The legacy of remembrance. Preserving our own history through writing.

#NativeReads: Witness: A Hunkpapha Historian's Strong-Heart Song of the Lakotas

AUTHOR

Josephine Waggonner

Book Summary

In the 1920s and 1930s, Josephine Waggoner grew increasingly concerned that Oceti Sakowin Oyate cultures and histories were being lost as elders passed away. To address this gap, she interviewed Dakota/Lakota chiefs, elders and historians. In 2013, Waggoner’s family published her life’s work as the 824-page book Witness.

It is a multigenerational miracle of will that Josephine Waggoner’s book exists for us today. From its beginning, the manuscript moved through many hands as though it had a life of its own. Josephine sent parts of it out to be published, but was unsuccessful. It survived correspondence as it traveled within letters as editorial notes, stories and chapters to the readers and various editors. In those early years, the manuscript became misplaced and even taken away by one of the readers. All the while, Waggoner trusted and remained determined, never giving up hope that her book would be her gift to the People. Eventually, and only after her death, with the insistence and persistence of Waggoner’s family, did independent scholar Emily Levine take up the arduous research to finally fulfill Waggoner’s lifelong dream to publish the manuscript. Writing the tribal history of changes in her lifetime so nothing would be lost for future generations of Lakota, Waggoner outlines what she deems as essential in “Part I Dakota/Lakota Ethnography, Culture and Society,” which contains the history of her tribe from origin stories, legends, myths and geographical migration history.

RESOURCES: PODCAST & DISCUSSION GUIDE

OLWS Board Emerita and longtime educator Lanniko Lee (Cheyenne River Sioux) interviews Monica Braine (Assiniboine/Hunkpapa Lakota) about the work of Josephine Waggoner. Braine is a great-great-granddaughter of Waggoner, a professional radio journalist, and senior editor of Native America Calling. The discussion guide was also created by Lee. Support indigenous business. Available at Word Carrier.