環(huán)球英語 1318 Keeping History: Winter Counts
Welcome to Spotlight. I’m Adam Navis.
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And I’m Liz Waid. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand - no matter where in the world they live.
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The year the stars fell.
The year of the last great buffalo hunt.
The year the horse came.
The year corn grew.
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How do you know about your past? Did your parents or grandparents tell you stories? Did you read about your history in a book? Are there documents and records about your people? Are there pictures showing how your people lived?
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In North America, the Lakota Native Americans have kept their history in a very particular way. They tell stories about the past. And they record particular information in special records. These records are called Winter Counts. Today’s Spotlight is on the Lakota Winter Counts.
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The name Lakota means “friend.” The Lakota people live on the northern plains of North America. They are part of the Sioux nation. They speak Sioux as their language.
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The history of the Lakota people is a story of survival. The tribe used their land’s natural resources to live. They planted crops in the fields. And they hunted in the forests. They were a settled people until the arrival of white Europeans and horses. After the arrival of the horse, the Lakota people became nomads. They travelled from place to place. They followed groups of buffalo. The buffalo was a large animal - and it was the Lakota’s greatest resource. The buffalo provided food, tools and skin for clothing and building shelter. The Lakota felt that they shared the Earth as equal partners with animals, especially the buffalo.
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Towards the end of the 1800s, Europeans and warring tribes forced the Lakota people off their land. They moved west. There, they continued their traditions. And they continued to keep their own history. They recorded this history in a special way.
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Long ago, the Lakota did not have a written language or a calendar, to record their yearly events. So, the people created what they called waniyetu wowapi. In English it means “winter count.” Waniyetu is the word for year. The Lakota people measured a year from first snowfall to first snowfall. And wowapi means anything that is marked on a flat surface.
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The Lakota marked the passing of time by drawing pictures of special events. The people travelled in small groups. The Lakota word for the group was tiyospaye. Tiyospaye were usually made up of family members or people who lived close to each other. Each tiyospaye chose one person to draw the pictures. This person was the keeper.
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The keeper was usually a male leader. However, in the 20th century women started to keep the winter count too. The keeper’s job passed down from one family member to another. Each year the keeper would meet with other tiyospaye leaders. Together, they would choose one event from the year. Then they would name the year after that special event.
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For example, in November of 1833 there was a large meteor shower. The meteors entering the atmosphere looked like stars were flying across the sky. Many Lakota groups living in different areas experienced this same event. Many keepers added the event to their own winter counts. The name of that year was “the year the stars fell.”
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Pepper Young is a Lakota living in the United States. His grandmother was a winter count keeper. Before she died, she told Pepper stories from her winter count. She told Pepper the story about the year the stars fell. Pepper told the story on the Smithsonian website.
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“There was one entry that was called either the night the stars fell or the night the sky went crazy. What was interesting is that she said the people were afraid. It was the first time the people had ever seen that. They did not know what it meant. As time went on the people got used to it until it disappeared. My mother told me that it was probably a comet.”
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After the keeper chose the event, he or she would draw a symbol or picture that represented that special event. For example, for the year the stars fell, many winter counts had pictures of stars. The keepers often drew the pictures of the event on the dried skins of animals. But, as time went on, the materials changed. Soon the keepers were drawing their winter counts on paper.
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The keepers of the winter count had to copy the pictures again and again. That is because the pictures would start to get old and disappear. Or, after many years, the keeper needed more space to include more pictures. The tribes copied the winter counts almost exactly over many years. But, recopying did lead to some problems. A new keeper may have chosen to record a different event for a particular year. Or, he may have drawn a different idea from the same event. So, the winter count would change.
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In the 19th century the winter counts changed in a different way. Many of the Lakota people were learning to write in their own language. Some of the keepers began adding words under the pictures of their winter counts. They would include the name of the year with the picture. As time went on, some winter counts only had written year names. There were no more pictures.
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Many winter counts have been lost or destroyed over the years. Families stopped keeping the count. Sometimes, families sold their winter counts. Now the Lakota people and the Smithsonian Museum are trying to collect and protect the surviving winter counts. This will save the Lakota history for all people.
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For many years Pepper’s grandmother’s winter count was lost. His grandmother sold it, because the family was very poor. But recently Pepper found that his grandmother’s winter count is in an art gallery. It is safe. Pepper told the Smithsonian,
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“Right now my grandmother’s winter count is somewhere in Pheonix, Arizona, in some art gallery. I asked about it and they said that it is not in a show case. But they keep it safe there. If I could see it today I would probably start crying. I think that is my last link to my grandmother, Theresa. I would love to see it before my time is up. That is why I am trying to get it back for my grandchildren.”
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The writer of this program was Rebekah Schipper. The producer was Mark Drenth. The voices you heard were from the United States. All quotes were adapted and voiced by Spotlight. You can find our programs on the internet at https://www.radioenglish.net This .program is called ‘Keeping History: Winter Counts’.
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We hope you can join us again for the next Spotlight program. Goodbye.
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