A Myth of Kinship? Reinterpreting Lakota Conceptualization of Kin Relationships vis-à-vis 19th and 20th Century Historical Narratives
A Myth of Kinship? Reinterpreting Lakota Conceptualization of Kin Relationships vis-à-vis 19th and 20th Century Historical Narratives. Drawing upon the theoretical perspectives of Claude Lévi-Strauss, Raymond DeMallie, and Emmanuel Désveaux, this paper combines a structuralist approach with symbolic...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Société des américanistes
2010-12-01
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| Series: | Journal de la Société des Américanistes |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.openedition.org/jsa/11529 |
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| Summary: | A Myth of Kinship? Reinterpreting Lakota Conceptualization of Kin Relationships vis-à-vis 19th and 20th Century Historical Narratives. Drawing upon the theoretical perspectives of Claude Lévi-Strauss, Raymond DeMallie, and Emmanuel Désveaux, this paper combines a structuralist approach with symbolic anthropology in an attempt to reinterpret historical categorization of Lakota kinship through an examination of the relationship between the Lakota and a pervasive representative of the non-material world in Lakota life, the bird. To begin this reinterpretation, I identify the existence of a special relationship between the Lakota and birds through a review of relevant myths. Then, I present qualitative data about the symbolic language of feathers found in the writings of 19th and 20th century Lakota people like Luther Standing Bear, White Bull, and Black Elk. Next, I explain how these symbols serve as intermediaries between the material and non-material cognitive worlds of the Lakota and birds. After considering the evidence presented, I suggest that 19th and 20th century Lakota notions of kinship were more complex than has been historically depicted because they took into consideration both human and non-human relationships. My goal is to provocatively prompt a reconsideration of the historical categorization of Lakota ideas of kinship to take into account the influence of non-human relations on social behavior and organization. |
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| ISSN: | 0037-9174 1957-7842 |