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The Creation Story Of The Lakota Indians

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For the Lakota Indians, stories were passed down through the generations as a way of teaching lessons. Their creation story places an emphasis on maintaining a balance between man and nature. This balance was broken for the Indians when, after violating the Dawes Act, a treaty that gave them full rights to their sacred land, white men pushed them out of their homeland and forced them into a society that they never wanted to be a part of. In doing this, their culture was greatly diminished, along with their hope of a better future. Today, the Lakota Indians face poverty and other challenges that all stem from a time when their rights were violated, peace broken, and stories forgotten. Stories are central to the Lakota way of life, specifically their story of how the world came to be. The Lakota Indians believe that the Great Spirit created everything. They say that there was once another world, but the Great Spirit was upset with those people because they had lost the sacredness of the land, so he destroyed it and made a new one. To bring water, he sang a song, but by the fourth song, the Earth was flooded. The flood killed all of the animals except the crow, Kangi, illustrating the necessity of balance in life. Kangi begged the Great Spirit for a place to rest, so the Great Spirit called forth four animals that could survive under the water, they were an otter, beaver, loon, and a turtle. The Great Spirit then asked them to go and retrieve some mud from under the water.

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