Wakinyan: Lakota Religion in the Twentieth Century

Rating:
Summary: A Personal Review of this Book
Review: I am of Native American heritage. I am Chippewa by blood but Lakota by adoption and was born in Pine Ridge, SD. This book is very important to be because it helps explain practices that have either drifted away over time or have disappeared in modern times. I now have a bearing on what was probably the original archaic religion. The photos and illustrations make it very clear and correspond well with the intricate discriptions. The first few pages seem to be for English Professors and served no real purpose to me. After that, the book takes off and moves quickly and concisely. People with no prior knowledge should have no trouble understanding the jist of each chapter. Too many books are being written about the new "plastic shamanism" and not enough about the old days. This book is about the old days. It's an important work and I recommend it to anyone who wants to know what Lakota ceremonies looked like and what purposes they served. I now have a clue about my own heritage.