Teaching Virtues through Storytelling in the Lakota Tribe and My Family

English 100-13 21 October 2009 Family Virtues Virtues are usually taught through the eyes of the wise, also known as the elder. In the book The Lakota Way, by Joseph M. Marshall III, his tribe teaches virtues though story telling. The virtues of the Lakota tribe and those of my family are more similar then I had anticipated, although we do have our differences. The Lakota Way, stories and lessons for living, is a book written in 2001 by Joseph M. Marshall III. Marshall dedicates his book to Kimberly Jo Schumidt and Joseph N.

Marshall II. The stories he tells through out his book are those that have been passed down from his family about the Lakota’s and their virtues. Marshall’s stories are based on morals and virtues. While reading chapter 3, “Respect,” of The LakotaWay I came to find several similarities between my family’s view and the Lakota’s view. Koskalaka is a young man, in this chapter, who goes out hunting in the woods and stumbles across the Deer Woman whom his grandmother had told him about.

His grandmother had mentioned that she knew a man who was never home because the Deer Woman took him, so he should avoid her as much as possible. The Lakotas are trying to teach respect to young Koskalaka. They are showing him that you should respect your family and those around you because one day you can lose it all. Like the Lakotas, my family has been taught respect through are generations. My family has taught us that family comes first and we must respect each other and ourselves. They have said that if we do not respect ourselves then neither are we respecting our family name.

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I asked my mom what respect was when I was younger and she said,“respect is not something to just play around with, you should always give people the respect they deserve and treat people the way that you would like to be treated. You shouldn't disrespect people and always keep in mind how you would feel if someone were to disrespect me the way that you are disrespecting them. ” I took her words to heart and learned a valuable lesson that day, so much so that now when I see someone disrespecting another I feel the need to intervene.

In The Lakota Way, Koskalaka meets the deer woman and remembers what his grandmother had told him and out of respect he declines her tempting offer to go with her. Just like Koskalaka respects his elder grandmother my siblings also have learned that we must respect people and more the elder. In the Lakota tribe, the grandmother said that when the Deer Woman takes them into her lodge she has sex with them but, when they wake the deer woman is no longer there leaving the man forgetful of his family and in search of the Deer Woman.

Unlike the Lakotas, my family has gone out and seen their own type of deer woman wether it be with drugs, sex, or lies, but never have they forgotten about the rest of us. My family has learned to embrace one another when they have fallen into temptation, where the Lakotas would cast them out. My relatives have gone through many hardships and difficult situations but the morals have set into our heads like Koskalaka’s grandmother set into his head. The many men whom the Deer Woman lured into her lodge lost complete contact with their families and thus themselves.

They left their family’s worried about where they could be and what could be happening to them. The men became selfish and inconsiderate, and no longer showing the respect and attention that they should have been showing to their family because of the Deer Woman. Dissimilar to the men and woman of The Lakota Way, our morals have been embroiled into our minds that family should always come first, regardless of the over all out come in any situation.

The Lakota’s virtues demonstrate virtues through story telling opposed to my family who teaches morals through real life example. They tell us stories of hardships one of our relatives have gone through and what we have to do to avoid situations like that. The stories of respect in The Lakota Way are similar to those of my family’s. The Lakota’s are very virtues people who value their family and respect themselves just like the family of my own.

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