The Siyotanka is our Relative. As anything, for example say “land rights”, the issue is not who owns something. It isn’t about who commodifies something but rather, everything is a Being with Identity and is therefore Inherently Sovereign.

The Indigenous Peoples of this Continent have deeply rooted Relationships. it isn’t that we own the land, but that Unci Maka is a Being and therefore should be respected. Likewise, the Siyotanka is a Being and we as Lakota have Made Relatives with that being both individually and as a People.

We as Lakota bow to no Creator. We have no Creator, no Grandfather, no Great Spirit, no Maker. We have Ancient Stories containing Original Instructions which illustrate Relationships and Movement of Sovereigns amongst each other in Life Making. It is simple.

Unfortunately, we are currently enduring genocide, cultracide, homicide, suicide, fratricide, matricide, patricide,- all things I call the Syndemic Symptoms of Oppression and Occupation. The Invader/Occupier must constantly and consistently press us as Indigenous Peoples. Oppress, Repress and Depress, the Holy Trinity. Why? BECAUSE OF THE DISPLACEMENT ISSUE. Our Relationships have been displaced by the Invader/Occupier due to their insistence upon commodifying and compartmentalizing EVERYTHING. I believe it leads right to the prevalence of afflictions like Asperger’s Syndrome among the descendants of the Neanderthal. They genetically mutate into having no empathy. They lose the fundamental ability to Relate…and so they replace that responsibility with Control…and Take.

To take without having the fullness of a Relationship is a descriptive definition of “Wasi Icun”, “Wasicu”, or “Fat-Taker”; our word for the Invader/Occupier.

Therefore, on one hand, we have a People who know the Way to Live is to share and relate, that that is where Health, Life and Power are. On the other hand, are a People with no Relatedness, who instead see it all as a free for all grab of “stuff”. As Lakota, we are all about the Essence. As Wasicu, The Invader/Occupier is about everything EXCEPT the Essence.

I do then believe we must send out our Voices as Lakota and make Relations with our Identity because the Invader/Occupier uses our ignorance of Identity as a tool of control. The only way to REALLY do this is to “Carry These Lifeways Walking” and Live It. The pretenders become apparent. The Relationships manifest themselves. There is the Living Evidence of Takuskanskan: Tun.

I was fortunate enough once to see Elk Head’s Rattle. My Cousin Derek is a direct Descendant of Elk Head. There are photos of him here. It caused me to think about how that Rattle is made of a Buffalo Bull’s scrotum. The Drum, The Rattle, The Flute, they are all connected and they all connect. They are all helping us recover from a devastating Invasion and Occupation. We live in Struggle daily. We need to have these Relationships to Mend and Heal. This is no hobby, vocation, avocation, aspiration or financial endeavor. The Siyotanka means a part of our Body. How can anyone lay claim to that without making us a hostage or without assailing our very Being?

We are assailed and pressed from all sides. We react to this pressing in ways which still seek Relatedness. Unfortunately, many of these tactics are detrimental to our Health and Wellness. For example, rather than surrender and work for our captors, many of us would rather simply stick together, living as societal guerrillas, gleaning what we may. Many of us resort to chemicals to free us from the bondage. This often leads now to our People taking their own lives to escape and establish sovereignty over their selves. Our Ceremonies are now changed. Gender roles have changed in daily life, and this is reflected in Ceremony. This relates to how the Siyotanka has been changed also. I make, play, and record only PVC Siyotankas because plastic flutes reflect our times. Yet, these plastic flutes I play have more Power and Authority than other flutes. So too these convoluted times are times of Power.

These 4 years leading to the Time Of Great Change are years of preparation. These years allow us to now repair our assailed and pressed Lifeways. By Carrying These Lifeways Walking, those of us who are now awake will continue to gather. Until we are so Related again that we cross rivers we come to by knowing the crossing points intimately, we will continue to rely upon these bridges now spanning the rivers. We will do this knowing these bridges are not the point. They are not the end-all-be-all or the destination. Truly, we know these bridges too shall pass, and our Relatedness and Intimate Knowledge shall carry us.

Hecetuwelo.