A Meeting of the Generations

A Visit of Relatives

I spent Friday evening and Saturday morning visiting with my niece and her husband happened to be in town and called me. It was a wonderful surprise to see both of them. As relatives they knew they didn't have to call weeks ahead to make sure I would be able to see them. We have a tendency to drop in on people unexpectedly and know we will always be welcomed. This was a teat for me because I had the opportunity to introduce them to my great granddaughter.

I gave both my granddaughter enough time to be ready to recieve important guests. There wasn't one thought given except the happy welcome we recived when we dropped by to intorduce my great granddaughter, Joslyn to her relatives. There we were passing her back and forth between all of us each one holding her, bouncing her and making her smile as we shared all of her latest accomplishments. I asked my granddaughter to show her Auntie the moccasins, star quilt, and a beautiful baby blanket that had been made by her father's grandmother before she passed away several years before Joslyn was born. These items were brought out and admired by all of us.

Joslyn, the fourth generation of our living Tiyospaye (extended family) was being introduced to her relatives in a typical manner that has been going on for thousands of years. The "Wankan Yeja" (sacred being) who will carry on our family into the future was welcomed by an important relative in a manner that shows how much she is loved. The continuity of our family was played out because my niece also had taken care of Joslyn's mother as I took care of her when she was a small child.

This wonderful experience of love shared and traditions carried on is why the Lakota have survived and will continue to survive. If an anthropologist was studying this encounter they would of course look at the kinship system and ask, "how are these women related? what ritual is being carried out? how do the men fit into this? what role does the niece's husband play or the babies father? My granddaughter knew exactly what kinship term to call my niece and her husband and she in turn will teach her daughter what term she would use. As a result the cohesiveness of the Lakota Tiyospaye will continue into the future. Joslyn's father is also learning the relationships of his daughter's Lakota family which is very different from the ones he has grown up with.

The Harmony of the Lakota world was based on this kinship system that allowed people to live together in a harmonious manner. You belonged and you knew this... "living with and loving other human beings who return that love creates the most healthy, secure and trusting emotional experience in the world." (Lakota Saying) By knowing the kinship term everyone knew the attitude and behavior one was expected to show others. It is from earliest childhood one is taught the correct behavior and attitude one shows various relatives. This allows the Tiyospaye to be a safe place to live within.

So on Friday night 2011 we shared an important event in the life of my great granddaughter and her parents.