Another story from my friend -- Hanta Yo

Hanta Yo


At the request of 'day', I will relate a story that had a lot of inspiration for me, and hopefully, might even possibly inspire someone else out there, somewhere. There's even a little synchronoicity in the story. I don't know if I actually have any Native American blood running in my veins or not. My grandfather, on my mother's side, was born and raised in Oklahoma. He passed on in 1986, and was 100 years old when he died. So that means, Oklahoma was still the Indian Nation when he was growing up. And he did have the classic looking Indian nose. But even if I don't have any of their blood in my veins, I certainly have it in my spirit, for I have had a great interest and admired the Native American culture for about as long as I can remember. But anyway, on with the story.

There was a book published in 1979 called "Hanta Yo", written by a lady named Ruth Beebe Hill. I read it when it first came out. It is a story of a Lakota family, that spans several generations, from before the lakotas even had horses, until the whiteman was severly pushing into their territory. And even though a work of fiction, it had a profound effect on me. I thought it was very well written and very well researched. And the book I had, there was a picture of an Indian offering a pipe to the Sun. I dabble in art a little as a hobby, and painted that picture and it hung on my wall for many years. Still have it, in fact.

Some years later, I was living in the state of Washington. I worked in the power industry before I retired and was working at a hydro plant about 35 miles out of Spokane. My son had been going to school at the University of Montana, and he kinda got tangled up in his priorities and had to drop out for awhile. He was a music major, and he went to work for a company called "Missoula Childrens Theater". It's a non profit organization, and they go all over the US putting on shows for grade schools, with the students having a big participation in the shows. The way they work, there are two reps from MCT that put on the shows. Everything is booked and scheduled way before hand, and they will pull into a town and on Monday morning, all the students who want to particpate will show up. They audition and pick the students who will participate and rehearse all week, then put on the show Friday evening, then they're off and running to the next town. And generally, they will arrange for some one in the community, who has the room, to put up the two reps while they are there.

Well, my son got the west coast tour that year. They started out in San Diego and worked their way all the way up the west coast, and even went into British Columbia for a couple of shows. By early spring, they had worked their way up to the state of Washington. My son called me, and said that they were going to be at Friday Harbour in a couple of weeks, and that if I could get some time off, it would be a great place to see the show and enjoy the Island. Friday Harbour sits on one of the Islands out in Puget Sound, and is a very beautiful place. I had heard of it, but had never been over there.

So I got some time off, and went over a few days early to get in some sight seeing. On Thursday, one of the members of the school board threw a party for Missoula Childrens Theather reps, and I think half the Island was there. LOl, even I got invited. So I was milling around the crowd at the party, and my son found me, and grabbed me by the arm and said, "Dad, come on over, I want you to meet the lady who we are staying with out here." So we made our way through the crowd, and found her, and it was Ruth Beebe Hill.

Needless to say, my jaw dropped to the ground when I met her. She must have been in her late 70's, but was a very spry and energetic woman. She wound up inviting me over for breakfast with them the next morning, so I went, and stayed the whole day talking to this lady. I have to say, she was maybe one of the most intelligent people I've ever had the pleasure of sitting down and having a long talk with. I asked her how she came to write this book about the Lakota. Here's the story she told me.

She has a Phd in geology, and was working on the Rosebud Reservation in South Dakota. She didn't say in what capacity she was working there, but she was there for quite awhile. And she made some very close friends while she was there, and had a very keen interest in Native American culture to begin with. Some of the friends she made was with some of the elders, who knew all the stories that had been passed along through the ages. That's where she got the idea to write the book. When she finished writing the book, before she published it in English, she wanted to publish it first in the Lakota language. So she learned Lakota, and did the translation herself. From the time she started writing the book, until she published it, was something like fifteen years, I believe she said.

She said that there were times when she would get hung up on the translation of just one word. So she would call one of her friends on the reservation, and fly out there. Sometimes spending as much as two weeks. They would take long walks together, and discuss how to translate that word.
But she finally got it published. There was even a mini series on TV of that book. I remember seeing that, too, but was a little disappointed in it. I thought it was just a little too Hollywooded up for my taste. The book was much better.

And later she was hired as a consultant on the movie "Dances With Wolves". She consulted on the attire and daily routine around the village life. She got to travel out to where they were filming several times, got to meet Kevin Costner.

The book went into minute detail about the everyday life in a Lakota village. It went into their society's, and clans, and clans within clans. And the status of each one. But not just about the mundaness of everyday life, it's chocked full of adventure. Tales about parties going on raids, by foot, for hundreds of miles. And after they acquired horses, the battles they fought, raids and buffalo hunts. Moving entire villages, following the migration of the buffalo. Trying to survive severe, brutal winters, where many of them didn't make it. And the main characters in the book are holy men, so it delves into their spiritual values, too. Goes into detail about preparing for vision quest.

Even though the book is a work of fiction, I thought it depicted their lifestyle better than any book I've ever read. It was an inspiration to me, as well as getting to meet the wonderful lady who wrote it.