river. So when we do a ceremony or we have a camp along the river, then we make a gift to the river. And then the river brings us gifts. RAELEE MARTINEZ: Our people used the river for everything. They use it for, like, a source of water. They use it to, like, cook with, to find food, because there’s fish. To basically survive off of. Even to, like, bathe and stuff. Clean clothes. Our elders teach us to take care of our river – keep it going – the nice Missouri River that it is. That’s what I’m hoping for.
FAITH SPOTTED EAGLE: We have stories, we have burials, we have ceremonial sites. And so people who are non-native, when they come here, they can be nice to the river, and they can be nice to the land, and they could even be nice to use. LARRY WRIGHT, JR: We all depend on the Missouri River and what we do today affects the next generation. It’s all of our jobs to make sure that we’re doing what we can to help take care of her like she’s taken care of us.
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Description
The American Indian story of the Missouri National Recreational River.
Duration
5 minutes, 1 second
Credit
NPS/Argentine Productions
Date Created
11/10/2018
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