3. Dr. Charles A. Eastamn (1858-1939)
Ohiyesa’s mother died soon after birth and his father, Many Lightnings, was captured
after the 1862 Dakota uprising and presumed hanged with over 300 other Sioux.
Ohiyesa (1858-1939) was traditionally reared in Sioux language and culture by his
grandmother for the first fifteen years of his life. When his father, who had in fact
been pardoned by President Lincoln and had spent 12 years in an Iowa prison,
suddenly appeared, Ohiyesa was required to move to a Christian Dakota community.
Ohiyesa took the name of Charles Alexander Eastman, won scholarships, graduated
from Dartmouth College in 1887, and studied medicine at Boston University.
4. He was required to fast from time to time for short
periods, and to work off his superfluous energy by
means of hard running, swimming, and the vapor-
bath. The bodily fatigue thus induced, especially
when coupled with a reduced diet, is a reliable cure
for undue sexual desires.
5. Maintaining silence keeps body, mind, and spirit in
equilibrium as speech tends to confuse and distract. With
silence comes the character of self-control, courage, and
reverence. Mind, body, and spirit remain calm but poised
and readied. Language, whether spoken or thought,
distorts not only the presentation of the self but also the
self's intuitive perception of the world.
6. The arduous maintenance of good health, both spiritual and physical,
leads to strength and moral correctness continuing in the same spirit
and honor as to ancestors. The reputation of the individual provides
self-respect and virtue which supports and is an essential part of the
public morality of self-control and self-determination. The
conservative sexual ethics helps provide for the stability and strength of
the tribe through the rejection of sensual indulgences. Village
ceremonies are used to honor publicly the self-discipline of the
individual who is worthy.
7. Although love of possessions is considered a weakness and
generosity is essential for tribal honor, property rights are
observed. Stealing from another is a disgrace to the individual and
the tribe. The only exceptions to the dishonor of stealing are taking
food for the hungry if there is not food ordinarily available for them,
and the taking of the property of the enemy as spoils of war.
Stealing from the enemy became less dishonorable with the
increasing savagery of the white man.
8. Orphans, like the aged and infirm, are cared for by the
whole tribe if there is no next of kin; these duties are
performed especially the eldest daughter of a family. Even
so, without a husband, a woman and her children are
destined to suffer from loss of their protector as well and
from he loss of provisions by which they could feasibly
survive. In addition, the spirit of the dead warrior suffers
less with the knowledge that his wife and children are not
of the victims of want.
9. Any murderer knew that his deed would be known by "the
Great Mystery" and so no effort was extended by such a
person to try to hide the fact of the deed and, consequently,
the action was normally freely admitted by the guilty party.
The wise men of the victim's clan decided upon the accused's
punishment while duly considering the circumstances of the
action. If the victim's next of kin refused to take the life of a
murderer, the murderer was normally ostracized from the
tribe.
10. The white man, with his attendant liquor and firearms, made
battles much more cruel and barbarous. The resulting
brutality of the attacks provoked the passions of revenge by
the Indian warriors, even resulting in bounties offered for the
scalps of innocent men, women, and children. The suggestion
is that the barbarism and subsequent carnage caused by the
firearms of the white man was met by an escalation of
savagery as a means of self-defense by the Indians.
11. Any individual not telling the truth was thought
capable of covering up any evil deed—thereby
destroying mutual confidence among the members of
the tribe. In the past, Ohiyesa relates, the liar was put
to death in order to assure tribal mutual trust.
