Mary Louise Defender Wilson: Regional Background
 Miniwakan (Devil's Lake) Courtesy of North Dakota Tourism Department Before contact with Euopeans, the Dakotah Sioux lived in earth lodges near Miniwakan and Pyramid Hill. |
|
Hokshina and the Cows Mary Louise rents out part of the land she owns to cattle herders. One day while she was out for a walk with her dog Hokshina, a curious cow came up to them. The cow wondered, "what are this lady and that dog doing on my grazing land!" Well, just as soon as the cow asked this question, Hokshina came bounding towards her! Hokshina chased and chased the cow and Mary Louise started chasing Hokshina to stop her from chasing the cow! Well, as soon as the other cows saw both Hokshina and Mary Louise running, they started to run. It was very hot outside and Mary Louise started to worry about the cows running in such heat. Mary Louise stopped running and yelled and yelled at Hokshina to stop chasing the cow. "Finally Hokshina understood what I was telling him and he stopped chasing the cow. Oh, I had a good laugh when it was over and Hokshina never was mad at me for yelling at him." Mary Louise's next CD, called "My Relatives Say" has stories about animals and what we learn from them. In one story, "The World Never Ends," she tells of a big, black dog that prevents the world from ending...
|
Growing up in North Dakota on the Standing Rock (Sioux) Reservation,
Mary Louise Defender Wilson learned that land is a very important part
of culture, history, and life. She says, "there are many Dakotah
stories that tell about the wakan, powerful places where the ancient
people learned to become civilized people through experiences."
The Woman Who Turned Herself to Stone is about one such place in the Standing Rock Reservation/Dakotah landscape. In addition to the stone-woman, there are many other wakan that storytellers talk about. For example, another stone in Mary Louise's story can be found near Pyramid Hill, located in southeastern North Dakota near Fort Ransom, where according to Dakotah belief their people began.
The Woman Who Turned Herself to Stone is also about a Dakotah woman's love of nature. There are also many beautiful places in North Dakota. For example, in eastern North Dakota is the lush Red River Valley, west of the Missouri River there are gumbo hills (ask Mary Louise what these are!) and grasslands, and in the Saniun (Sheyenne) River there are level farmlands. Mary Louise's ancestors lived in the level farmlands near the Saniun River until they were forced to move to the Standing Rock Reservation.
Standing Rock (Sioux)
Reservation
The Standing Rock Reservation is a Sioux reservation. Standing Rock, like
other Indian reservations, it is a stretch of land reserved for the Sioux
people by treaty, or agreement, with the U.S. Government. The history
of how and why the Sioux were forced off their land and onto the reservation
is complicated but important, and is part of a larger story about how
Europeans took over the North American continent. Mary Louise is an advocate
for Indian rights and will welcome questions about history as well as
storytelling.
 Dark Stone Woman at Fort Yates, Standing Rock Reservation is named for her. Courtesy of Mary Louise Defender Wilson |
Standing Rock Reservation got its name from the large rock in Fort Yates, North Dakota, the reservation's headquarters. The rock has the same history as the one in Mary Louise's story, "The Woman Who Turned Herself to Stone." If you're ever at Fort Yates, however, you may see a different story of the stone-woman told. Mary Louise says that the Arikara people's version is the one posted. "They are newcomers to the Dakota land," she says, "and told a negative story about the rock [but] that's the one that was used."
Standing Rock Reservation is 4 million acres large. Individual Indians and the Sioux Indian people as a group own almost 1 million of these acres. The remaining 3 million acres is not under Indian ownership.
Standing Rock Reservation
is divided into districts. Mary Louise grew up in the Porcupine District.
In her district, there are hills and gumbo buttes that are stark and harsh
but also beautiful. When Mary Louise was growing up, there were far more
families living in the rural area of the Porcupine District than there
are now. Where she lives now in Shields, there are 10 families.