She Showed Us The Way To Live
(For Suann Big Crow 1974-1991)

Where are the warriors today?
              - Sitting Bull, Teton Sioux
 

Mic'unk_í, daughter,
Child of empty prairies
Where buffalo once rumbled,
You brought Pronghorn's grace to the hardwood.
Counted coup with shot and dunk,
You were warrior reborn as round ball dancer.
 
Mic'incá, warrior-child,
The time would come
When you would take your contest
To the house of Jay, White Crow and Toad,
Squawking, croaking, belching,
As they dishonor their ancestors' once proud name.
 
Mihákata, dancing sister,
Change your warrior's garb
To a dancer's simple costume.
You gave their lodge a gift of pure love,
You gave yourself, your tribe, your heritage
As you quiet the squalls and transform that house.
 
Mic'unk_í, daughter,
Child of sun-kissed plains
Where you dance no more,
Your voice and feet stilled on a dusty road.
Rest as we pray, "Each soul must meet
The morning sun, the new sweet earth,
And the Great Silence alone!"**
 
 
Title from Teacher of Lakota studies, Pine Ridge High School
 
**Charles Alexander Eastman (Ohiyesa)
              - Santee Sioux
 
(With thanks to Ian Frazier for his article, On the Rez, Atlantic Monthly, December 1999)

Gary Blankenship